B I0 GRAPH I CA L SKETCHES. 32 7
unguarded ; and, as he turned the corner of the street, waa stabbed to the heart by Roache, who
stood with his sword ready drawn for the barbarous purpose. He received repeated stabs before he
had time to lift even his cane in his defence ; and, when faint with loss of blood, and the many
wounds he had received, he attempted to draw his sword, which he had not now strength to guide.
Roache seized upon it, broke it, and scrupled not to stab him when falling and disarmed, and
instwtly made his escape ; availing himself of the darkness which had SO much assisted him in the
perpetration of this hase and inhuman murder. Captain Fergusson received no fewer than nine
wounds, and all upon the left side, which must have been received when off his guard. Indeed, it
appears from a principal witness, whose evidence waR taken by the court of justice at the Cape, that,
after Captain Fergusson had drawn his sword, he showed not the least activity or motion, but, in the
twiukling of an eye, reeled, and fell to the ground, and expired in a few moments. About six days
after the murder, Captain Roache was appreheuded in the woods by the peasant8 of the country, and
was instantly racked on the wheel by order of the Governor. In vlrin he pleaded to be tried by his
countrymen, the Governor remarking-‘ that a foreigner who violates the law of another country
must abide by the penalties awaiting such violation.’ As a proof of which, he pointed out the
situation of a Dutchman in England under Roache’s unhappy circurartances.” 1
Roache was afterwards tried in England ; but, from a deficiency of evidence,
the murder could not be substantiated.
Adam, who accompanied Captain Fergusson, died of a fever soon after his
arrival in India. James, the second son, was greatly devoted to literary pursuits.
He followed no profession, but lived much on the Continent, where he travelled
some years with Lord Bruce, son of the Earl of Aylesbury; and afterwards with
the Earl of Morton. He died in middle life at Bath.
NEILt,h e third son, and the subject of this sketch, was born in 1750. Having
completed his academical studies at the University of St. Andrews, he made
choice of the law as a profession ; and, after undergoing the usual preparatory
courses, he was admitted to the bar in 1773, where, as we have already menl
tioned, he practised with equal honour and success. He filled the situation of
Sheriff-depute of the county of Fife for several years, and was on the eve of
being elevated to the bench, when a fatal disease terminated his valuable life in
1803, to the deep regret of all who knew him.
*By his wife, a daughter of Sir George Colquhoun of Tillychewan, he had
three sons and three daughters. His widow survived him nine years.
Mr. Fergusson is represented as leading by the hand JOSWH BORUWLASKI,
a Polish Count. In a Memoir of his life, published in 1788; the
Count says of himself:-
“ I waa born in the environs of Chaliez, the capital of Pekucia, in Polish Russia, in November
1739. My parents were of the middle size ; they had five sons and one daughter ; and by one of
those freaks of nature which it is impossible to account for, or perhaps to find another iwtance of in
the annals of the hnman species, three of these children grew to above the middle stature, whilst the
two others, like myself, reached only that of children in general at the age of four or five years.
“ I am the thiid of this astonishing family. My eldest brother, who at this time is about sixty,
The Cape of Good Hope was then in possession of the Dutch.
8 Memoirs of the clebrated dwarf, Joseph Boruwlaski, a Polish Gentleman ; containing a faith-
ful and curious account of his Birth, Education, Marriage, Travels, and Voyages. Written by
himself. 8v0, 7s. 6d. Becket, &c., to pe had likewise of the author, No. 162 Strand.
328 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES.
is near three inches taller than I am ; he has constantly enjoyed a robust constitution, and has still
strength and vigour much above his size and age ; he has lived a long time with the Castelane
Inowloska, who honours him with her esteem and bounty; and finding in him ability and sense
enough, has entrusted him with the stewardship and nianagement of her affairs.
“ My second brother was of a weak and delicate frame ; he died at twenty-six, being at that
time five feet ten inches high. Those who came into the world after me were alternately tall and
short : among them was a female, who died of the small-pox at the age of twenty-two. She was at
that time only two f?et two inches high, and to a lovely figure united an admirably well-proportioned
shape.
“ It was easy to jndge, from the very instant of my birth, that I should be extremely short, being
at that time only eight inches high ; yet, notwithstanding this diminutive proportion, I was neither
weak nor puny : on the contrary, my mother, who suckled me, has often declared that none of her
children gave her less trouble. I walked and was able to speak at about the age common to other
infants, and my growth was progressively as follows :-At one year, I was 11 inches high, English
measure-at three, 1 foot 2 inches-at six, 1 foot 5 inches-at ten, 1 foot 9 inches-at fifteen, 2 feet
I inch-at twenty, 2 feet 4 inches-at twenty-five, 2 feet 11 inches-at thirty, 3 feet 3 inches. This
is the size’ at which I remained fixed, without having afterwards increased half-a-quarter of an inch ;
by which the assertion of some naturalists proves false, viz., that dwarfs grow during all their lifetime.
If this instance were insufficient, I could cite that of my brother, who, like me, grew till
thirty ; and, like me, at that age, ceased to grow taller.”
The adventures of Boruwlaski, according to his own account, are romantic
and interesting. His family having been ruined, he was taken under the protection
of some persons of rank in his own country; but he lost their favour,
when about twenty years of age, by falling in love with, and marrying a young
lady of beauty and merit, by whom he had several children, and who accompanied
him to Eritain.
For some years after his marriage, the Count was chiefly supported by
presents from his illustrious friends and patrons, together with an annuity given
him by the King of Poland. He also received considerable emolument from
the concerts which were set on foot for his benefit at several courts in Germany
and elsewhere ; but these resources proving rather precarious, he listened to the
joint advice of Sir R. Murray Keith (then British ambassador at Vienna),
the Prince de Kaunitz, and the Baron de Breteuil, to pay a visit to England,
where they assured him he was likely to meet with the most generous reception;
and he was promised letters of recommendation to the greatest personages at
The Count was taller than many of the dwarfs that had preceded him ; for instance, a very
diminutive person thus announces, or causes to be announced, his arrival in Edinburgh in 1735 :-
“We are assured, that last week one David Fearn came to town, and has taken up his residence in
Kennedy’s Close. €le was born in the shire of Ross ; aged twenty-six ; is but thirty inches high,
yet thirty-five inches round ; has all the human members, only his hands resemble the feet of a seal,
and his feet those of a bear ; and can dance a hornpipe to admiration.”-But Fearn and Boruwlaski
are giants compared to “the remarkable dwarf Baby, who lived and died in the Palace of Stanislauu,
at Lunenville.” He “was born in France, in 1741, of poor parents, and weighed when born only a
pound and a quarter ; he was brought on a plate to be christened; and his cradle was his father’s
slipper ; his mouth being too little for the nipple, he was suckled by a she-goat : at eighteen months
old he began to articulate a few words, and at two years old he could walk alone ; at six years old
he was fifteen inches high, and he weighed just thirteen pounds ; he was handsome, however, and
well-proportioned, but his faculties were rather smaller than his frame-he could be taught nothing.
He was not, however, without anger, and even love influenced him. At sixteen Baby was twenty
inches high, and here his growth stopped. Soon after this period old age made terrible havoc on
his person ; his strength, his beauty, and his spirits forsook him, and he became as much an object
of pity for his deformity as for his diminutiveness. At the age of twenty-two he could scarce walk
fifty yards, and soon after died of a fever in extreme old age.
