Wessington Springs herald. (Wessington Springs, Aurora County, Dakota [S.D.]) 1883-1891, 1884-12-26
HISTORIC pwARr.-
Some of the Most Not.,,,.
and Their Peculiarit,es- NC"

severaa glants, and gives most m;n,,to
particulars as to their huge proportions
and marvellous strength of body wa
only once find mention Of q dwore w
the sacred pages, and then the refer.
ence was only general; no mention ia
made OF any particular man 0, men Of
such unnaturally small size. The nas.
sage referred to is in Leviticus, whore
the service of the altar is defended from
all blemlshed persons, among whom a
''dwarf' is included. The custom -
having owarfs at court is very ancient.
The Egyptians had these diminutive
persons IN their suites, and the Romano
were great admirers of them, although
they attributed to them an intellectual
capacity little higher than that of mon
keys. The Emperor Augustus had advert
named Lucius, who weighed fourteen
pounds, had a tremendous voice and
was only two feet high. Julia. the
niece-or as som say, the daughter-of
augustus, had a male dwarf named
Conopa, two feet and a hands breadth
high. One of julia free maids, Andro-
media, was OF the same height. Rich
ard Gibson is one of the most celebrat-
ed dwarfs OF modern times. He was
born in 1918, and was not only remark
able for his smallness of stature, but
Tor an exceedingly good artistic faculty.
he was a pupil of DeCleyn, and imitat-
ed Sir Peter LEY. He was appointed
drawing master of the princesses-
afterward Queens-Mary and Anne.
His painting representing the parable
Of the Lost Sheep was highly priced by
Charles l., who gave it to Vandervort
to take charge Of; Vandervort put it
away so carefully that when the Kino
asked for it he could not find it, and
fearing his royal masters displeasure
he hanged himself. Richard Gibson
married Anne Shepherd, court dwarf to
Queen Henrietta Maria. The King gave
away the bride and the Queen present.
ed her with a diamond ring. Weller.
the court poet, wrote one Of his pretty
sets of verses on the occasion. The
marriage turned out very happily, and
the little couple had nine children, tive
of whom were of full ordinary stature.
jeffrey Hudson, perhaps the most re-
nowned of all dwarfs, was born in 1919,
at Oakham, in Rutlandshire. His faith
er and mother We're of full height, and
jeffrey was the only one of their family
who was in any way extraordinary.
Jeffrey's father kept the Duke of Buck
ingham's batting bulls, and the little
fellow was presented to the Duchess of
Buckingham between the seventh and
ninth year of his age, and when he was
scarcely a foot and a half in height. It
was jeffrey Hudson who, o after the
marriage Of Charles l., when that King
and his bride were entertained at Bur-
leigh, was served up at the table in a
cold pie, whence he jumped on the Ia
ble-cloth fully armed, and made passes
at the ladies with his little sword. There
is a a r old picture of this amusing in
cident in the dwarf's career. The
Duchess presented him on that occa-
sion to Henrietta Maria, who was
highly pleased-Nith him and kept him
as her dwarf for many years afterward.
Poor Jeffrey was continually squab-
bling with the people about court,
more especially with The giant porter of
the palace. On one occasion he was
nearly drowned in the basin he was
washing his face and hands in. Anoth-
er time a large shrub was the only OBJ
StdClc UCtWtCu HILL duu ucdGu NY
drowning in the Thames. In 1880 he
was dispatched on q domestic mission
for Henrietta Maria, and returning
richly laden with presents from Mary
of Medicis to her daughter, he was
made prisoner by Dunkirk privateers.
Jeffrey fought a duel with a Mr.. Crofts,
who came to the rendezvous armed
with nothing more formidable than a
squirr. Jeffrey, who was not inclined
to submit tamely to such an insult, in
sisted upon fighting a real duel, and
shot his antagonist dead Immediately.
Jctfrey's portrait was painted several
times by Mytens and Vandyke, and his
smart little waistcoat, breeches and
stockings are preserved in the Ashmo-
can Museum, at Oxford. Matthew
Buckinger was another celebrated
dwarf, with neither hands, feet, legs
nor thighs; he had, however, two ex-
~crescences like fins growing from his
shoulders, with which he wrote and
performed many curious tricks, among
which may be mentioned drawing pic
: lures with a pen, playing at dice, play
p NO on the hautboy, threading needles,
: blaving at cards, blowing a trumpet,
y JC. COSCPuO OIu NV 4doAAs "No
: Ple for his wit and repartees. He went
0 see the great Empress Maria
+ Theresa when about fourteen years of
r &c and twenty-eight inches high. The
II Empress took him on her lap and
sked what was the most wonderful
70 light he had seen at Vienna. He an
s. wered ..To see such a little man on
D great a lady's lap" The Empress
w adj a splendid diamond ring on the
lis and in which she held one of Boruw-
he ,ski's. Seeing him apparently alb
brbcd in admiration of the jewel, she
ne skcd him how he liked it, when he
,ry %purteously replied that it was not the
x. ng, but the beautiful hand he was
at Poking at, which he wanted to KISS.
his he Empress allowed him the honor,
a I'd taking q little ring from Marie An
ce- Pinette's finger she placed it on
oruwlaski's. The celebrated Bebe,
r 9 hose real name was Nicholas teny or
ind Try, dwarf of Stanislaus Lesckzlnsk,'
e aged dethroned King OF Poland
ow Rs born at Plaisness, in the Vosges.
and e was taken in a plate to be christ
ed, he was so remarkably tiny Al