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Again the date was set for our departure for Europe. It was to be in October, and in the interim we were persuaded by Mr. Barnum to give a series of levees at Irving Hall. Younger New Yorkers will ask where that was, and will be surprised to be told it was at the corner of Irving Place and Fifteenth-st., and that it was considered at that time the most aristocratic place in the city.

These levees grew irksome to the General, and I was naturally anxious to go to Europe, so our combined entreaties had the desired effect, and Mr. Barnum selected as his agent Sylvester Bleeker to go with us, and arrange an entertainment which was to include General Tom Thumb and myself, together with Commodore Nutt and Minnie Warren. Mr. Bleeker himself appeared on the stage to accentuate the contrast between ourselves and people of normal size. This arrangement was so successful that Mr. Barnum asked that we fill in the time until October by a trip through New England and Canada.

WE left New York for this trip on the last train that quitted the city before the tracks were torn up the first morning of the draft riots.

After a brief tour through Canada and the United States we sailed on October 29, 1864, in the steamship City of Washington for England. Our voyage occupied fourteen days. Our anticipated arrival had been heralded far and wide, and when we stepped ashore at Liverpool we were greeted by several thousand people. Our carriage could make no progress through the throng until a body of police forced a way for us. Indeed, the General was more than once arrested for obstructing travel, but his lawyer convinced the magistrate that as our carriage was a private equipage its owner would not be held responsible for the actions of street gazers.

Sunday was "Mayor's Day," and the city was thronged with sightseers to witness the procession, which is a gorgeous and stately affair conducted with all the pomp and decorum becoming the dignity of the Mayor's official position. Anxious to see the parade, we placed ourselves on the balcony, when to our dismay the waiting crowd, instead of parting to let the procession through, solidified in front of our window, and halted the procession by mere force of their numbers, while they shouted and gazed, not at the procession, but at us.

Going from Liverpool directly to London, we were there summoned to Marlborough House, to meet the Prince and Princess of Wales, like ourselves, a newly married couple. I was married February 10, 1863, and the Prince of Wales on March of the same year. The Prince told us that he had never forgotten his disappointment on learning that General Tom Thumb had visited his mother, Queen Victoria, once when he (the Prince) had gone to bed.

In December, 1864, we left London for Paris.

The General spoke French readily, but as none of the rest of us did (indeed, I'm such a rampant American, I was never willing to acquire any other than my native language) our intercourse with the people we met was necessarily limited. France was not a Republic then and after being summoned before the Emperor and court our success was assured. The beautiful Eugenie was one to be always remembered, and the Prince Imperial was a manly, handsome boy apparently about nine years old.

On June 2, 1865, we were summoned to appear before Queen Victoria and the royal family at Windsor Castle. We gave an entertainment in the "Rubens Room." Princess Helena, Princess Louise, Princess Beatrice, Prince Leopold, and a number of lords and ladies in waiting were present. At the conclusion of our performance, the Queen signaled for the General and me to approach her. She gently took my hand, and placing it upon her palm, looked at it with a smile, and remarked, "It is smaller than an infant's." Then she questioned me about my home, my parents, and my family, frequently patting my hand as she talked. "I saw your husband many, many years ago," said she. "His name is quite a household word with us." She then reminded the General of the incident of his attacking her King Charles Spaniel. The Princesses gathered around us, and one of them exclaimed, "Oh, look at her dear little feet!"

The Duchess of Argyle took Minnie on her lap, laughingly persisting that so tiny a mite was not too old to sit in her lap, and all present gathered around us, our size breaking down all barriers of court etiquette. After Her Majesty had closed the interview, we were shown about the palace., a privilege we appreciated, as usually when the family is occupying it strangers are excluded.

We visited most of the towns of England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland, two hundred and eight in number.

A comical episode in Glasgow was a source of merriment to our whole party for many days after. As we were driving to the hall one afternoon we met a funeral. The coffin was placed in the bottom of a peculiar vehicle, and the mourners (presumably) sat on either side facing each other, and if not resting their feet on the coffin must have had some difficulty avoiding it. Looking at them with all the sympathy such an occasion is likely to command, we observed the lugubrious expression on their faces change suddenly as they caught sight of our equipage. From simple surprise, it grew to astonished wonderment, and our surprise was no less when, deserting the coffin, they sprang to the roadway and eagerly followed our carriage until they had seen us leave it and enter the hall.