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Yet all aspire beyond their fate;
The least, the meanest would be great;
The mighty future fills the mind,
That pants for more than earth can give ;
Man, in this narrow sphere confin'd,
Dies when he but begins to live.

Oh! if there be no world on high
To yield his powers unfetter'd scope;
If man be only born to die,

Whence this inheritance of hope?
Wherefore to him alone were lent
Riches that never can be spent?
Enough-not more-to all the rest,
For life and happiness, was given;
To man, mysteriously unblest,
Too much for any state but Heaven.

It is not thus ;-it cannot be,

That one so gloriously endow'd With views that reach eternity,

Should shine and vanish like a cloud :

Is there a God?-All nature shows
There is, and yet no mortal knows :

The mind that could this truth conceive,
Which brute sensation never taught,

No longer to the dust would cleave, But grow immortal at the thought.

J. MONTGOMERY.

Biography.

COUNT BOURWLASKI, THE DWARF.

THERE appears to be no reason

drawn from either physiology or analogy, why the most astonishing powers of intellect, the soundest sense, the most luxuriant imagination, should not take up their abode in those abridgments of human nature, called Dwarfs. Even were we so unhappy as to yield our assent to the startling and humiliating propositions, "that medullary substance is capable of sensation and thought," "that the phenomena of mind result entirely from bodily structure," and "that Shakspeare's and Newton's superiority consisted only in having an extra inch of brain in the right place," we might still stand up in support of the mental capabilities of the pigmy race. Messrs. Lawrence, Spurzheim, &c. must confess, that the brain of a Dwarf bears, at least, the same proportion to the weight of his whole body as that of a fullgrown man, and, in many instances, a much larger, if we were permitted to judge from the size of the casket which contains it. Large heads, however,

are almost proverbially indicative of small brains; and those little beings whose Lilliputian character has been stamped, not by injury pr or or subsequent to birth, but by the finger of Nature herself, are often beautifully proportioned in every respect, perfect and pleasing miniatures of the human animal. If, from speculating, on the possibility of having dwarf statesmen, philosophers, and poets, we proceed to inquire into the results of actual experience, we shall indeed find less reason to expect a Locke thirty inches high, or an epic poem written by fingers no thicker than a goose-quill.-Genius, indeed, would be no compensation for tiny stature; on the contrary, it would considerably aggravate the misfortune of personal singularity. That acute sensibility, that proud consciousness of superiority, which usually accompany strong mental powers, would for ever torment and distress the tenant of a ridiculously small body. Better, happier is it for Dwarfs, that instead of being wise, they are vain; that they

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are generally great admirers of their
own curious little figures, amused by
dressing and decorating them, and in-
clining, like a conceited woman, pre-
posterously attired, to mistake the
stare of astonishment for that of ad-
miration. On the score of intellect
they feel equally comfortable: every
thing they say is listened to with atten-
tion, and its merit, by an almost una-
voidable mistake, magnified by the
smallness of their stature. Compli-
ments, witticisms, and remarks, which
would be considered very common-
place if they issued from a mouth five
feet from the ground, are highly ap-
plauded when they proceed from one
at half the distance.

The Count Boruwlaski, of whom every one has heard, has given his memoirs to the world, a singular specimen of pigmy auto-biography, from which considerable entertainment might be expected. They are preceded by an eulogy from the pen of one of his friends, who affirms that "Nature has endowed the Count with a mind superior to the generality of men," and that having "seen much of mankind in various stations of life, though considered more as a plaything than as a companion, he had omitted no opportunity of making remarks." On perusing the book, we confess ourselves unable to discover any proof of either of these assertions: we see no glimpses of superior mind, we find no traces of a habit of observation.-The Count Boruwlaski was a great traveller, he visited nearly the whole of Europe, and a considerable part of Asia; his pecuniary circumstances opened the middle and lower classes to his inspection, while his size admitted him into palaces, and introduced him to the most distinguished characters; yet we hear nothing new or entertaining of either persons or places, and the compliments and repartees which gained him rings and caresses, appear to lose all their merit when transferred to paper. Neither have we any particulars as to the workings of his own mind under the circumstances of his very peculiar fate; and over the most interesting relations of his life, he has thrown a veil of pride, of prudence, or of deli

cacy, at once tantalizing and impolitic, which provokes the curiosity it refuses to gratify, and occasions suspicions and conjectures for which there may possibly be no foundation.

