THE CAT TO-DAY 235 



and the saintly chatemite. When they have studied 

 Gray's verses, " On the Death of a Favourite Cat, 

 Drowned in a Tub of Gold Fishes," their education 

 may be held complete, and their tastes carefully 

 cultivated in the right direction. No child brought 

 up along these lines will be indifferent to feline 

 character or charm. One source of pleasure, well 

 worth the cultivation, has been secured for life. 



Yet how much more there is to read and learn ! 

 Where shall we look without encountering an ani- 

 mal that has inspired poets and painters, that has 

 been the companion of scholars, the delight of 

 authors, the solace of statesmen, the friend of pre- 

 lates, the beloved of saints ! What an admirable 

 story is that which the holy deacon, John, deemed 

 worthy to be told in his " Life of Saint Gregory," 

 and which has at once the exquisite grace of asceti- 

 cism and the warmth and colour of humanity. There 

 lived, he says, during the pontificate of Gregory, 

 a poor hermit, pious, vigilant, and austere. To him 

 it was revealed in a vision that he would share in 

 Heaven the glory of the Pope, at which "he mar- 

 velled much )• partly because of his unworthiness, 

 and partly because — owning nothing in the world 

 but a female cat — he had hoped, in moments of 

 spiritual exaltation, that some especial reward would 

 be meted out to his rigorous self-denial. Then a 

 second vision was vouchsafed ; he looked into the 



