The change of name from Charles S. Stratton to General Tom Thumb was a stroke of Barnum’s inspiration, and it contributed largely to the General’s subsequent success. Tom Thumb is the most appropriate name a dwarf ever had, and besides it possessed the advantage of some familiarity from the story of the legendary Tom Thumb, of whom it will be remembered: “In Arthur’s court Tom Thumbe did live, A man of mickle might, The best of all the table round, And eke a doughty knight; His stature but an inch in height, Or quarter of a span; Then think you not this little knight Was prov’d a valiant man?” According to nursery lore, the legendary Tom Thumbe was swallowed by a cow when he crossed the cow’s blade of grass but was soon delivered up again from the cow’s stomach, only to meet his death by a bumble bee after a series of valiant adventures. Barnum’s addition of “General” to Tom Thumb enriched the name by a pompous mockery that was more valuable because of its incongruity. General Tom Thumb was soon domesticated to the ways of public exhibition. Barnum taught his pupil day and night new jokes and old rôles, which he learned quickly, for the child, according to Barnum, had a love of the ludicrous and a humorous charm. When he was ready to make his début, Barnum took General Tom Thumb first on a tour of the newspaper offices, and even invaded the home of one newspaper editor, who happened to be eating dinner. Tom Thumb danced between the tumblers and hopped over the roast. James Gordon Bennett wrote in the _Herald_ on December 15, 1842: “We were visited yesterday by the comical little gentleman who is at present holding nightly levees at the American Museum. He is certainly the smallest specimen of a man we have ever seen.” The General’s popularity was immediate, and after the first four-weeks’ engagement was finished, Barnum reëngaged him for one year at seven dollars a week, with a bonus of fifty dollars at the end of the engagement. It is clear that neither General Tom Thumb nor his father had any idea of the value of a dwarf, and Barnum took advantage of the age of the boy and the ignorance of his father. Barnum also retained the privilege of sending the General on a tour of the country. Before the end of the year Barnum increased Tom Thumb’s salary to twenty-five dollars per week, and he assures us that the General deserved the raise. Besides exhibiting frequently at the Museum, where he sang songs, danced, and told stories in the pert and saucy manner of people who are too small to be slapped, General Tom Thumb was sent to other cities, where he made money for Barnum and advertised the American Museum.