AND AMERICAN RURAL SPORTS. 



107 



moral exigency, and also of reasoning and intellectual exi- 

 gency; so much of moral and intellectual motive adapted 

 to the circumstances and moral requirement of the case, 

 that if the cause principal be referred to any power within 

 the consciousness of the creature, we must inevitably pro- 

 nounce it to be a moral and intellectual being. But surely 

 we shall not assert this from the mere appearance of the 

 thing, and without reference to the general quality of the 

 animal's nature as a ivhole, which clearly, and for the 

 reasons I have already dwelt upon, marks its limit, and de- 

 signates it to be neither moral nor intellectual as to its pro- 

 per consciousness; — thus not at all so in itself, but only 

 apparently so, by being acted upon by some powers or 

 agency above the stream of its consciousness; and which 

 agency must unquestionably be of a moral and intellectual 

 character, or it never could impel the animal to the exercise 

 of those powers of which it is conscious, in the perform- 

 ance of actions possessing the strongest possible moral cha- 

 racteristics. (To be continued. J 



DWARFS. 



Among the varieties of nature in the human species, we 

 may reckon Dwarfs and Giants. Deceived by some optical 

 illusion, the ancient historians gravely mention whole na- 

 tions of pigmies as existing in remote quartersof the world. 

 The more accurate observations of the moderns, however, 

 convince us that these accounts are entirely fabulous. 



The existence, therefore, of a pigmy race of mankind, 

 being founded in error or in fable, we can expect to find 

 men of diminutive stature only by accident, among men of 

 the ordinary size. Of these accidental dwarfs, every coun- 

 try, and almost every village, can produce numerous in- 

 stances. There was a time when these unfavourable chil- 

 dren of Nature were the peculiar favourites of the great, 

 and no prince, or nobleman, thought himself completely 

 attended, unless he had a dwarf among the number of his 

 domestics. These poor little men were kept to be laughed 

 at, or to raise the barbarous pleasure of their masters, by 

 their contrasted inferiority. Even in England, as late as 

 the time of King James the First, the court was at one time 

 furnished with a dwarf, a giant, and a jester. These the 

 king often took a pleasure in ojDposing to each other, and 

 often fomented quarrels among them, in order to be a con- 

 cealed spectator of their animosity. 



It was in the same spirit that Peter of Russia, in the 

 year 1710, celebrated a marriage of dwarfs. This monarch, 

 though raised by his native genius far above a barbarian, 

 was, nevertheless, still many degrees removed from actual 



refinement. His pleasures, therefore, were of the vulgar 

 kind; and this was among the number. Upon a certain 

 day, which he had ordered to be proclaimed several months 

 before, he invited the whole body of his courtiers, and all 

 the foreign ambassadors, to be present at the marriage of a 

 pigmy man and woman. The preparations for thiswedding 

 were not only very grand, but executed in a style of bar- 

 barous ridicule. He ordered, that all the dwarf men and 

 women, within two hundred miles, should repair to the 

 capital; and also insisted, that they should be present at the 

 ceremony. For this purpose, he supplied them with proper 

 vehicles; but so contrived it, that one horse was seen car- 

 rying a dozen of them into the city at once, while the mob 

 followed shouting and laughing from behind. Some of 

 them were at first unwilling to obey an order, which they 

 knew was calculated to turn them into ridicule, and did not 

 come; but he soon obliged them to obey; and, as a punish- 

 ment, enjoined that they should wait upon the rest at din- 

 ner. The whole company of dwarfs amounted to seventy, 

 beside the bride and bridegroom, who were richly adorned, 

 and in the extremity of the fashion. For this company in 

 miniature, every thing was suitably provided; a low table, 

 small plates, little glasses, and, in short, every thing was 

 so fitted, as if all things had been dwindled to their own 

 standard. It was his great pleasure to see their gravity 

 and their pride; the contention of the women for places, 

 and the men for superiority. This point he attempted to 

 adjust, by ordering that the most diminutive should take 

 the lead; but this bred disputes, for none would then con- 

 sent to sit foremost. All this, however, being at last set- 

 tled, dancing followed the dinner, and the ball was opened 

 with a minuet by the bridegroom, who measured exactly 

 three feet two inches high. In the end matters were so 

 contrived, that this little company, who met together in 

 gloomy pride, and unwilling to be pleased, being at last fa- 

 miliarized to laughter, joined in the diversion, and became, 

 as the journalist tells us, extremely sprightly and entertain- 

 ing. 



But the most complete history of a dwarf is preserved 

 by M. Daubenton, in his Natural History. This dwarf, 

 whose name was Baby, was well known, having spent the 

 greatest part of his life at Luneville, in the palace of Stan- 

 islaus, the titular king of Poland. He was born in the vil- 

 lage of Plaisne, in France, in the year 1741. His father 

 and mother were peasants, both of good constitutions, and 

 inured to a life of husbandry and labour. Baby, when born, 

 weighed but a pound and a quarter. We are not informed 

 of the dimensions of his body at that time, but we may 

 conjecture they were verj' small, as he was presented on a 

 plate to be baptized, and for a long time lay in a slipper. 

 His mouth, although proportioned to the rest of his body, 