His days appear to have glided on, if not in a very happy, in a very similar manner, without any of the fatal celebrity which attended Jeffery Hudson, the Dwarf of whom England makes her boast. This curious little creature was born in 1619 at Oakham, in Rutlandshire, as a compliment, we suppose, to the size of the county. At seven years old he was eighteen inches high, and continued in all the preeminence of this extraordinary elevation till the age of thirty, when he shot up to the comparatively gigantic stature of three feet nine inches. By his fair mistress, Henrietta Maria, this progressive increase must have been watched with unmixed vexation; while Jeffery himself was perhaps divided between his love of consequence and his dislike of ridicule, between his desire of escaping the jests and insults of the courtiers and attendants, and his fear of losing the perquisites and privileges of Dwarf to the Queen. He stopped,however, far below the height where wonder ends and insignificance begins, revelled in former favour, and fretted under former scoffs. His introduction to her Majesty was curiously managed. He was served up in a cold pie at an entertainment given by the Duke of Buckingham to Charles I. and his Queen, soon after their marriage, and presented to Henrietta Maria by the Duchess, his former mistress. Royal favour and caresses gave him high notions of his own importance, and thus, increasing the natural waspishness of his disposition, rendered him little able to bear with patience the inevitable consequences of his pigmy stature; and he was once so provoked by a young gentleman named Crofts, that he immediately sent him a challenge. His antagonist, in contemptuous wantonness, came to the appointment armed with a squirt, which so angered theLilliputian that a duel absolutely ensued. It has been said, in defence of that honourable system of deliberate murder called duelling, that it is the only security men of inferior stature

possess from the insolence of brutal strength; and that it may fully answer this purpose was fatally proved by the event of this extraordinary contest. The parties met on horseback, and armed with pistols, in order to equalize, as much as possible, their advantages. The Dwarf fired, and Mr. Crofts fell dead at his feet. Nor was this the only important adventure of Jeffery's life. He was once taken prisoner by the Dunkirkers on his return from France, whither he had been to fetch a midwife for the Queen; and again, on another occasion, he became the captive of a Turkish pirate. He followed his mistress when she took refuge in France, and returned with her at the Restoration; and at length, in 1682, being suspected of a concern in the Popish plot, was imprisoned in the Gatehouse, Westminster, where he died soon afterwards, in the 63d year of his age.

Count Boruwlaski, both from his own memoirs, and from common report, appears in a much more advantageous light than his English rival; and, while we doubt the superiority of his intellect, we readily credit all that has been said of the kindliness of his disposition, of his gratitude, his vivacity, and we can ourselves speak to the gentlemanly, the courtly polish of his man

ners.

He was born in Polish Russia, the son of a gentleman of respectability, who, dying early in life, left his widow and family in straitened circumstances. The Count's parents were both of middle height, and had six children alternately tall and short, three shooting into manly proportions, while the rest kept each other in countenance as Dwarfs. One of the Count's brothers, six feet four in height, was of, a very delicate constitution, while the little gentleman himself, born at the almost invisible size of eight inches, and taking thirty years to accomplish his ultimate elevation of three feet three, and his eldest brother, who was only three inches taller, enjoyed robust health, and in infancy gave their mother no greater trouble than, one may suppose, must always be occasioned by children of the Tom Thumb species, who may

be drowned in a basin of milk, trodden to death by a cat, concealed in the folds of a rumpled pocket-han dkerchief, lost in a bed of spinage, and carried away in a lady's reticule. We may remark, en passant, that dwarfs are, in general, superior to giants, both in health and longevity, which appears to overthrow the hypothesis of Adam's having exceeded the present race of men in stature, as in age. Surely, as man approached nearer to those dimensions which belong to him in the energy and freshness of recent creation, his physical powers would be more likely to improve than to deteriorate, and his life to approximate more closely to antediluvian length.

