Thus fable reports, that the fair Grimalkin, whom Venus, at the
desire of a passionate lover, converted from a cat into a fine
woman, no sooner perceived a mouse, than, mindful of her former sport,
and still retaining her pristine nature, she leaped from the bed of
her husband to pursue the little animal.
What are we to understand by this? Not that the bride was displeased
with the embraces of her amorous bridegroom; for, though some have
remarked that cats are subject to ingratitude, yet women and cats
too will be pleased and purr on certain occasions. The truth is, as
the sagacious Sir Roger L'Estrange observes, in his deep
reflections, that, "if we shut Nature out at the door, she will come
in at the window; and that puss, though a madam, will be a mouser
still." In the same manner we are not to arraign the squire of any
want of love for his daughter; for in reality he had a great deal;
we are only to consider that he was a squire and a sportsman, and then
we may apply the fable to him, and the judicious reflections likewise.
The hounds ran very hard, as it is called, and the squire pursued
over hedge and ditch, with all his usual vociferation and alacrity,
and with all his usual pleasure; nor did the thoughts of Sophia ever
once intrude themselves to allay the satisfaction he enjoyed in the
chace, which, he said, was one of the finest he ever saw, and which he
swore was very well worth going fifty miles for. As the squire
forgot his daughter, the servants, we may easily believe, forgot their
mistress; and the parson, after having expressed much astonishment, in
Latin, to himself, at length likewise abandoned all farther thoughts
of the young lady, and, jogging on at a distance behind, began to
meditate a portion of doctrine for the ensuing Sunday.
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