GRIMALKIN, OR, THE REBEL-CAT: A NOVEL Representing the Unwearied Attempts of the Beasts of his Faction Against SOVEREIGNTY and SUCCESSION Since the Death of the LIONS in the TOWER.  Dic mihi, si fias tu Leo, qualis eris? 
LONDON, Printed for the Author, 1681.   

GRIMALKIN, OR The Rebell-CAT: A NOVEL: Representing the Unwearied Attempts of the Beasts of his Faction against SOVEREIGNTY and SUCCESSION, since the Death of the Lions in the Tower.  
YOU cannot but have heard of the late Havoc and Depopulations which Death hath made in the Tower among the Lions. No less than Three of the Royal Line being Dead at once: And what is observed by some, to the great Grief and Astonishment of all, that the Deceased Lions (of happy memory) were Protestant Lions, and their Successor, who only now survives, a Popish Lyon. But such as are not without Hopes of the Establishment of what they call Protestant Religion, with, or without the Government, talk of his being removed from his High Place and Dignity, by a Bill of Exclusion: Insomuch as it is credibly reported by some, that the Cat-a-mountains, with the rest of the Plebeian Creatures in the Grates, are already entered into a strict Association, to cast off their Allegiance to the Popish Lion (under whom they were born) and to adhere unanimously to the Perkin-Lion, or Leopard, who is the Natural Son of a Lion and a Pard. And, so far as he is a Creature born of two Families at once, claims to be a Lion by the Father's side, as he is of the Family of the Panthers by the Mother's. Now the main Contrivance, if not the whole Manage and carrying on of this Design of the Beasts Revolt from the trueborn Lion to the Bastard Leopard, is generally laid upon the Cat, as being esteemed by all a subtle, sly, shifting Creature, and whose activity in climbing is well known, no less than its Dexterity in shifting upon every Fall, so as in every Toss and Revolution of Fortune, it hath been found to light upon its Feet. And albeit the Nature of the Lion is, never to hurt, or trample upon the Prostrate, and that he is a Creature so Generous in the Use of his Royal Power, as even under him the unfortunate, when they submit, fall gently. And though none hath oftener tasted of his Princely Mercy, or less deserved it than the Cat; insomuch, as if we number his Escapes from the Paw of Justice, he seems, when all Reprieves are reckoned, to have lived, even beyond the Natural Term of Nine Lives: Yet all this notwithstanding, so it is, that this active, cunning Creature, though neither in Strength nor Courage is of a size for bold and daring Attempts; in hunting its Prey not caring to observe the Laws of a free and equal Chase; but industriously waiting the Advantages of secret Ambushes, sudden surprisals, and close lurking in the dark: and when it is hunted hard, trusting rather to neat shift, and nimble Escapes, than to any solid Resistance, or open Force. Nor is it better armed by Nature for Combat, the best of its Weapons being no other than an envenomed Tongue, and sharp Fangs, still impotently venting its wretched Malice in such feeble Expressions, as Spitting and Scratching, Aspersing and Blemishing all those it cannot fairly run down and conquer; and for such Enemies it cannot march in Combat, it spares not filthily to Defile, or lewdly to Disfigure them, by casting Indecencies, and setting marks of Disgrace upon them: In all Assaults and Encounters still trusting to the basest Advantages, its Tongue and its Feet; nor unjustly, for the Weak in Fight, are often found at once the best prepared for Defiance and Escape: Even this little, despicable Animal, which is overpowered and overmatched by every Creature, unless it may be an innocent Dove, or an harmless Robin, of so petty and inconsiderable Account, that it hath not the luck to pass for a Mock-Lyon, or a Beast of Prey, but among the feeble Mice, among whom it plays the errand Tyrant, and acts over all the Rigours of the Lion with an ill Grace. Such is the unparallelled Pride, and intolerable Vanity of this Ridiculous Creature, that not a silly Mouse e'er goes to Pot, but must be sacrificed with all the Solemnity of the Theatre, abusing the poor deluded Captive with a show of Pastimes and Plays, though all the mockery of Sport ends in this, the poor Mouse is at length miserably cheated out of its Life with an Interlude, A piece of Pageantry as useless as it is Barbarous, but that we may suppose the Coward Murderer turns Death and Massacre into Ridicule, because the Death of a Mouse is so terrible without this Disguise, that it hath not Courage enough to kill it but in jest. Even this same Trifle of a Creature, presuming too much on the Gallantry of the Lion, and that he is of a Nature too Generous, and too brave to stoop to any thing so unequal in Chase or Combat, and having been too long neglected by the Lion, in a Noble kind of Scorn, vainly supposing this Disdain to be no other than Fear, and mistaking this Neglect for Licence, hath, from such Encouragements, stepped into some Point of good Opinion of himself, and of Reputation with other Brutes, with whom, of late, he hath proceeded to act clandestinely, not a little to the Disadvantage of the Lyon. A thing the less to be wondered at, since the most impotent of Creatures have ever proved the strongest Underminers; and Histories tell us, of a whole Town in Spain undermined by the Coneys, and that the Moles, as feeble and blind