The Count was taken from his mother by her friend, the Starostin de Caorlix, and, on that lady's second marriage, passed into the favour of the Countess Humiecka, of distinguished family, rank, and beauty. With her he travelled through a considerable part of Europe, his size every where procuring him much attention and many privileges. Even the jealousy of a Turkish Pasha found no food for suspicion in his diminutive person, and Joujou (as the Count was then called) was admitted into the innermost apartments of a seraglio. He was clasped in the arms, and seated on the lap of Maria Theresa, who placed on his tiny finger a ring drawn from the hand of the unfortunate Maria Antoinette, then only six years old. At Luneville he was honoured by the notice of Stanislaus, the titular King of Poland, at whose court he was introduced to one of his fraternity, in the person of the renowned Bebe, dwarf to that monarch. Joujou, however, on being measured with his rival, had the proud satisfaction of finding himself three inches the superior in littleness, but in mental stature he far surpassed Bebe, whose understanding was little beyond the intelligence of a well-taught pointer. At Paris Joujou was most kindly received. M. Bouret, the farmer-general, gave him an entertainment, at which all the plates, knives, forks, &c. were proportioned to the size of his guest, and the eatables were ortolans, beccaficos, and other dainties of Lilli

putian dimensions. It was this Bouret who, having invited some person of distinction to dine with him early in the spring, treated him with peas at a guinea a quart. The following year, at the same season, the visiter received a second invitation, and begged M. Bouret not to purchase peas again at this exorbitant price, as he could make a very good dinner without them. His host bowed in acquiescence, and the first thing his guest saw on entering M. Bouret's grounds, was a red cow feasting on a pailful of the dainty vegetables he had refused.

young lady, named Isalina, residing in the Countess Humiecka's family, but in what capacity we are not informed, of middle stature, expressive countenance, amiable temper, and never-failing vivacity. The Count says, with a happy but amusing vanity, "I had made an impression on the tender heart of Isalina; and, indeed, how could I fail, my love being guided by sincerity, and her want of fortune proving my disinterestedness ?" We cannot help suspecting that the Count might have met with ladies, who, though equally convinced of his sincere and disinterested affection, might have been less ready to reward it with the gift of their hands.

From Paris the Countess Humiecka repaired to Holland, while Joujou ❝ sequitur non passibus æquis," and from thence to Warsaw, the capital of - their native country. Here the Count Boruwlaski, by his own confession, became a little irregular in his habits, frequented the theatre, and was guilty of a few indiscretions. A little good advice and reflection, however, speedily stopped him in his career of dissipation, and he regained the favour of the Countess, who shortly afterwards discouraged Stanislaus II. from bestowing an estate upon her protegé. How completely does such conduct explain, and degrade, the motives which induced her ladyship to take Joujou under her patronage! how does it transmute gold into lead, and change benevolence and compassion into a mean spirit of selfishness, a puerile love of possessing what is curious, and a contemptible desire of keeping the poor little Count dependent on her alone! We must do him the justice to say, that he avoids all harsh language with respect to his early benefactress, and speaks of her behaviour to him in more moderate terms than, from his own account, it deserved. Among other inadvertent or designed omissions, he has neglected to state the year in which he was born; and from the memoirs before us we are unable to discover his age at any one period of his adventures. We learn, however, from another source, that it was at the mature age of forty-one when the calm tenor of his days was first disturbed by the admission of love into his hitherto peaceful bosom. The object of his attachment was a

At

"The course of true love never yet ran smooth;" and, notwithstanding the lady's kindness, obstacles interfered to retard poor Joujou's felicity. Countess disapproved his attachment, banished Isalina from her house, and confined the tiny lover to his own room for a fortnight. With the art, the bribery, or the eloquence of lovers "of a larger growth," the Count contrived to gain the servant who was set to guard him, and to establish a correspondence with his dear Isalina. Two of his love-letters are given, as specimens of Lilliputian courtship. length the Countess sent a messenger to her little prisoner with offers of amity, on condition of his resigning Isalina, but threatened the immediate loss of her protection if he persisted in his attachment. A lover six feet high could not have abandoned more magnanimously fortune and favour for poverty and love. He left the Countess Humiecka's house, and threw himself at Isalina's feet. Fortunately, Prince Casimir had interested himself in the Dwarf's amour, and had procured for him a pension of a hundred ducats from his brother, the King. The Count says, that "the Nuncio, misinformed by the Countess, endeavoured, by some ridiculous pretext, to prevent the marriage;" but Royalty itself interfered, every objection was overruled, and the happy pair were united.

