48 TUB MODEL MERCHANT 



sentation of the blessed Virgin, with a crown, which is the insignia of 

 the Mystery of tlic Company, on tlie other are the arms of the City of 

 London, and on the two others are heraldic Cats ; while, enamelled in lilac 

 and green, on the stems of two upright figures are rats and birds, the 

 natural food of those animals ; doubtless intended to commemorate the 

 Mercers' most distinguished member, Richard Whittington. 



Let me then recapitulate the evidences aa totheprobability of the truth 

 of the story of a cat, and we find them to be as follows: — 1st, From the 

 ancient and generally received tradition ; 2nd, From the scarcity and 

 value of domestic cats at that period; 3rd, From its not being a 

 solitary instance of a fortune made by such means ; 4th, From the 

 ancient portraits and statues of Whittington in connection with a cat, 

 some of which may be reasonably traced up to the times and orders 

 of his own executors. 



But some persons may say, why take all this trouble about the cat ? 

 The answer is simply this, that the truth or falsehood of our histories 

 and traditions depends upon our being able to confirm them in their 

 minutest particulars by concurrent testimony. History is made up of 

 details, and it is of the greatest importance that those details should 

 be able to stand the test of the closest investigation. Both in sacred 

 and secular history, the sceptic is widely on the alert, anxious to under- 

 mine its truth, by loosening its proofs : it is part of their system. If the 

 foundations of secular history can be readily sapped, then those of 

 Scripture history they hope will speedily follow. " Hume, the well- 

 known historian," says Archdeacon "Williams," "in preparing the 

 ground for one of his most insiduous attacks upon Christian Revela- 

 tion, lays it down as an axiom that the evidence in support of any 

 fact, whether occurring in the course of real events or supposed to 

 have been the result of miraculous intervention, must necessarily grow 

 weaker as time advances, and finally be regarded as entitled to little 

 weight when examined by judicious criticism." The Archdeacon most 

 properly combats so monstrous a maxim, and shows that on the con- 

 trary " the lapse of time, instead of weakening the evidence of any 

 such fact, has rather in most known cases tended to confirm it, by 

 bringing to light proofs in its support which time, and time alone, 

 could have produced." I would add also, that it requires some one 

 o Chudia and Fudem, by Archdeacon Williams, 8vo., 1858, p. 1, 



