Concerning Cats 



of that domestic hearth where I have so often seen 

 him basking. In fact, Chateaubriand has immor- 

 talized his favorite in the sketch which begins, 

 •My companion is a big cat, of a greyish red.'" 

 This ecclesiastical pet was always dignified and 

 imposing in manners, ever conscious that he had 

 been the gift of a sovereign pontiff, and had a tre- 

 mendous weight of reputation to maintain. He used 

 to stroke his tail when he desired Madame Recamier 

 to know that he was tired. 



" I love in the cat," said Chateaubriand to M. de 

 Marcellus, " that independent and almost ungrateful 

 temper which prevents it from attaching itself to 

 any one : the indifference with which it passes from 

 the salon to the house-top. When you caress it, it 

 stretches itself out and arches its back, indeed : but 

 that is caused by physical pleasure, not, as in the 

 case of the dog, by a silly satisfaction in loving and 

 being faithful to a master who returns thanks in 

 kicks. The cat lives alone, has no need of society, 

 does not obey except when it likes, and pretends to 

 sleep that it may see the more clearly, and scratches 

 everything that it can scratch. Buff on has belied 

 the cat : I am laboring at its rehabilitation, and hope 

 to make of it a tolerably good sort of animal, as 

 times go." 



Cardinal Wolsey, Lord High Chancellor of Eng- 

 land, was another cat-lover, and his superb cat sat in 

 a cushioned arm-chair by his side in the zenith of his 



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