as they are, did as much for another in afric. But this Design against the King of the Beasts, had not in likelihood arrived to this Perfection, but that the Mischief was at first despised, and the Actors in it improvidently slighted. Whereas, alas! things of Tragical importance have had their Rise from very slender and improbable Beginnings; and Cats have ordinarily, from a very small Acquaintance, with the Favour and Indulgence of their Masters, proceeded to surprise them by the Throat. Moreover, no Beast whatsoever seems to be form with greater Advantages of Nature for a Conspirator than the Cat, as being a sly, skulking, thievish Creature, and living, for the most part, by surprise and stealth, and whose course of Life is, in a manner, wholly led in the dark; inasmuch as its Walks, its Watches, and its Chase, are altogether in the Night: and therefore its steps and motions must, in reason, of necessity pass undiscerned and undiscovered of all, because few Creatures else have walking Eyes, or Sight in the dark; and those few that have, are near Allies to the Cat or his Game (and Thiefs are not very famous for discovering one another) One of them being of Puss' Family, if not of Puss' Calling too; and the other, but that it lives more aloft, might pass for his Prey, with a very little difference, I mean the Owl and the Bat, which are, in downright English, no other than Cat and Mouse among the Birds. To this we may add, that what the Cat is wanting in due proportions of Strength and Courage, it evermore abundantly supplies in the skill of Finenesses, of petty Tricks, and all the little wily Arts, for which this Creature is wont to be celebrated, and in which it is arrived to so eminent a degree of Reputation, as even that ingenious Engine which curious Art hath form to supply the place of a Cat, and to do Puss' Duty in his absence, and which hath given Name to all the fine Policies which either Wit or Malice have invented, to catch Men or Beasts; I mean the same which the Vulgar call a Trap, is no more than Puss in effigy, and but a duller imitation of a Cat, in Wood  
But, to return to our purpose. No where hath this little Machiavelli employed greater Diligence, or more constant Application, and upon no occasion whatsoever shown more Address, or set more Engines and Arts on work, than of late, against the Lion, and his Royal State and Dignity. All hath been done, which the lewdest Wit could suggest, or the basest Malice put in practice: And, in fine, nothing that lay within the lawless Power of ill Nature, Calumny, Ingratitude and Treachery, hath been omitted. One while, with loud Cries, exclaiming long and largely against the ill Government, and Arbitrary Rule of the Lion, though this little Tyrant, at the same time, spares none of the lesser Fry, that hath either Wings or Feet: Another while, with bitter Catterwawling, bemoaning the hard Burdens, and miserable Slavery of the Beasts under such an Oppressor, of whose Generosity and Goodness Himself hath had but too large Experience; till, what with moving Speeches, Cajollery, and a counterfeit Zeal, working upon that Discontent which he hath raised, he proceeds to engage the unwary, unthinking Brutes, under the soft Name, and specious Notion of Liberty, and being Assertors of Themselves, and that, first, into Rebellion, and then into Ruin: Having, at the same time, drawn in the Leopard (though a By-blow of the Lions) to be a prime Leader, and principal Promoter of this unnatural Rebellion against his Father, and his Race. But this Base Son of the Lion is esteemed a pure Property of the Cat's, insomuch as, even in common Discourse, he ordinarily passes under the Name of the Cats-Foot, though, in conclusion, the poor deluded Stalking horse meets with no other Return for his good Services, than to be fed with dazzling shows of empty Honour, and to be rewarded with catching at the shadow of Sovereignty. And accordingly, for crowning his vain hopes, great Endeavours are used for removing the Ducal-Lyon in the Tower (the only one left at present) out of the way, as a Popish Sight; and for providing, that in all future Solemnities of showing the Lions in the Tower, to Strangers and curious Spectators, the Leopard there be henceforth in his stead duly showed as a Lyon. A Ceremony so ridiculous, as turns even the whole Conspiracy into a Jest, and which raised no small Mirth among the Graver sort, and created no less laughter among ethers, than if they had seen, the second time, the sight of the Ass in the Lion's Skin. Though, at the same time, to promote the Belief of this Imposture, many fair stories are told the People, of the Lion's Fierce and Intractable Disposition, and of his unmerciful Usage of All that come to see him, that no Den in the Tower is sufficient to hold him, no Chain nor Law strong enough to Bind him, but that he will of necessity break lose, seize, and tear every Spectator in pieces, as his Prey. All which, and much more, is easily swallowed by the credulous Multitude, who take all shows for Realities, and receive Representations for Truth, not having the Wit to distinguish betwixt their Friends and their Enemies, any otherwise, than by taking it for granted, that All that speak them fair are the One, as All that are ill spoken of are the Other; and who, in short, never fail to be imposed upon, because they never duly consider, that the Lion is not so fierce as he is painted.  
