by way of introduction in the nature of prolegomena, I now approach
with equal awe and interest to the main point, which is, as I said
before, to ascertain what the Cat was by which Whittington made
himself to be so well remembered, and which is inseparable from
him in history and imagination. Who thinks of Whittington without
thinking of a Cat? Who with any love of sacred antiquity can see a
Cat without thinking of Whittington?
An English author records a speech made by a very erudite orientalist
and profound scholar, at a meeting of the Society of Antiquarians,
which was preserved in the minutes of that society, through the
generous care of Mr. S. Foote, and which I am enabled to lay before
my readers, by the favour of Sir Richard Phillips, who, for the
trifling sum of fifteen shillings, obliged me with the works of that
eminent Grecian, for so I presume he was, from his having acquired
the surname of Aristophanes.
"Permit me," says the orator, "to clear up some doubts relative to
a material and interesting point of the English History. Let others
toil to illumine the dark annals of Greece and Rome; my searches are
sacred only to the service of Britain.
"That Whittington lived, no doubt can be made; that he was Lord Mayor
of London, is equally true; but--as to HIS CAT--that, gentlemen, is
the Gordian knot to untie--and here, gentlemen, be it permitted to me
to define what a Cat is--a Cat is a domestic, whiskered, four-footed
animal, whose employment is catching of mice; but let a Cat have
been ever so subtle, ever so successful, to what could her captures
amount?--no tanner could curry the skin of a mouse--no family could
make a meal of the meat--consequently, no Cat could give Whittington
his wealth--from whence does the error proceed? Be that my care to
point out.
"The commerce this wealthy merchant carried on, was chiefly confined
to our coasts--for this purpose, he constructed a vessel, which,
from its aptness and lightness, he christened A CAT; nay, gentlemen,
to this day--all our coals are imported from Newcastle in nothing
but CATS--from thence it appears that it was not the whiskered,
four-footed--mouse-killing Cat--but the coasting, sailing, carrying
CAT--that, gentlemen, was Whittington's Cat."
Vide _opera omnia_ Sam. Foot. Tit. Nabob.----
I cannot, however, consent in this instance to judge "ex pede
Herculem." However ingenious this learned gentleman's view of the
case may be, we are upon one particular decidedly at issue; and I
think I shall be able to shew, that Whittington not only did not
derive his wealth from the renowned Cat, but that the Cat was the
ultimate cause of his ruin.
One writer, (Ibbotson on Quadrupeds, vol. viii. p. 381,) says,
that "Shee was no other than a female of highe ranke and singular
kinde harte, who for that shee had a _feline_ dysposition myghtelie
affected Masterre Whyttingtone"--"which mistake in the orthography,"
says my learned friend Backhouse (who seldom errs), "_feline_ being
put for _feeling_--has deluded many into the belief, that it was in
truth a four-footed, whiskered, mouse-catching Cat." This ingenious
conjecture is supported by the other obvious errors of the same
nature _in loc. citat._ and not a little validated by a curious
ballad of the times, which is to be found at this moment in the
British Museum (Messalina 2.) and of which I subjoin a copy:--
ANN EXCEEDINGE, EXACTE, AND EXCELLENTE GOODE BALLADE, WRITTEN BY MEE
GEOFFRY LYDGATE, UPONNE MASTERRE WHYTTINGTONE HYS CATTE.
Yee Cytyzens of Lundun toune,
Ande Wyves so faire and fatte,
Beholde a gueste of high renoune!
Grete Whyttingtone hys Catte!
Ye kynge hathe ynn hys towre off state
Beares, lyones and alle thatte;
But hee hathe notte a beste soe grate
Ass Whyttingtone hys Catte!
This Catte dothe notte a catte appear,
Beeynge toe bigge forre thatte,
But herre attendaunts alle doe weare
Some tokyn off a Catte;
Ye one hathe whyskerres, thick ass burrs,
Moste comelye toe looke atte:--
Anoder weares a gowne of furrs,
Ye lyverye off ye Catte!
Shee dothe notte creepe along ye floores,
But standes or else lyes flatte:
Whyles they must gambole onne all fours
Whoe wyshe to please ye Catte!
A conynge monkeye off ye lawe,
Ass bye ye fyre he satte,
Toe pick hiys nuts oute, used ye pawe
Off Whyttingtone hys Catte!
