The Vermont watchman. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1883-1911, 1892-08-10

Philip Kent has an article on the
above subject in the Gentleman'S Mag
ozine. He quotes Balzac's remark that
the little fellows are the fellows for
work." and has gathered together a
number of instances in illustration of
the proverb that the best goods are
packed in the smallest bundles" Mr..
Kent has already discovered a very
large number of great little men. He
mentions Atilla, " the scourge of God;"
Aetius, communicating chief of the Ro-
man troops in the time of Valentinian;
Tlmour the Tartar, the terror of the
world" Charles Martel, Condo, Mar
shall Luxembourg, Sir Francis Drake
and Admiral Keppel-" little KEEP
pei " and "the beardless boy" as he
was called-these were all small men.
Titus was one of the smallest and best
of Roman emperors. Frederick the
Great was below the average height.
Oliver Cromwell lowered over his gen.
Grafton mentally, but was lacking in
inches. Both Napoleon and Yelling
ton are described as small men, the
little corporal " only standing about
five feet one and three-quarters in his
stockings, while the iron duke" rose
above him only six inches. Nelson,
five feet four, comes midway between
the vic or and victim of Waterloo.
Among men of letters the same re-
markable preponderance of little men
is found. Esop was misshapen hop
o'-my- thumb. Horace was little, sleek
and fat, and the Emperor Augustus is
on record as having written to him that
Though lacked he inches, he lacked
not paunch." Confucius only reached
middle height. Milton was short in
stature. Dryden was so dumpy that he
was called Poet SQUAD" Macaulay
was also dumpy, and Mrs. Carlyle
speaks of poor little Dickens" Moore
was only five feet, Cowper barely
reached middle height, Pope was a
pigmy of four feet six, Voltaire and
Scarron were mere liliputians, while
Swift was stout, ungainly man of five
feet eight. Lytton was five feet six,
Anthony Trollope five feet ten, and
John Stuart Mill five feet eight.
Among the artists, Bruneschelli and
Michael Angelo were small men, Chris
topher Wren's surname fitted his stat
ure, Turner was very small, and Gar
rick was known as "little Dave"
Among theologians, Calvin was little
man, Luther reached middle height,
whilst Melancthon and Erasmus were
mere mites. Bishop Wilberforce, known
as 'Soapy SAM" measured five feet
three, whilst his father, the great Will
berforce who led the ant-slavery cru
SADIE in England, is described as " a
mere shrimp of man, whom you
might easily have mistaken for baboon
in rusty broadcloth." Even among
great lawyers and statesmen, with
whom dignity supplies often lack of
great mental power, the rule holds
good. Dryden speaks of Lord Shaftes.
bury's pigmy body, and Lord Somers,
Sir Alexander Gockburn and Lord
Chancellor Westbury, nicknamed Lit
tie Bethel" are spoken of as small
men. Adolph Theirs, the first presi-
dent of the present French republic, is
described as "soft and sausage-like on
the whole, five feet three at most, and
ends neatly in fat hands and feet"
Lord John Russell was little man.
Gladstone is five feet eight, and Disraeli
was five feet nine.
These are, of course, Europeans, nur-
tured on soil that has ceased to be
favorable to the development of bone
and muscle. The distinguished men of
America will probably show greater
average height. Our presidents have
generally been tall men. Washington,
| Lincoln, Monroe and Arthur rose con-
siderably above six feet, and Jefferson,
Jackson, the elder Harrison, Fillmore
and Pierce were also above the average
height. The shortest man in the list
was Madison, while Grant was about
the height of the present executive.
Douglas, who became the idol of his
party, and had probably the most pow
erful intellect and the highest qualities
for leadership since Jefferson, was about
five feet two, was called " the Little
Giant" and was told that he could never
be president, because his coat-tails
hung too near the ground" One OF
the best equipped statesmen who ever
sat in the presidents chair was John
Quincy Adams, a man of small stature
and not imposing presence. - Troy