PERSECUTION 59 



"squalled in a most hideous manner as soon as they 

 felt the fire;" — to the delight of the spectators, 

 who jokingly pretended that it was the language of 

 the Pope and the devils which they heard. The 

 cat organ of the Brussels fete fades into mere 

 humanity alongside of playfulness like this. 



Why, we ask ourselves, should the cat have been 

 ever the chosen victim of such savage sport ? All 

 animals can suffer ; most animals can cry out in 

 their pain. The pleasure derived from torturing a 

 cat could have been no keener than that which 

 might have been yielded by the suffering of any 

 other beast. What was it then that lent such pecu- 

 liar appropriateness and piquancy to the sacrifice 

 of this gentle little creature, unless her association 

 with witchcraft and the powers of evil placed her 

 beyond mercy's pale ? Not only was there no pity 

 for her in the world ; but superstition had so claimed 

 her for its prey that foul murder dogged her steps 

 from innocent kittenhood, however softly and warily 

 she might tread. Bucolic England, thick-skulled 

 and heavy-witted, roasted her alive in its brick 

 ovens, simply because such a holocaust was be- 

 lieved, none knew why, to bring good luck to the 

 house. Scotland, more imaginative and more sin- 

 ister, spitted her before a slow fire, as a means of 

 divining the future. It was thought that the witch 

 cats of the neighbourhood would come to their 