Nor is it to be imagined, how much these groundless Fears and Jealousies have gained upon the Belief of the Country People, insomuch, that in many places, they have already proceeded so far, as to take down the Lion from the King's Arms in their Churches, and from their Signs in the Country Towns, and to advance the Leopard with a Crown in the place of the Lion in both: though, for the same Reason, if it may take place, it would be convenient, for the complete extinguishing and utter expunging all memory of so Monarchical a Creature, that the Norman Lions in the Coin, which came in with the Conqueror, might be removed, to make way for the Leopards. But, for the  Reformations both in City and Country respectively, some zealous Patrons, forsooth, are not wanting to varnish them o'er with specious Pretences, and to frame, as they think, some colourable Excuses for obtruding the Leopard upon Spectators for the Lion, in showing the Lions in the Tower; and likewise for advancing this new Supporter to the King's Arms in the Country Churches, and so, upon all such Loyal Signs in their Towns as the Lion possessed before, usurping no less boldly upon our Reason, with such pitiful Sophistry, than the Leopard hath already on the Lion's Dignity. In order to this end, many fine Stories are told us, of the Beauty and Gracefulness of the Figure of the Leopard, of his Parentage, and of many exact resemblances of his Father the Lion, but much softened with a milder, and more agreeable Aspect of his own, and what fair Hopes may all conceive from so promising a Creature, as inherits at once the Majesty and Graces of the Lion, tempered with a more certain sweetness, more peculiar to himself. And for Succession in the Right Line, they are bold to tell us, that it matters not so long as the Nobler Beasts of Prey at least, whether true born or not, are all the Lion's Cousins, and therefore of the Blood Royal; and, which is the last Refuge they are driven to, they stick not to affirm, that all the Beasts of the Field are born equal, and therefore it could be none of Nature's intendment, that any One should have Sovereignty or Rule over another, inasmuch as they were all Freeborn: and for that cause, it was not the Ancient, or just Right of any one, like a Nimrod, or Mighty Hunter, to tyrannize over all the rest, but that the same was a manifest Encroachment against Nature, and an unjust Usurpation, which came in at first by Mastery and Conquest. Now such is the ill luck of those that have started such kind of Arguments, as it is very observable, that there is not one of them but may be turned with greater force on the Lion's behalf, upon the Objectors themselves; they being, all of them, but false and fading Colours, which will easily fall off and vanish, by a just consideration how ill they become that Cause they are pretended to adorn. What is miscalled Beauty and Mildness of Aspect in the Leopard, is, in truth, when we give it the right Name, no other than a base and amorous Delicacy. And, instead of the Majesty and Graces of the Lion, tempered with a peculiar sweetness of his own, we may rather behold the Masculine Graces and Majesty of the Lion, his Father, gilded with the soft and wanton effeminacy of his Prostitute Mother, the Panther, from whom he receives a stronger Tincture than from his Father; witness all his Spots, which remain as so many legible and lasting Stains of his Mother's Lust and Pollutions; and yet his Motley Skin is not a Livery unworthy the Mongrel, when we consider his pled Ancestors were Sire and Dam of two several Colours. Indeed, what else could be expected would ensue, when in so bold a contradiction to the Levitical Law, Nature would go to Blow with Creatures more unequally yoked than an Ox and an Ass? For the same unevenness and incongruity appears evermore in Nature's mis-matching of Creatures, which is daily found in Art's mis-matching of Metals, where the purer and more refined Metal is really much embased and impoverished by its mixture with a courser, and yet, at the same time, the courser Metal itself rendered much more course, by appearing in Conjunction with a Finer. Nor fares it otherwise in the present case; that Majesty which shines pure and bright in the Lion, when stamped on the Leopard, looks dim, and is clouded, as being embased with the course Alloy of the Panther; where, instead of the Pard's being dignified by Rising into Lion, the Lion is rather wholly degraded, by degenerating altogether into Pard. What shall we say more to the Boast of the Leopard's Parentage and Extraction? Why sure that they were at a loss to make a Boast of that which is so soul a shame and disparagement; and is so far from being of the Nature of a Plea, that it is indeed no other than an Imputation. For, either they ought to have concealed that part of the Truth which they are not ashamed to publish or else, not to have concealed the other part which they are ashamed to publish; and not to have made such a noise of his Father, as, at the same time, quite drowns all Report and Speech of his Mother. For, what though he was begotten by the King of Beasts, yet still was it not by his Queen, but on the prostitute Body of a base Subject. And, if such promiscuous and vile Engendering was not small Diminution of Honour to the Royal Sire, sure than it cannot be urged as the least Accession of Honour to his Bastard Issue. Be it granted, that he had a Royal Father, yet this in no wise entitles him to the Name, and Privilege of a Royal Son, being indeed but a Leap by chance, and no more than a Creature of Fortune. For, whereas nothing can get a Lion but a Lion, the Leopard quite otherwise, though he may have the King of Beasts for his Father, must stand to the courtesy of the whole Herd for a Mother. The next Plea drawn from those exact Resemblances of his Royal Sire, which are to be found in his Spurious Issue, is so frivolous, as rather merits a Smile for its Confutation, than a serious Answer. For, who could expect that should be turned to his Praise, which is indeed but matter of Sport? For, let such tell me, if, at least, they can, be serious, is it any part of the Ape's Praise, that, in the first forming him, he began to be made Man, but was left off before he was finished; for which reason, the poor chattering Creature is disowned by the Herd, as being but an Essay of a Brute, and imperfectly Theirs; and yet, at the same time, disdained by men, as being no more than dough-baked, and unfinished Man. In like manner, who can imagine otherwise, but that the Leopard, when he was made, would fain have been a Lion if he durst. And accordingly he ventured a little way, and made some few faint steps towards it, but, in conclusion, his Courage failing him, he was wrought off in haste, as you see, before the moist-strokes were perfected. And now, I beseech you, behold the profound