Famous Cats in History

Chance brought me, together with a friend of mine, into the company of a young lady, one of the most refined daughters of this country, a model of frankness in her speech and in her conduct. Beside her was a dog which she tended with great care, for the duty of guarding her house which he performs; and my attention was caught by the marks of submission plain upon his face whenever she patted his head with her two gentle hands. I remarked that the dog is an excellent friend! She answered that she preferred caring for the dog to any other animal, because he bears ill-usage patiently, and you have no need to guard against his malice, however much kindness you show him.

My friend took up the conversation, saying: 'The dog's fidelity, however great, is only an exchange for the affection, honor, and love he receives...'

The young lady broke in: 'But the dog remains faithful and submissive even if you treat him badly. Can the cat, for example, be compared with him? However much you pamper a cat, it turns ungrateful at the first offense, even one that slipped from you without intention.'

At this my companion sat up in his seat and threw himself into the argument in earnest, saying: 'I prefer the cat to the dog a thousand times over, for this reason alone. Mademoiselle lavishes noble epithets upon the dog for his servility and his surrender to her will, and begrudges the cat even plain justice. Upon examination we find the dog devoid of personality, while the cat enjoys self-respect and delicacy of feeling. And what a difference there is between a servile groveler and a noble, proud spirit!'

Then the conversation developed, taking an analytical turn in which my task was to reconcile the theories. But from that time to this day I have been reflecting, whenever circumstances allow, on the dominion of 'proverbs' over people's minds, until we have become bound by some of them in defiance of the facts and in contradiction of what we test for ourselves. It has fallen to me to come across a collection of anecdotes about cats which may well be set down here, to show what an honored standing they hold in history:

Among them, that Prince Potemkin, when he wished to outstrip all his rival princes in favor in the eyes of Catherine the Great, turned away from choosing jewels and varieties of perfume, and presented her with a cat.

The most delightful outing for Ben Jonson was his visit to the fishmongers, where he would choose kinds of shellfish as a plaything for his cat. As for Walter Scott, he would set his cat against a dog he had acquired expressly to sport with her; and nothing delighted him more than to witness her victory over him. Lord Chesterfield, for his part, bequeathed to his cat an allowance from his estate.

Among those who devoted themselves to the raising of cats are these names famous in history: Victor Hugo, Matthew Arnold, Henry James, Petrarch, Walpole, Gregory the Great, and Cardinal Wolsey.

As for Cardinal Richelieu, in his most straitened hours he would ask for nothing but a basket crowded with kittens, which he would watch attentively until his cares lifted from him. Louis XV, meanwhile, was famous for his fondness for a cat from which he was hardly ever parted. Once, as he presided over a royal session with the men of state gathered round him, his 'beloved' sprang into his lap and climbed onto the table, where she played havoc with the piled-up papers, caring for nothing at all.

The age of the Renaissance was the golden era of cats, when the men of church and state stamped this animal with favor and lofty benefaction. Its keeping spread through the upper classes, so that many did not begrudge the cat even ornaments and jewels.

In this age there are still friends of cats who acknowledge their merit and spend generously to please this pampered animal. Clear evidence of it appeared in an advertisement in a German newspaper, the text of which is as follows: 'A respectable lady seeks young men, elegant in dress and good in conduct, to amuse a cat in poor health, at a fair wage, for two or three hours daily.'

And though some people do not take to cats, and may even be on their guard against them, yet when they watch their movements they cannot help admiring them and taking eagerly to raising them and caring for them.