But Whyttingtone discovered playne
Whatte this vyle ape was atte;
Whoe fayledde thus hys nuttes toe gayne,
And onely synged ye Catte.
Thenne Whyttingtone ynn gorgeous state,
Syttynge wythoute his hatte,
Broughte toe hys house atte Grovner-gate
Thys moste yllustrious Catte.
She ys so graciouse and soe tame
Alle menne may strooke and patte;
But yt ys sayde, norre mayde norre dame,
Have dared toe see thatte Catte.
Fulle hugelye gladde she seemeth, whenne
They brynge herre a grete ratte,
But styll moe gladde atte katchynge menne
Ys Whyttingtone hys Catte.
A Catte, they saye, maye watche a kynge;
Ye apotheme ys patte;
Ye converse is a differente thynge:
Noe kynge maye watche thys Catte.
Thenne take, eache manne, hys scarlate goune,
Ande eke hys velvette hatte,
And humblye wellcome yntoe toune
Grete Whyttingtone his Catte.
This undoubtedly original and authentic document will be of vast
use in elucidating many of our difficulties, as I shall hereafter
abundantly observe; it is here only quoted in the order of proofs,
as supporting Mr. Backhouse's most acute conjecture; which is also
greatly strengthened by that profound scholar Mr. Hallam, in his
"History of the Middle Ages," who, however, gives a different and
more classical ground for the vulgar error----"This great Lady," he
says, "was _Catta_; that is, a _German_, one of the people called
_Catti_, who inhabited that part of the ancient Germania now called
the Duchy of Brunswick."
In opposition to all these opinions, Doctor Snodgrass (whose copious
history of the interior of Africa, and genealogy of the kings of
Gambia, sufficiently, as the modest Mr. Bowdich[33] justly observes,
stamp his merits) inclines to think that a person of Matthew's
original habits never could have been thrown into the society
of any lady of high rank, who had a regard for her character or
respectability. He treats the hypothesis of the _Cattean_ Lady with
great contempt, considers the authority of the ballad as trivial
and obscure; and maintains with all that power of argument, so
characteristic of his works, that it was a _bona-fide_ Cat, on which
Whittington's hopes at one particular period were placed, but which
had no connexion whatever with his pecuniary affairs, and which hopes
were moreover in the sequel frustrated.
A more ancient writer still ("Prendergast on Sorcery") makes an
assertion which at once confirms and refutes all that has been
advanced by my two learned friends, for he distinctly states, that,
that which rendered Whittington famous, was both a Cat and an
illustrious Lady. Not, indeed, at the same time; but that, being
endowed with magical potency, she was competent to assume both forms
at pleasure, displaying either the savage temper of the quadruped, or
the winning softness of her lovely sex, as best suited her purpose.
The same author says, that while under the appearance of a human
being she was capable of performing what in those days passed for
miracles; at one time metamorphosing menials and washer-women into
Lords and Ladies; causing unknown and portentous _stars_ to appear,
and changing by "_arte magicale_" white into black, and black into
white. He also more fully explains in the same way, the strange
facts alluded to in the ballad, of her putting off at pleasure the
form of a cat, and transforming the several feline attributes and
appearances to her followers; giving to one supernatural whiskers; to
another, a covering of fur; to a third, eyes that can see best in the
dark; to a fourth, the faculty of falling on his legs, whatever may
happen, and so forth.
We now live in an incredulous age, and it is not for me to decide
whether magical interferences with the ordinary course of nature are
to be believed or not. I would rather refer the curious reader to the
Dæmonologia of the royal and erudite James; for my part, I neither
wholly reject, nor wholly admit, the multitudinous affirmative
evidences, which all histories of all countries, in all ages,
afford on this subject; but I may be allowed to say in support of
Prendergast's hypothesis, that this change of form has, it appears,
been by no means uncommon. Le Père Jacques d'Autun says, "Baram Roi
de Bulgaire prenoit par ses prestiges la figure d'un loup ou _d'un
autre animal_;" and Job Fincel mentions that, "on attrapa un jour
un loup garou qui courait dans les Rues de Padoue: on lui coupa ses
pates de loup et il reprit au même instant la forme d'homme--mais
avec les bras et les pieds coupés." These are staggering
authorities![34]
I must regret that Prendergast has not explained the origin, so
obscurely hinted at in the ballad, of Whittington's connexion with
the Cat; but it is at the same time a satisfaction to think, that
by the use of the words "would," "could," and "should,"--"likely,"
"possibly," "probably," and "naturally," "fancy," "research,"
"inquiry," and "no doubt," (the use of which is so admirably
displayed by Mr. Godwin,) I may be enabled to throw some
light--_lucem dare ex fumo_--on several dark parts of this difficult
subject.