The Count observes a most mysterious silence on all the subsequent events of his matrimonial life; and it

is impossible to avoid suspecting that "they two, who with so many thousand sighs did buy each other," did not live in the harmony that might have been expected, or that the lovely, lively Isalina disappointed the fond anticipations of her little husband.

Certain it is that, finding his pension unequal to his wants, he took the advice of his friend, Prince Casimir, and resolved to revisit the different Courts of Europe; and that from the 57th page of his "Memoirs," where he says, 66 the idea of seeing my beloved Isalina in misery did not permit me long to enjoy the happiness of possessing her," to the 383d, which concludes the volume, the name of his "beloved Isalina" is not again mentioned, nor is there the slightest allusion to his matrimonial ties. He evidently travelled alone; and amidst all his cares and comforts, those of the husband and the father remain unnoticed yet his wife bore him several daughters; and we can remember reading in some old news-paper, or magazine, an account of the christening of one of them, born, we suppose, in this country, to whom several persons of distinction acted as sponsors.

To return to the Count's travels. Provided, by order of the King, with a convenient coach, such a one, perhaps, as appears in the pantomine of Gulliver, he left Warsaw, and proceeded to Vienna, where he gave a concert. Disappointed by its indifferent success, he seems to have directed all his hopes towards the most uncivilized countries; and considering that he declares his travels had profit, not amusement or information for their object, we cannot but feel astonished at the route he chose to select. He visited Hungary, Turkey, Arabia, Syria, Astracan, Finland, Lapland, and Nova Zembla. His friends strongly dissuaded him from visiting the latter place, and foretold that a concert would not thrive on so barbarous a soil; but the Count was obstinate, and confesses that he afterwards repented his pertinacity. He appears to have been once in some danger from the impetuous curiosity of the natives, who surrounded the house in which he was, and insisted on his

coming forth. Like Blucher, he obeyed, and the savages devoutly "thanked the Sun for showing them such a man;" which "flattering compliment," as the Count fortunately considered it, induced him to play them a tune on his guitar. The wondering auditors returned this civility by the gift of some sables. The rambling Lilliputian next visited Tobolsk and Kamschatka, and proceeded as far as Behring's Straits, occasionally procuring a lucrative concert to defray his travelling expenses. On his return towards Europe, he stopped at Catherineburg, where the Director of the Siberian mines resided, who paid the Count considerable attention. This director must have been a wonderful man, not only a profound observer of events himself, but the cause of profound observation in others; for a short conversation with him on politics led Count Boruwlaski to believe," that there is a large apple-dumpling made, and now boiling in the pot, for certain princes, which must in due time be ready for their dinner.” The Count gives us another digression, occasioned by the sight of the "Henriade” in a gentleman's library, in order to favour us with an account of his introduction to M. de Voltaire. The first sight of the philosopher produced a most unusual effect on his little admirer-it completely silenced him. When the first surprise was over, he made a speech in explanation of his taciturnity and in praise of Voltaire; on hearing which, "the eyes of that respectable old philosopher filled with an expression of surprise and delight," which he manifested by snatching up the pigmy panegyrist in his arms.

Retracing his steps, the Count returned to Germany, visited Munich and other cities, and at Tiersdorff was persuaded by the Margrave and Margravine of Anspach to try his fortune in England. Through this and the sister countries he made expeditions for many years, and sometimes, we believe, exhibiting himself in a less equivocal manner. At length, just as he was on the point of setting out for America, he received from some kind and generous friends a sum sufficient to

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