size, had nothing positively ugly in his countenance, or actually
distorted in his limbs. His head, hands, and feet were indeed large,
and disproportioned to the height of his body, and his body itself much
thicker than was consistent with symmetry, but in a degree which was
rather ludicrous than disagreeable to look upon. His countenance, in
particular, had he been a little taller, would have been accounted, in
youth, handsome, and now, in age, striking and expressive; it was but
the uncommon disproportion betwixt the head and the trunk which made the
features seem whimsical and bizarre--an effect which was considerably
increased by the dwarf's moustaches, which it was his pleasure to wear
so large, that they almost twisted back amongst, and mingled with, his
grizzled hair.

The dress of this singular wight announced that he was not entirely free
from the unhappy taste which frequently induces those whom nature has
marked by personal deformity, to distinguish, and at the same time to
render themselves ridiculous, by the use of showy colours, and garments
fantastically and extraordinarily fashioned. But poor Geoffrey Hudson's
laces, embroideries, and the rest of his finery, were sorely worn and
tarnished by the time which he had spent in jail, under the vague and
malicious accusation that he was somehow or other an accomplice in
this all-involving, all-devouring whirlpool of a Popish conspiracy--an
impeachment which, if pronounced by a mouth the foulest and most
malicious, was at that time sufficiently predominant to sully the
fairest reputation. It will presently appear, that in the poor man's
manner of thinking, and tone of conversation, there was something
analogous to his absurd fashion of apparel; for, as in the latter, good
stuff and valuable decorations were rendered ludicrous by the fantastic
fashion in which they were made up; so, such glimmerings of good sense
and honourable feeling as the little man often evinced, were made
ridiculous by a restless desire to assume certain airs of importance,
and a great jealousy of being despised, on account of the peculiarity of
his outward form.

After the fellow-prisoners had looked at each other for some time in
silence, the dwarf, conscious of his dignity as first owner of their
joint apartment, thought it necessary to do the honours of it to the
new-comer. "Sir," he said, modifying the alternate harsh and squeaking
tones of his voice into accents as harmonious as the