It can easily be imagined that Whittington, who, with a truly
philanthropic disposition, possessed a mind scantily cultivated,
would naturally have a turn for the marvellous--indeed, the
preternatural interference of the bells of Bow steeple (of which a
published life of our hero says, there were then but six),[35] with
his destiny and the good fortune resulting from their suggestion,
may naturally be supposed to have favoured his predisposition for
the miraculous; and therefore when he heard from various sources the
stories which were related of the wonderful enchantress in foreign
parts, he was animated and delighted, and having more taste for
female beauty than knowledge of his native language, was persuaded
she was not only the most ill-used personage, but the most lovely
woman on earth, from hearing that,--
"She was a _Charmer_, and could almost read
The thoughts of people"----[36]
Prendergast indeed goes so far as to hint, that Whittington himself,
from the rapid acquirement of his wealth, lay under the imputation
of sorcery, and that he aimed at the attainment of some secrets from
the Enchantress to carry on his schemes, which was the chief cause
of his devotion to her. The same author says, that he was taxed
with concocting a liquor made from noxious weeds and deadly herbs,
with which he was enabled to steal away men's senses, and lead them
according to his will; but I must be allowed to doubt the truth
of this charge,--it seems to be a vulgar revival of the old story
of Circe. Looking at the events of his life, there appears to me
abundant proof that Matthew was no conjuror.
That Prendergast may have been a victim to superstition I will not
deny--that he wrote in the full belief of the lady's preternatural
powers is evident; but it is only justice to his historical veracity
to say, that in all his commendations of her merits, he falls far
short of a French author, the Marquis de St. Cas, who was one of
the favourites of Margaret de Valois, the repudiated wife of Henry
the IVth, and who wrote a History of a Cat, which has hitherto been
mistakenly supposed to be a covert defence of the scandalous life of
that lascivious princess; but which, as it now appears, is a sober
and discreet history of Whittington's Cat.
One singular and interesting fact to be ascertained from this work,
which, let us observe, was not written above two hundred years after
the time, and is therefore entitled to great credit on the score
of tradition, is, that the French most indubitably allude to the
Enchantress we are now treating of, in their celebrated history of
_The White Cat_, which indeed to me appears little other than a
version of Whittington's adventures, the English origin of which,
that vain and disingenuous people have as carefully suppressed as
they since have that of the guillotine--wash-hand basons--the steam
engine--snaffle bridles, and the telegraph.[37]
In the Marquis's book may be found recorded the exaggerated accounts
of the Enchantress, which were zealously circulated in her own times
by the French, and which inflamed and animated Matthew; St. Cas
most gallantly repeats (as if he believed) all the praises which
his forefathers had lavished upon her, and pictures her as the most
fascinating being on earth, so condescending in her manners that
the lowest orders of society were more readily admitted to her
confidence and acquaintance than those of noble birth and superior
qualifications, and of a disposition so forgiving, that if she could
anyhow light upon men (no matter who) who had been the creatures and
favoured followers of any person or family who from time immemorial
had been the bitterest enemies of her house and the country she
most loved, these were the particular objects of her care and
protection--for those were all her powers exerted, the magic of all
her charms displayed. This predilection for the destroyers of her
relations, the Marquis adduces as one of the most amiable traits of
"La belle Sorcière."
And here again we are presented with a confirmation of Mr.
Backhouse's hypothesis, that all the vulgar mistaken notions about
this great lady are occasioned by errors of the press; for in the
first edition of St. Cas (Lyons, 1609) the word _sorcière_ is printed
_souricière_, which means, as the learned reader well knows, "a
mouse-catcher."