Argument. The Leopard is the very picture of the Lion. What then? Therefore let's fairly rid City and Country at once of the true Original. Admirably urged, but that such an Inference hath no more the true Force and Colour of right Reason, than the Leopard hath of the Majestic show and strength of the Lion's trueborn Issue. No, rather, let us love the Original and the Copy presented together in one view, that so, from a close and near Survey of Both at once, we may come up to all the Measures of an equal and just comparison. But these men, who are so fond of beholding the Picture of a Lion, and, at the same time, will needs appear so eager for banishing the Original, I doubt not may have learned so necessary a Policy from, Plutarch's Painter, who, having made a wretched Figure of a Cock, and publicly exposed the same, though possibly; even so ill a Picture might have passed for a good Malkin or Scarecrow, had yet, notwithstanding, employed his Boy on purpose to chase away all the Cocks and Hens in the Yard, from appearing to the just Reproach and Scandal of so lewd a piece of Painting; as well knowing, that even the fairest Counterfeits are evermore seen with the greatest Advantages, when the Truth is not in view, and that all wants and weaknesses in the Imitations of Art, never have the luck to be so easily betrayed, as when they are compared near at hand, with the Life. Now, is the wise Contrivance of these men any other than the very Moral of this Story? and have they not adventured to establish the precarious Reputation of the Leopard, by the selfsame Means and Methods, which their Master, the unhappy Painter, had made choice of, as the likeliest, to make the best of a bad Market? For what else mean the repeated Proposals and endeavours still on foot, for dispossessing the Lion of that place he hath long held in the Tower, and of obtruding the Leopard for a Lion upon all Spectators? And what else signify the like unwearied Attempts, of cozening the credulous Country People with a Leopard for a Lion, in the King's Arms, and so many of their Sign-Posts in the Country Towns? Do they not plainly confess to all by such a wretched shift, how unwilling they are that the enormous Disproportion and Disparity between the Lion's Genuine Issue and his Bastard, should be betrayed, upon a near and just comparison of both together? For then, as they are conscious to themselves, that Generous Vigour, that Heroic Bravery, and those Masculine Graces which eminently shine in their full Proportions, and sit on the Majestic Forehead of the One, will all appear as undeniable, as the weak Approaches to, and faint Emulations of all these will in the Other, which is the base and inglorious Counterfeit: whereas, they are pleased to say, that for Succession in the Right Line, it matters not, it is barely said without any colour of Proof, and is so slender a Cavil, as carries with it, it's own Confutation; Succession and Birthright being no other than the plain and uniform Course and Order of Nature: which Order is no sooner broke at any time, but all things, by an immediate Consequence, fall into direct Confusion, no Subordination being left of First and Last, no Distinction of Leaders and Led; and in fine, no Establishment of Right and Wrong, all things being resolved into the Power of blind Fortune, and committed to the unsteady Determinations of giddy Chance: Nor is it to be represented in any Sense, but the disorderly Face of an Army, fencing with itself, and put to Rout by its own Forces; or to be marched with any Instance, but the wild Encounters in the Air, of ravenous Kites and Crows, rudely flocking and fight together, as preying on one another, without Distinction, Method, or Measure. Nor does that which follows, mend the matter, when they add, that the nobler Beasts of Prey at least, whether true born or not, are all the Lion's Cousins; as, if in case the Lion were disabled, yet the Succession need not be lost. But, alas! What can be more vain than such Discourses? Since, upon the Remove of the Succession, the whole Fabric tumbles down, and the very Situation and Figure of the Government, are at once entirely destroyed; for, the Right of governing being once lost, who is there under the Right of being governed? And where no one is under any Right of being governed, there all have equally a Right to govern: and thus, in Conclusion, the Government is unavoidably tossed, like a Ball of Contention, from one to another, among as many Pretenders, as there are Members of the Government, and a Gap is open for a Civil War, in every Age; so impossible is it, even for the Monarchy itself, any where to outlive the Succession, unless any think it practicable, for the Monarchy to last, when the Foundations are gone; which Foundations, are no sooner removed, but the many short-lived Vicissitudes und Revolutions of State, which happen to start up on a sudden, in its stead, (like hasty Mushrooms, which are but the Birth of a Night) will appear no other than the May-games of Chance, and mere Sport of Fortune; by all which restless Throws, and innumerable Tosses and Turn from side to side, Nature seems abundantly to declare, That she is ill at Ease, and can never possibly be at rest, till such time, as all things whatever out of frame and place, duly recover their right Centre, and return to settle on the ancient Bottom. But, these zealous Assertors of the Pretensions and Claims of all the nobler Beasts, at least, as the Lion's Cousins, and therefore, of the Blood Royal, have committed sure, no small Oversight, in neglecting, when so fair Occasion offered, to garnish this Point, with many fine Stories of Alexander's Bucephalus, and how Caligula did his Horse the Honour, to make him a Consul, and perhaps, he was no more unworthy the Consulship, than his Master the Empire: then they might have proceeded farther, That the two Brothers that laid the first Foundation of Rome's Greatness, Romulus and Rhemus, were not ashamed to owe the Charge and Nursery of their tender Years, to the kindness of a Wolf. From these old Stories, they might have led us yet, to more modern Instances, and acquainted us, that of late the Landtgrave of Hesse hath declared himself so far in Favour of the Cat, as he now gives that Creature in his Arms, and even at this day, glories in no other Style, than that of Prince of the Cats. To pass b● the mention of Whittington's Cat, so celebrated in Stories of our own; and what? Even the Turkish Aleoran, if that at least affords us any authentic Records of the Creation, hath left us no other Original of the Cat, but this, That the King of Beasts sneezing, was delivered of a Cat at his Nostrils; whether that Custom hence took Rise or no, I know not, so much in ordinary use yet among the Common People, of saluting this Creature upon occasion, by the Name of Puss, in her Majesty.  
