3 02 THE FIRESIDE SPHINX 



theology. Mr. Froude, following the example of 

 Hoffmann, has selected Pussy to be the interpreter 

 of much philosophy, admirable of its kind, but 

 alien to the feline heart. The cat's scheme of life 

 is curiously complete. Centuries have gone into 

 the moulding of it. She knew many years before 

 the wise Marcus Aurelius that it was possible to 

 have no opinion upon a subject, and to remain un- 

 troubled in her mind. 



Letters and memoirs are especially rich in 

 pleasant glimpses into Pussy's varying fortunes. 

 We see her under so many aspects, and amid so 

 many contrasted surroundings ; — now dozing at 

 Tennyson's feet, now " walking tiptoe " over Alfred 

 de Musset's papers, now flitting through Heine's 

 dreams. It is Heine who tells us that, when he 

 was a child, his little friend and playfellow, Wilhelm, 

 ran into a swift deep stream to rescue a cat, and 

 was drowned, — " the cat, however, living a long 

 time after." 



In the life of Robert Stephen Hawker, the very 

 clever and eccentric Vicar of Morwenstow, we find 

 that he was usually followed to church by nine or 

 ten cats, who entered the chancel with him and 

 careered about during the service, affording what 

 must have been a welcome distraction to the youth- 

 ful members of the congregation. Mr. Hawker 

 would pause every now and then, while preaching 