Perhaps, however, the printer may not be wholly to blame on this
point, inasmuch as the Marquis himself distinctly alludes to her
having assumed the form of a Cat, which he seems to consider a state
of honour--"The Cat," says he, "is a privileged animal;" and then
proceeds to narrate the following story in support of his assertion:--
"Mahomet avoit beaucoup d'égards pour son Chat.--Ce vénérable
animal s'était un jour couché sur la manche pendante de la veste du
Prophète, et semblait y mediter si profondément que Mahomet pressé de
se rendre à la Prière, et n'osant le tirer de son extase, coupa la
manche de sa veste. A son retour, il trouva son chat qui revenait de
son assoupissement extatique, et que s'appercevant de l'attention de
son maître à la vue de la manche coupée, se leva, pour lui faire la
revérénce, dressa la queue, et plia le dos en arc, pour lui témoigner
plus de respect. Mahomet qui comprit à merveille ce que cela
signifiait, assura au saint homme de chat une place dans son Paradis.
Ensuite lui passant trois fois la main sur le dos, il lui imprima,
par cet attouchement, la vertu de ne jamais tomber que sur ses pates."
Hence the Marquis argues, that his favourite Enchantress did by no
means degrade or bemean herself by the abandonment of her character
as a woman, if it were to answer any sufficient purpose she assumed
that of a Cat.
The accounts which tradition brought down to the Marquis's time, and
has even to our own, would naturally have spread from mouth to mouth
all through Europe, at the time when facts so surprising occurred;
and Whittington was one of those men who are disposed to believe
every thing they do not rightly comprehend, the consequence of which
disposition was his almost boundless credulity, and after inflaming
his mind with the descriptions of the Enchantress, and the implied
restraint under which she laboured, he resolved (from what motive
nobody has completely succeeded in discovering) to induce her to
visit England.
It is concluded, that a desire for notoriety had no weight with him
in this resolution, for never did any man of his time shrink from the
applause of the vulgar with such delicate sensibility as Whittington.
Hearing his own name spoken aloud in the streets, caused him the
greatest uneasiness, and he was moved to anger if any wandering
minstrels who were singing his praises, chanced to pass near his
residence.
This is stated by Ibbotson (before quoted), and is highly
satisfactory, inasmuch as the general impression upon the minds of
all those versed in the history, was that most of the little songs of
which he was the hero were written either in his house or at least
at his suggestion. The friend who favoured me with the copy of the
ballad quoted above has furnished me with two stanzas of another,
which he found in the same volume, and which proves that Ibbotson's
account of Matthew's modesty is perfectly just, for his indifference
about, not to say dislike to, popularity (as it is called) was so
strong, that such of his partisans as chose to celebrate him in
poetry were, in compliance with his scrupulous wishes, compelled to
designate him by the initials of his name.
Serche Englonde round, naye all the Erthe,
Itte myghtelie would trouble you
To find a manne so ryche in worthe,
As honest Matthewe W.
He's notte thee manne to doe you wronge,
Nor wyth false speeeches bubble you.
Whyle Beef grows fatte, and Beer grows strong
Long lyfe to Matthewe W.
With this proof of his retiring disposition we are the more puzzled
in looking at his conduct with respect to the Great Lady, because
really, if we had not such powerful evidence as Ibbotson and
others have adduced, one could hardly fancy any other incitement
to her introduction into the country, than an officious desire to
be meddling with things which did not at all concern him, for the
mere sake of creating a sensation, of withdrawing the attention of
his countrymen from the pursuit of their occupations, to the idle
speculation of star-gazing and conjuring, and, in short, of making
himself at any rate the Hero of a Story, by which his name might go
down to posterity. In this he has certainly succeeded; but the price
he has paid for notoriety appears (considering how he disliked it) to
have been rather high.
One circumstance has been mentioned, as having probably given his
disposition a turn, which is this: the Countess of Mountfort, or
as she is called, Jane of Flanders, had visited England about five
or six years before the period at which Whittington undertook
his renowned expedition. This extraordinary woman, roused by the
captivity of a husband to whom she was faithfully attached, had
quitted the confined circle of domestic life, to which she was an
ornament, and risked everything in the cause of her beloved Count:
her party, however (spite of her personal success), declining on
every side, she came to London, to solicit succours from the King of
England, and to the reception she met with from the populace, and
the praises bestowed on Sir Walter Manny, who suggested her appeal to
the British Court, is by very many persons attributed the anxiety of
Whittington to introduce his Cat or lady to the notice of the people.