But what needs all this ado? Will some say, when the Argument which they retreat to as their last Refuge, when all the rest fail, flatly assures us, That all the Beasts are equal, and that Nature having left us no exact scale of Creatures, it could be none of her Intendment, that any one should have Rule or Sovereignty more than another; the Truth of which bold Assertion, is daily confronted by every Observation: the Fowls of the Air being no more equal either in point of Sharpness of Sight, Strength of Talons, or their towering Flight, than the Trees in which they build, are found aspiring to an Equality in Pitch and Eminence: nor is there more a Parity among the Beasts of the Field, in regard of their Prowess, Strength of Body, or natural Weapons, than the Earth on which they couch, is every where, all of a level; part of which, is seen ever and anon; proudly ascending to be crowned with lofty Hills, while part bows down under them, and stoops so low, till it submits itself into humble Valleys. Nay, to avoid the Consusion of Equality, even in so much as the mingling such Liquors as Water and Oil, it is observed, that Oil, as affecting the supreme Place, will evermore be getting uppermost, and keeping the Water in Subjection, to be sure to float a top: much more, among all Orders and Ranks of Creatures, hath it been the constant rule and unalterable Appointment of Nature, to select some one from the rest of the Flocks and Herds, whom she hath accordingly form with peculiar Graces, and crowned with nobler Prerogatives, and every way eminently signalised with greater Advantages, as it should seem on purpose; that where those fair Marks of natural Authority and Majesty, shine conspicuous, they might appear to all, worthily preferred to be the Chief and Leader of the furred or feathered Kind: to say then, that all the Birds of the Air, or Beasts of the Forest, are equal, is such another Solecism in effect, as to affirm, that all the Birds are Eagles, or that all the Beasts are Lions.  
To proceed then, whoever shall consider that innate Dread and Reverence, which common Instinct hath implanted in all Beasts of their King, and which he duly seems to challenge from them, as their natural Homage and Duty, as often as he roars, or lashes the Ground with his incensed Tail, whoever shall reflect on his own mere Generosity and Gallantry, in spaving to insult upon the Prostrate, as well as on his invincible and matchless Courage, in admitting no Equal, and enduring no Superior, either in Chase or Combat: In a Word, whoever shall follow that Painter's Example, who computed the Proportions, and took the Measures of an entire Lion, by seeing no more than his Foot; and shall in like manner, proceed to a true Estimate of the complete Majesty of this royal Creature, from so small a Hint, as that little Image or Signature of a Crown, which Nature hath visibly stamped in his Imperial Paw: I say, he that deliberately weighs any or all of these, will, in the end, upon the whole matter, conclude, that the Lion's Rights are no more to be disputed, than himself; and that as no Creature whatever is the Lion's just Match in a fair Field, so also, no Arguments against his Claims and Pretensions to a natural Empire and Dominion over the Beasts, as his Inheritance, will be sound of equal Force and Strength to those for them. Nor does he hold his Reign by such a Tenure as came in with the Conqueror, this Rule being an Establishment of such Antiquity, as is beyond the Memory of many Ages, and of which, neither the eldest men nor Records, can assign the first Beginning; and certainly, such a Rule as this, of which we can trace no Beginning, could have no other, than purely from God and Nature; for, were it true that it was no better than an Usurpation, which came in by Mystery and Conquest, as hath been suggested: it might still deserve a Question, whether or no, in those Ages before such Usurpation, there were not Lions, as well as in all Ages since? And if so, whether the Lions of former Ages were e'er a jot tamer, or less Lions than those of later Ages? and then, at length, when they came to usurp, and get all the Power into their Clutches, what Ages it first came in, the who, or what Creature living it was that they usurped upon? For, but now we were told, that before such time, as this Usurpation took place, all Creatures were equal; and, it is plain, that among Equals, no one hath a Right of Mastery over another, and where there was no Right, there could indeed be no Usurpation.  
Moreover, if this Imperial Right came in at first by Mastery and Conquest, since every Conquest is but the Fortune of the War, and nothing can be more inconstant than the Successes of Fortune, it may be demanded farther, how it hath happened that the King of Beasts hath been crowned with constant Successes against every Creature, in all Disputes for the Mastery? and no Creature, with any Successes, against him? And, whence comes it to pass, that this Nimrod, or Mighty Hunter, hath been never, at any time, Himself hunted out of his Rights, run down upon the Spot, and fairly killed by none of the base Herd? If it be said here, that the Royal Creature is so far superior to the rest in Strength and Spirit, that he seems to be form with greater Advantages than all others for a Natural Conquest; such an Answer will still leave room for a farther Enquiry; why Nature, who is supposed to do nothing in vain, should be so liberal of her Favours to no end and purpose? and, whether it be reasonable to imagine, that she should Arm any Creature whatsoever, for a Natural Conquest, unless she had designed the same for Natural Monarchy.  
And thus, at length, I have dispatched the several Arguments produced for setting up the Leopard in the room of the Lion's Trueborn Issue, all of which, as you may observe, but the last, plead for a new King of Beasts, as that in the end for no King of Beasts. So nearly are the Succession and the Monarchy allied, that the change of the Succession, is by one and the same Fate, both in the Practice and Proposal of the King, evermore made a step to the Monarchy. For, as all the preceding Arguments are framed to disable the Lion's next Heir from inheriting his Imperial Rights, so the last is framed no less to disable the Bastard Pretender, or any other. But, I hope, by what hath been said, it will sufficiently appear, that the Lion and a just Cause are both alike strong and invincible, and not to be disabled by any Force whatsoever.  
