RENAISSANCE 77 



this pleasant &quot; Histoire des Chats ; &quot; and that, after 

 his election to the French Academy, he had the 

 weakness to withdraw the book from circulation. 

 Solid and serious scholars, who had inaugurated 

 what M. Champfleury calls &quot; the grievous system 

 of professional literature,&quot; pretended to believe that 

 cats were unworthy of an Academician s momen 

 tous regard. Wits made merry at the expense of 

 the &quot; historiogriff e ; &quot; and false friends, like Vol 

 taire, flattered the poor poet out of his reason, and 

 then laughed sourly at the simplicity which credited 

 men with truth. Upon the awful and august occa 

 sion of Moncrif s maiden speech, some wag, thrill 

 ing with joy at his own brilliant jest, turned a cat 

 loose in the room ; and when the frightened crea 

 ture began to mew, the Academicians laughed and 

 mewed in chorus, to the painful confusion of the 

 newly elected. &quot; Rira mieux qui rira derniere.&quot; 

 To-day, when tomes of oppressive erudition lie 

 swathed in shrouds of dust ; when names once 

 honoured are well-nigh forgotten ; when Moncrif s 

 other writings plays, and poems, and pastorals 

 have slipped unobtrusively into oblivion ; this 

 &quot; gravely frivolous &quot; little book still gains a hear 

 ing for its author. No one who truly loves cats 

 can afford to neglect so interesting a period in their 

 history, nor so veracious and admirable an histo 

 rian. 



