Who does not remember how Flavia buried with equanimity two husbands and five children, but never recovered from the loss of her parrot? "I know at this Time," he complains, "a celebrated Toast, whom I allow to be one of the most agreeable of her Sex, yet who, in the presence of her Admirers, will give a Torrent of Kisses to her Cat, any one of which a Christian would be glad of."
His own caresses were of a more temperate character. The first thing he did, on reaching home, was to stir his fire and stroke his cat; and he contented himself night after night with the silent company of Pussy and her friend, a little dog whom, from long association, she had learned first to endure, then to appreciate, and then almost to love.
"They both of them sit by my Fire every Evening, and await my return with Impatience; and, at my Entrance, never fail of running up to me, and bidding me Welcome, each of them in its proper Language. As they have been bred up together from Infancy, and have seen no other Company, they have acquired each other's Manners; so that the Dog often gives himself the Airs of a Cat, and the Cat, in several of her Motions and Gestures, affects the Behaviour of the little Dog."
On one occasion some audacious rogues penetrated into this quiet sanctuary, and endeavoured to
