But I must not forget my anecdotes of that respectable
animal, the cat.
You need not smile; I mean to make you respect, as well as love
cats. There are some men, and many boys who say they are domestic
tigers, that they are sly, that they steal, that you cannot trust
them; that the cat heart is bad, and that there is no harm in boys'
teasing them, since it is no more than cats deserve; that they were
made for us to plague; and that the only good thing they do is to
catch rats and mice.
Now, if this were true, and they were really ever so bad, they ought
never to be treated cruelly, never teased and tormented. None but
the meanest boy will ever torment any animal.
He who created us created also the little fly that crawls upon the
window pane. I am not now thinking of those boys who do not
remember, or have never learned this truth, but of those who have a
cruel prejudice against cats, of those who are kind to dogs and
horses, but unkind to cats. I shall speak to you of the poor cat
with almost as much respect and seriousness as if I were talking
about any of my fellow- creatures who were injured and ill treated.
We take it for granted that cats have no love in them, and so we
never act towards them as if they had any; now I believe they have,
on the whole, pretty good hearts, and, if they were treated with
justice and kindness, would be far more respectable members of
society than they are.
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