One thing I had almost forgot to note, that whereas there were some Proposals of showing the Leopard and the Cat more publicly in Remoter parts of the Country, accordingly, of late, some Progresses have been made in that matter, and not without some small Success, as it was not otherwise likely. For, upon their first Approach, some silly Brutes in the Country, that had never seen the Tower, nor the Lions in their Lives, through a well-meaning and mis-taught Ignorance, paid their mistaken Reverence to the Leopard, as to the King of Beasts. Upon which occasion, it is incredible to imagine, how strangely his little Oracle, the Cat, is transported, as little Creatures are evermore the vainest; witness the Fly in Aesop, which was in great trouble forsooth, for the mighty Dust it raised, that, in truth, was stirred by the motion of the Chariot-wheel, on the top of which it perched: but alas, good Soul! his Cat-ship seems to be fallen into the same mistake with the Ass in the Story, that carried the Image of Isis, which fond imagined, as this profound Creature was no wiser, that all the Honours were paid to him, which were indeed directed to the Image of the Goddess: And thus, in like manner, the Caps and Cringing of the Country Clowns, which the Cat hath, with no little Vanity, arrogated to himself and the Leopard, were purely addressed to the fair Image of the Protestant Religion, which was publicly exposed, and carried before them; and the same might be possibly increased in some places, by the roaring Noises they made against Popery wherever they came. So that, upon a right understanding, I do not see that the Cat is in great danger of being had in Idolatry, though Time was, they say, when Sacrifices and Altars to the Race of Tybert and Grimalkin were in fashion. And, if this will gratify any of the Nine-lived Immortal Kind, it shall be freely acknowledged, that the Egyptians made no scruple to admit this Creature in the number of their Gods; and, accordingly, Puss was, with great Formality, shut up in her Temple, and kept to be showed in State, with a false, dissembling Crocodile, and such like good company; though it ought to be impartially remembered withal, that these good People, who were so Devout as to worship a Cat, were led, as we may suppose, with the same blindness or Zeal, to acknowledge, no less worthily, even Darkness itself for a Deity.  
What shall I say more? To lay before you all, the Finenesses and thin-spun Policies of our little Machiavil, were an attempt, not unlike that of Heliogabalus, who had with great Care, caused all the Cobwebs in Rome, to be brought and laid together in a place; that all the curious Labours of those little venomous Creatures, being amassed together in one Heap, and presented in one View, all might from thence proceed to compute the Greatness of Rome, and take their Measures of the Extent of its Buildings, which could conveniently Lodge so vast a Number of Spiders at once; though such a Choice Collection of their Webs, might be exposed with better reason, for a Map of the Sluttishness of Rome, than for any Type of its Greatness.  
Besides, this way of Calculation might prove very fallacious: For perhaps, there was hardly any nasty, little Village, but might have afforded a more plentiful Harvest of Cobwebs, than the Imperial City itself.  
However, such it seems were the worthy Employments of the Emperors in those days: For as one very industriously applied himself to that Imperial Sport in Hunting Flies, another was very gravely taken up, in so laudable an Undertaking, as the sweeping of Cobwebs together, and crowding them up in an Heap.  
In this State are things depending at present, what the Issue and Event of all may be, as yet is not a little uncertain: In the mean time, Conjectures are framed, and Censures are spent, with such Variety of Difference, as men stand diversely affected. One Party are of Opinion, that it shows but little Skill, to rouse a Sleeping Lion: And that it is no less, than a point of intolerable Vanity, to reckon upon the Lion's Skin. and proceed to share the Spoil so long before he be caught. Another Party, which makes no great Noise for its Zeal to Monarchy, and cannot over-passionately wish it a long Continuance, either among Men or Beasts, seem to take the same malicious Pleasure in foreseeing its Ruin, which some do, in looking on a Shipwreck, and accordingly, live but only in expectation of such brisk Steps and hopeful Beginnings, being proportionably improved, and fairly carried on, proposing, by Change of Governors, to change their Fortunes and Conditions.  
But these vain Hopes are as much derided, by a third sort of Men, who are declaring, ever and anon, that Lands, and Servants, and Fortunes, have evermore the best Usage under their Old Masters; and are sure to be the most gently treated by their Right Owners: Whereas Usurpers, who are the greatest Robbers in the World, for the most part, lead such a merry, jovial Course of Life, as Thiefs use to do, idly squandring, and notoriously wasting, what in Conclusion is none of their own.  
What remains then, but that it should far with other Creatures, in such Variety of Changes, much as it did with the Frogs in the Fable, who could not away with the Gentleness of an easy Log; and therefore, were deservedly preyed upon in the end, by a devouring Stork.  
In a word, when Governments are once so miserable, as to be in the Hands of the base Herd, they seem to dispose of them as wildly as Boys of their Cocks, which they set up, only for the fond sport of knocking them down again.  
There are in Conclusion, to add no more, who are of belief, that the prevailing Success of this Imposure, is not altogether owing so much to the Manage of some, as to the Inadvertency of others, with whom, every fair Tale passes for Truth, that hath the Fortune to be well told; and whatever hath the luck to make a good Figure, or a fine Show at a distance, is taken for no less than it seems: For this Mischief had never been fomented, and fed to such a Degree; but that the well-meaning Brutes, have been less diligent and daring, less circumspect and unanimous, than the crafty Cat, and his close Confederates, whose familiar Employment, is haunting of blind Corners, obscure Places and Holes; and lying, ever and anon upon the Catch, to surprise the unwary: It being the constant, unhappy Lot of such Creatures as are innocent, not suspecting themselves, and their own Intentions, to be less apprehensive and suspicious than they ought, of the pernicious Designs, and ill Practices of others; and for that reason, to lie more open, and exposed to the secret Arts and Endeavours of their Enemies: Nay, what is more, even among such as could see farther, and had a clearer Prospect before them; every one neglecting all Care and Thought of the Common Danger, seems to provide no farther than for his own Security, until, in the end, it happen to them, as to men in a Storm, where, while every one casts about, to save no more than one, all the Passengers drown together.  
