and her dry goods have our sincere compassion. We hope that the wedding will pass off pleasantly to-morrow, and that no speculating Barnum will henceforward overshadow the happy pair.” There was a part of the population who visited the Museum in order to comment lasciviously on this unusual engagement and its probable results, but this could hardly be blamed on Barnum. There was a larger part of those present who visited the couple because to them a marriage between two “cute” personalities was a “cute” spectacle, and it was for this effect that Barnum was undoubtedly striving. He had never before in his career catered to the propensities towards lewdness inherent in men and women, and he never did so again; there is no reason to believe that by this wedding he wished to attract those interested in abnormal sex suggestions. The _Herald’s_ contention, based as it was on the deep-rooted antagonism of James Gordon Bennett to Barnum’s personality, was far-fetched, to say the least. The wedding of General Tom Thumb and Lavinia Warren took place at Grace Church, Tuesday, February 10, 1863, when the General was twenty-five years old, and his bride twenty-two. The governors of several states, members of Congress, army generals, millionaires, and men and women of old New York ancestry were the spectators. President Lincoln and his wife sent the couple a “gorgeous set of Chinese fire screens.” Mrs. Cornelius Vanderbilt gave them “a coral and gold-set brooch, ear-rings and studs of the finest workmanship,” and Mrs. August Belmont sent “a splendid set of silver chaste charms.” The neighborhood of Grace Church was crowded as if for a public procession, and people waited hours for the privilege of seeing the diminutive bride and groom enter the church. The invited guests were attired in full dress, and the women wore what a contemporary called “opera costume.” In front of the altar a platform three feet high had been erected and covered with Brussels carpet in order that the little couple could be seen and could see. At noon Barnum and the bridal party arrived at the church, followed by Commodore Nutt and Miss Minnie Warren. General Tom Thumb had respectfully applied to Bishop Potter to perform the ceremony, and the Bishop had consented, but pressure was brought to bear on his sense of propriety, and he finally decided that it would be better for him to take back his promise. Two clergymen read the services, and Mr. Morgan played operatic selections on the church organ.