But a much more probable account is suggested by the old ballad, and
indeed countenanced by other authorities, namely, that a certain
knavish lawyer who had, by some means, now unknown, and probably
at no time very avowable, got about the Cat, and became intimately
connected with all her secrets and mysteries whatever they were, had
contrived to get the Cat into a bag, and so far from letting her
out of the bag, as she and her followers no doubt expected, he is
supposed to have formed the base design of selling the Cat to her
enemies.
This account would naturally rouse the indignation of a man, even
less high-minded than the illustrious Whittington, who combining,
like many modern citizens, generosity with an eye to profit, justly
considered that if the Cat were worth anything, he might as well
have the gain as the lawyer; and with this magnanimous intention
he resolved to get possession of the Cat. Not very much, it would
appear, knowing or caring, in the blindness of his enthusiasm,
whether she was a Cat or a witch; a great lady, or the devil.
What she really was, appeared afterwards, when the bag came to be
opened.[38]
The _zealous_ desire of possessing at all events this demi-human
personage, made Whittington quite careless of the consequences of his
blind bargain. He anticipated advantages to himself from exhibiting
her, which (probably from the apprehension of being laughed at) he
never ventured to mention to his nearest friends; a gentle hint on
the subject thrown out to his better and bigger half, was received
by her with all the rapture one might expect an obscure person to
express at the prospect of becoming notorious; for though certain it
is that Matthew's views and desires throughout the whole business
were untinctured by the smallest wish for _éclat_ or distinction, we
are not prepared to say that his wife might not have cast a longing
eye towards the Enchantress's banquets and gaieties, of which such
splendid accounts had been given, or that her ambition (for these
sort of people are ambitious in their sphere) might not have led her
to hope that by the aid of the great lady's magic, her daughter (who
had been some time on hand) might attain such an accession either of
real property or personal attraction, as might get her respectably
established in life.
For the means of carrying his plan into execution quietly and
securely, Matthew had recourse to a stratagem, which, although, under
the circumstances, perfectly fair, to him was eminently distressing,
for the exquisite sensibility with which he shrunk from anything like
disguise--equivocation--mis-statement, or deviation from the plain
fact, had obtained for him the appellation of honest Whittington;
and to maintain his claim to that honourable distinction, was the
constant effort of his life.
The stratagem which he adopted is stated to have been this:--It will
be recollected, that at the period of which we treat, the staple of
wool, leather, and lead was fixed at Calais whither all foreigners
were specially invited to traffic, and whence no English merchant
was permitted to export English goods. The intercourse between this
port and Dover at the first institution of this mart was frequent and
general. Thither went Whittington as on a mercantile speculation.
In the various histories of our hero considerable confusion appears
to have arisen at this point. The majority of the innumerable
authorities which I have quoted in my large work, I think bear me out
in declaring that Whittington actually saw his commodity before he
brought it to England, and that it assumed the appearance of a woman
in order to deceive him.
The difficulty of deciding arises from the improbability that a
great lady should so suddenly have abandoned the guidance of her
counsellors, who (as they were paid for it) were bound to give her
proper advice, and put herself under the care of a "feu Lord Maire;"
but that difficulty is met by the consideration that Matthew's
eloquence was very celebrated in his day, and that, as his mind was
set upon bringing over the prodigy, he doubtlessly exerted its whole
force and energy in representing to her the respectability which
would infallibly attach itself to her through the rest of her life,
from the circumstance of her having been brought into the capital of
England under the immediate protection of a man renowned as he was
both in his mercantile and political character, and whose important
station in the country was so well suited to the introduction of such
a personage.
Add to his arguments, his conduct on the occasion; and our surprise
at her complying with his wishes will be materially diminished.
Could a woman of sense and feeling refuse to throw herself into the
care of the man, who, with that wonderful intrepidity and almost
incredible presence of mind, which obtained for him the appellation
of the _brave_ Whittington, ventured his existence for upwards of
three hours and a half upon the water, and undertook a voyage of
nearly thirty-two miles (starting late in the evening), in a vessel
of not more than one hundred and seventy tons burthen, for her sake!
an enterprise which, though in these enlightened days we might
be inclined to ridicule, was in those times considered the most
surprisingly valorous feat ever compassed by an Alderman.[39]