And thus in the Case before us, as to the Attempt of hanging the Bell about the Cat's Neck, every one declines, and shifts off so necessary a Service from himself, to another, till at length, what no one durst adventure upon, is left un-attempted by all. Whereas, alas! this growing Mischief, which hath so fatally prevailed and spread, since the Cat was under restraint in the Tower, might have been seasonably prevented and stopped at first, by a timely Riddance of the Cat out of the way. A Course which had been no less necessary for the Common Security, than that applauded Custom, yet of frequent use, in times of General Sickness and Contagion; when, among other means to divert the spreading of the Infection, the People turn Executioners, and with their own Hands, fail not to do Solemn Justice on all the Cats in the Town.  
I may be thought perhaps, by some, to have introduced Brute Creatures upon the Stage, designing and acting beyond their Powers and Capacities; and so to have taken a Liberty, beyond even the Extravagance of Romances: For though they are allowed to be such Pictures as show us things much bigger than the Life; and that their Giants are much larger than those in any Age; their Horses fairer than those bred in any Country; their Armour brighter than what is at any time made in the Shops; and their Shipping fairer, than any the Universal World affords: Yet notwithstanding, it may deserve a Question,  
Whether their Brutes are so artificial and ingenious, so well bred and accomplished, as to lay Plots and form Designs, or at least, to be so far concerned in Man's witty way of Rebellion, as to enter into Cabals, or engage in Associations and Clubs?  
But then such as start these Scruples, may please to remember, that there are Thoughtful Beasts, as well as there are Unthinking Men in the World; and that the Odds is not so great betwixt the Plodding Carrier and his Pack horse; but that it may come to a Question, which is the Carrier, and which the Beast? Such Men as have the constant Charge and Attendance of Beasts, being indeed rather Relics of Men, than Men themselves, as having no more Humanity left in them, than what is sunk to a base Degeneracy, and runs so low, as it appears at Ebb: whereas, on the contrary, such Creatures as are preferred before the rest of the Herd, to associate with man, as their Companion, or wait on him, as their Master, to be Partners with him in his Labour, or to share with him in his Sports, are, I know not how civillzed and improved, to that Degree, as they seem raised above the Common Pitch and Stature of Beasts; and rising very near to the height of Man, who, in the Philosopher's Language, is no more than a Sociable Creature. The Privilege of which Definition is by none denied to the Dog and the Horse, as being upon every occasion, a part of his Train, and of a piece with his Household and Family, and no less indeed than his ordinary Menial Servants. And, for the Cat, besides its just Pretensions to the same Interests with these, I shall more particularly add, that the ingenious Montaigne. playing with his Cat, found it so good Company, and such pleasant Entertainment, and agreeable Conversation, that he could not forbear celebrating his purring Playfellow to all Posterity; and purely, for Puss' sake, to exalt all Brute Creatures to some degrees of Reason. An Opinion, which, it may be, he the rather inclined to embrace, as thinking for Mankind to damn all other Creatures whatever, as Irrational, at one Blow, was so hard a Censure, as tasted somewhat of that severe and uncharitable Pride, which the Ancient Greeks and Romans were accused of, when they thought fit to Reprobate all the rest of Mankind, besides themselves, as Barbarous.  
If it be true, as some have constantly affirmed, upon what grounds they best know themselves, that all men whatever are found naturally to represent in signature, some one Creature or other; I hope it will not appear so unpardonable an Error, and so far removed from that Latitude which is allowed to Fiction and Romance, to introduce Brute Creatures personating, and playing the parts of men; since, at the same time, Nature itself, in our Composition, hath borrowed so many strokes and lineaments, as gives us no inconsiderable Tincture and semblance of some or other of the Brutes. Nay, even that Erection of Figure which is contended for as peculiar to Man, and, almost his sole Discrimination from other Creatures, is not, it may be, altogether so natural as is imagined, when we consider the many steps and Essays which Children make at their first beginning to go, to march upon all four; insomuch as Nurses and Leading-strings, and little Chariots, are all but little enough to reclaim and rescue them from such a Motion, and which, crawling Age, of its own accord, at length returns to, in spite of all the vain Endeavours and support of a stick.  
For the Beasts I have made choice of for these Characters, I was not far to seek for them: The Lion, Leopard, Catamountain, etc. being, though not Natives of this Island, and born within the four Seas, yet Inhabitants within the Precincts and Liberties of the Tower, and so seem to be naturalised, and, in a, sort, Free of the City, which is the Scene where the Story is principally laid. And then the Cat, in Right of Whittington's Puss, that was Lord Mayor of London, may fairly pretend to no small Interest in the Charter and Freedom of the City. To which, give me leave to add, that I thought the Cat no less fit to sustain the Politic Character than the Fox, the very mention of which, is now, in a manner, nauseous, since he is made to serve the turn so often in Aesop's Fables, that he is worn all out as thread bare, as the Knight that is to get the better of the Giant in Romances.  
For the League between the Leopard and the Cat, and so between those shadowed under their Names and Characters, it is not a little countenanced by those Alliances which Nature hath made between both these Creatures, in their Make, manner of Hunting, and way of Defiance: The Leopard being marked in Head, Feet, and Tail, like a Cat, is observed to spit as a Cat does, and, in fine, to jump upon his Prey after the selfsame manner.  
There needs no great Force to bring so near Allies, as the Leopard, Cat, and Catamountain, which the whole Faction engaged against the Lion, within the Compass of an Association: Nature itself having proceeded a little way, and made some steps towards it, in incorporating them already in some sort, into a Tribe; these Creatures being all of them of Cat-kind, and differing at length, from a Cat, no otherwise than a Kite does from an Eagle.  
