PARES CUM PARIBUS.
REFLECTIONS ON THE FATAL HISTORY OF THE SCOTCH GIANTESS, WHO POISONED HERSELF ON suNDAY LAST.
WHAT a tragical history is this of the Scotch Giantess and her husband ! It is full of points of fearful interest. The mysterious groans from the caravan—its inspection by L. No. 117—the horri- ble sight of the lady's sprawling her six feet six inches on the floor, in the agonies of arsenic—and her sympathetic little spouse, who had drained her poison-cup to the dregs, and laid himself retching by her side in conjugal fondness. How great must have been the despair of the heroine, imprisoned in her moveable tower ! how deep must have been the jealousy of the dwarf-keeper, with his rattling money-bag in his belt, and the keys of office dangling by his side ! One of the most effective points of Mrs. SHELLEY'S wild and fearful novel of' Frankenstein, is the scene where the monster's lam yellow eye is detected looking in at the cracks of the window-shutter; how similar is the effect of the furtive glances of the Spanish Polyphemus, as caught leering down upon
the "lady of the tower,' by the dwarf impediment to their love! In vain did the keeper remove from place to place—in vain was the " show " shifted from St. James's to Bethlem : there was the monster always on his track—always maring his happiness, and disturbing his connubial bliss.
"The husband, who is not more than half the size of his wife, as soon as it was possible, removed his better half from the exhibition, and wheeled her off in his four-wheeled resideace to the space of ground near Bethlem Hospital. A few evenings after, whilst Freeman and his wife were sitting in the caravan, which is very commodiously constructed, Mr. Freeman, to his astonishment, perceived his rival, the 'Spanish Giant,' looking through his carriage-window, which, from his immense height, he could do without much trouble."
Mr. FREEMAN, though a small man, ran out seeking mortal combat; but the intruder had disappeared, thanks to his five league boots.
"From that moment Freeman and his spouse had lived upon the most unhappy terms ; and she would frequently seize her husband by the back of the neck, andhold him at arms' length, till he was nearly choked."
This is in the style of the Brobdignagian princess, Glumdal- clitch, when she would chastise Gulliver or Grildrig. But on comes the catastrophe: despair—jealousy—remorse—suicide in couples.
"On Saturday night, Freeman went out and did not return till early on Sunday morning, when he found his wife had taken poison (arsenic) ; and perceiving a portion of it left in the tea-cup, he swallowed it oil; and was immediately after seized with violent retchings, and soon became in- sensible, as discovered by the police constable."
This history is a warning to little men against tall wives ; of Whom, be it said, they are improperly ambitious. Parity of situa- tion in life is rightly considered a wise condition in marriage : in future, we trust, the importance of equality of height will be duly felt. The fatal consequences of disparity are here signally dis- played. Pares cunzparibus : it was on this principle that the Spanish giant looked in at the window.
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