The Book of Cats. 53 



I find a writer upon Cats who speaks thus In their 

 praise : — 



" It has been said that the Cat is one of those 

 animals which has made the least return to man for 

 his trouble by its services ; but it is certain that it 

 renders very essential service to man." 



And another says : — 



" Authors seem to delight in exaggerating the 

 good qualities of the Dog, while they depreciate 

 those of the Cat ; the latter, however, is not less 

 useful, and certainly less mischievous, than the 

 former." 



Indeed, it would be unfair not to state that Pussy 

 has had many able defenders, who have argued her 

 case in verse as well as prose ; for example, in 

 Edmond Moore's fable of " The Farmer, the Spaniel 

 and the Cat,'' the Spaniel, when Puss drew near to 

 eat some of the fragments of a feast, repelled her, 

 saying she does nothing to merit being fed, etc. : — 



" ' I own' (with meekness Puss replied) 

 * Superior merit on your side ; 

 Nor does my breast with envy swell 

 To find it recompens'd so well. 

 Yet I, in what my nature can, 

 Contribute to the good of man. 

 \Vhose claws destroy the pilf 'ring mouse ? 

 Who drives the vermin from the house ? 