And, might it not be conveniently enough supposed, that such as already were the Cat's Allies in Nature, might prove his Confederates and Accomplycies in Design; and as they were Creatures of his kind, turn also Creatures of his Faction, and accordingly (as great Bodies are moved by slender Springs) be purely influenced, and perfectly managed by him, in a joint Conspiracy against the King of Beasts; he being besides, as little Creatures ordinarily are, of a nimbler Wit, and of a finer Sense, and having much a deeper Reach, than any of the whole Gang besides. And though the Leopard is sometimes said to be the Leader of the Faction against the Lion, yet is he at the same time also, called the Cat's Foot, as being indeed no more than the Handle of the Cause, and a Creature so purely passive, that though for Honour sake, he hath the Name of Leader of the Faction, yet in effect, is he led by the whole Faction round, by Turns; wearing this empty Feather in his Cap, as the Fore-horse in the Team; and though like him too, he seems to lead the Van, yet is he no less thrust on, and pushed forwards by those in the Rear. If any yet stubbornly insist, that the Leopard is a wild Creature, and wild Creatures use not to appear in Herds, and therefore the Supposition of his affecting Cabals and Associations, and Clubs, is no less than monstrous, and such as perfectly exceeds at once, all Imagination and Belief.  
To what hath been already said, I shall add yet farther, that his very Original and Generation are such, as giveth Colour of Countenance to such a Supposition, inasmuch as he owes his Birth to an unclean Club of a Lion and Panther, and so indeed, was purely begotten by an Association of two several Tribes and Creatures. However, if I have yet made him amends, and done him as much Right another way, by supposing him as ignorant, as lame, and as much a Stranger to Business, as I found him, he being so errand a Property, that the only use which hath been made of him all along, hath been no other, than the showing this pretty Booby in all places, for a Sight, remaining yet, notwithstanding a great Variety of Opportunities, a raw and unpractised Novice, and no more improved, with all the Assiduities and Application of the Cat, than the Ass, in the Story, was edified, that went to hear porphyry's Lectures.  
Neither ought it to seem strange, in the least, to hear of the Cat's going a Caballing, and running to Clubs, and haunting Associations; for, it is no new thing, for the Cat of the House, both on the Account of Caterwauling, and other Scores, to gossip with his Comrades, and to have frequent Meetings with the Cats in the Vicinage; so that this is no more in Conclusion, than Cat after kind.  
But, because the Cat is introduced as the Principal Actor in this Romance, and upon whom, in a manner, the whole Affair turns and moves, and because also it may appear somewhat new for the Cat to play the part of such a little Politician as it is designed to represent; to obviate therefore such Inconvenience, I shall present some Reasons, why he may not appear altogether unworthy the Character assigned him, which shall be such as lie open to every Consideration, and with these I shall shut up the whole Discourse.  
It is a Creature of the greatest Thought and Reflection, and evermore so intent upon its Sport and Prey, as its busy imagination figures to itself Rats and Mice, wherever there are Chairs and Hang, sharpening and whetting its Claws perpetually against them, in Meditation and Conceit, perhaps, of the next Rat it is to encounter.  
It is a Creature so very Watchful and Wary, that it is seldom observed to be overtaken, and when it is, is so dextrous and nimble in shift and Tergiversations, that, as if it were all Feet, which way soever it happens to be thrown, by a notable Felicity, it still falls upon all four; that as Pauso's Horse, which, at first sight passed for the Picture of a Horse o'erthrown, but, turned the other way, for that of a running Horse; so, when upon every Toss we look to find this Creature laid flat on his back, he, quite contrary, deceives our Expectation, and eludes the Fall at once, by lighting, unhurt, on his Feet. So far is it exempt from those Mischances to which other Creatures are subject, as it seems, in some degree, placed out of the Reach and Power of Destiny, and, in a manner, to be enchanted, for which cause, the waggish Vulgar, somewhat not unpleasantly, are wont to ascribe to it a little kind of Immortality, lasting the length of Nine Lives. And not without reason, when we consider how often it hath been near the Point, and how narrowly still it hath escaped, what a number of Forfeitures of its own Life it hath outlived, and what a variety of Tragical Ends of others it hath out-lasted, so as where other Creatures have not failed ducly to go to pot, this hath been ever sure to save his Bacon.  
Once for all; It is a Creature of no very fair Reputation, and under somewhat suspicious Circumstances, lying so far under the deep displeasure of some, that nothing affords them matter of higher distaste, or can be more their peculiar Aversion, or perfect abhorrence. A thing the more to be taken notice of, because so peaceable is Nature, as she evermore very sparingly kindles these kinds of Feuds and Antipathies; insomuch as in the whole number of Beasts, that are not mere Vermin, or Venomous Creatures, there is hardly any one to be named, with whom any part of Mankind is fallen out so implacably, and to that degree, as to live in perpetual War and Enmity with all besides the Cat, and which is to be treated as an Enemy to their Nature and Constitution, and to be banished accordingly, at the greatest Distances, never to be seen so much as in their Company, or to come within the reach of their Sight or Smell. Nor escapes this Creature any better among the common sort of People, with whom it is generally so ill in Esteem, as it is familiar and frequent for them to reprobate all Cats for Witches; A great Indignity and severe Imputation for all to suffer under without Exception; but such, it may be, as will stick more easily on the Cat of the Romance, if we consider the Truth of that saying, that Rebellion is as the Sin of Witchcraft.  
This, I hope, however will be granted for the Honour of this little, great Incendiary, and, as no less than a due to his Catilineship, that the Exemplary Virtue of Rebellion, in which he hath happily excelled the most inimitable Masters of his time, can never be celebrated in our Age, or recommended to Posterity in a more advantageous and agreeable Style, than that Name it hath so long worthily enjoyed, of that lusty Puss, the GOOD OLD CAUSE.  
FINIS.