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Sketch Of The Life, Personal Appearance, Character And Manners Of Charles S. Stratton, The Man In Miniature, Known As General Tom Thumb, And His Wife, Lavinia Warren Stratton; Including The History Of Their Courtship And Marriage, With Some Account Of Remarkable Dwarfs, Giants, & Other Human Phenomena, Of Ancient And Modern Times, And Songs Given At Their Public Levees

Creator: n/a
Date: 1863
Publisher: Press of Wynkoop & Hallenbeck, New York
Source: Robert Bogdan Collection
Figures From This Artifact: Figure 1  Figure 2  Figure 3  Figure 4  Figure 5  Figure 6  Figure 7  Figure 8  Figure 9  Figure 10  Figure 11  Figure 12

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THE BRIDE AND BRIDEGROOM stood on the east side of the room, during the hour of reception. The face of General Tom Thumb literally brimmed with happiness. He suggested the idea of a bottle of champagne when the cork's drawn; he looked like a little Adam, who had just waked up and found a certain Lavinia Warren Eve ready waiting for him, and manufactured out of his ribs. The General has reason to be happy and proud. The little lady who stood demurely at his side is a dictionary of beauty and sweetness. Her face is beautiful, both in regularity of feature and amiability of expression. Her delicate, cheeks were somewhat, but not unbecomingly, flushed by the excitement of the occasion.

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THE DRESS OF THE BRIDE was elegant and unique. It consisted of white satin, sprinkled with rich green leaves, and looped with carnation buds. Her hair was arranged ordule in front, and relexe in double rolls. Her tiny, snowflake hands were arrayed in white kids. She received the congratulations of the crowd with grace and self-possession. Her voice is small, but not unpleasant; the looks which accompany it furnish more language than the words. General Tom Thumb himself, attired in plain black, was the perfection of delight. Commodore Nutt is in New York -- perhaps this is one cause for the General's supreme happiness. The bride's sister is also left behind, and the newly-wedded pair are, therefore, left to themselves alone. The

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SCENES IN THE RECEPTION ROOM ought to have been photographed. The obsequious domestic at the door, in "epaulets" and a white cravat, the buzzing of' the shifting circle, the light and the heat, and the jam, and the squeeze; the echoed frantic appeals for entrance of ladies fourteen deep at the key-hole; the two tiny creatures who seemed to realize Shakspeare's thought when he said that "dwarfish pages were as cherubims;" the supper-table for whose dainties two little mouths were kept watering in vain for hours; -- all these ought to have been photographed, if photography were capable of it.

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THE PASSAGES presented a scene of bewilderment which a Cruikshank might envy. Fancy imps of boys jabbering one deaf, and striking with their every twitch and turn their neighbors in some vital organ; dowagers in lace and satin demanding admittance and refusing to give up tickets; girls scrambling for the door-knob, and threatening to smother the functioning there; youths with their hair parted in the middle, and staring in mute and imbecile wonderment; waiters grinning, and everybody treading on everybody's toes; -- these composed the ever-varying scene, like a human kaleidoscope shaken by the hand of curiosity.

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THE DESTINY of the bride and bridegroom, according to all speculation, will be one of happiness. Posterity may, perhaps, point to them as being the inventors of a race of humanity which, illustrating the conceit of the poet, shall grow "small by degrees and beautifully less." The Chinese have a way of dwarfing trees by directing the growth from the foliage to the flower and fruit. If the happy couple, who, last night, held so brilliant a reception, are small in stature, they at least possess large gifts of intelligence and beauty. Prussian, Russian, Polish, Dutch, English, and Italian dwarfs present from history no more pleasing peculiarities than these two

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Want of space forbids quoting even short extracts from the multitude articles, but one, from the Washington Star, must have a place, and with this we must close the selections:

MOVEMENTS OF GEN. TOM THUMB AND LADY.

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Last evening, at eight o'clock, the little couple visited, by invitation, at the White House, and were introduced to the President, Mrs. Lincoln, Secretaries Chase, Stanton, Welles, Blair, and Usher, and Senator Wilson, Generals Butler and Clay, Hon. J.J. Crittenden, and many other gentlemen of distinction, nearly all of whom were accompanied by their families. The President, in the course of the evening, remarked to General Thumb that he had thrown him completely in the shade; that he (the General) was now the great centre of attraction. Refreshments were served to the guests of the President and Mrs. Lincoln, which the little folks appeared to relish as much as any person present.

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At half-past nine they left the White House, and repaired to Willard's, where they received the members of the Press and a few select friends. At this reception the bride and bridegroom appeared as happy as on the night before, at the hop. The little lady was peculiarly communicative and witty. In an exchange of badinage with the proprietor of the hotel, Mrs. Stratton interfered, and appealed in apparent earnestness, that Mr. C. and her husband would not come to blows. The reception continued for about an hour and a half. During the whole of the time, the General and his lady kept up a spirited conversation with their guests.

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This morning the little couple took their departure, leaving the hotel in a private carriage, in company with their suite, consisting of Mr. Wells (the General's agent), Mr. Pierce (his private secretary), Madame Latain (Mrs. Thumb's maid), and B. Sellers (the General's valet); with Mr. B. Warren, the bride's brother, who is a member of the Fortieth Massachusetts Regiment, and has obtained a short leave of absence -- and took the 11-15 train for Philadelphia. They will stop at her uncle's in that city this afternoon, and spend Sunday, and on Monday proceed to New York. They contemplate visiting Europe shortly.

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