"CATS" IN SOCIETY.

Dominion, Volume 2, Issue 486, 20 April 1909, Page 3

"CATS" IN SOCIETY.

: - ' A BISHOP'S VIEWS. :. ':;It is Ithe'speeches'delivered'in'littlei outiof-' the-way places that. stir ' humanity- 1 to . its depths; as witness for instance the innocent speech made by Sir Joseph Ward/the other night at a place which New Zealand-now knows to/be called'Upper'Hutt/ Before, that night its', fame was' not-.-;exteiisive,'. Even more stirring and sonsational, moro widereaching jthan that startling speech,,p-as onedelivered', the other -.day by the r Bishop of London, at—of all places in the wido world— ■a; girls', ,:high 'school. It'.' was -'a .-speech meant for the benefit of. a few pupils ; at. the. Graham Street School/presumably in London, and behold the noiso of it is echoing round the; world. , This is what the Bishon 'to the little, girls :—"Never be' cats.' .There is all the difference in tho world'between the. old maid, and the .'.old cat. --Some of .the old ; maids ; of, London;, are ; the . most loving, and gracious ,-people, in it,. and you : need'not.vbe tie .least ,afraid. of .being an old maid, so' long, as you; are -riot an old . cat." He; oautioned them; "against indulging in ' illhatiired gossip ' and - backbiting,' and, thus .developing into' "cats,';, and he went on to say that the practico was "tho curse .of : West End drawing-rooms." : : . " -;; . . Since then people and papers have -been saying things, and it is curious to notice how they differ in their ideas of what is cattish, whfle they, agree'that cattishness is as much a masctilino as a feminine attribute. One •would think it could bo-taken for granted that. tho. true, characteristic of ■ a cat was its insincerity,- its soft purringness,''and its . almost invariable heartkssness.;: Your - true wicked cat;likes to be a cat; she would not bo anything else for tho world, and she nearly. always - purrs. Miss Cholmondeley takes tho prize at any feminine cat show,- for the feline, beings she'describes in her novels, .'the soft good people who are so intenselyselfish, and even to ■ themselves insincere. Says the "Ladies' Pictorial" Bishop's statement, has at, once provoked discussion and refutation. The soft impeachment that this is ''the curso of the west End" has; been :denied, ' and. one feels, sure 1 that South Kensington and Hampstead are also persuaded-that the Bishop, is mistaken in declaring, that ajMarge''/majority or women spend their lives*saying iink'ind things about other people.- Lady Dorothy Nevill, who has lived long enough to. have a wide experience .of, girls/; declares that, .during the; last; sixty -years-, thfej" have; 6'^n and morally improving,' and the'outlook on life; .which .UtflncßdA "fitttiness' 'U - in.'fbririeigenerations has widened with tho. suns',' :; and is not the prevalent spirit/i .Well, it all dc'penda on one's definition of a ."cat." -

; "It is human, -and not merely womanish, to be, something; of, a '."cat"., (says a, Melbourne paper). ;■ Club talk,, though held'.by wide-' .visioned, great-minded -mon,;. would- not! always ,:bear repetition without- shaming the authors,: for, its, petty unkindness. c We have i'.'cattiriess,'/; in .politic3--some labour members are particularly; ready to arch their backs ,and maul and miaul. .:A State Government, is a. Goyernment'v'of '"cats" when, it tries .to advertise its own attractions to immigrants by means of malevolent publication of little disabilities HKother States. 'Our stern Presbyterian Assembly has: been seen-with bristling hair and fierce teeth, and has given us fights rivalling Kilkenny. - : "I have always maintained, says a writer in ''Tho Queen," that' thei cattish spirit in vary- 1 ing .degrees lies' dormant in most' of our. natures—men and women alike. Circumstances, upbringing, -natural tendencies—all seive .either .to repress ;or to cultivate the, hidden seed. Worldly wisdom, too, steps in, .and even where kindly .instincts are aDsent curbs.. tho_. propensity for ..disagreeable comment. ..,One.comes across instances of wonderful. prudence-(at the expense of frankness) in quite young girls. "He asked' if I/admii-ed her, and/ of course, I said 1 thought : her lovely. ' She is quite .banale; but I should have, .said the same even if-she had. been hideous, or, he would have thought ' me .jealous." A persistently cattish person is never popular, and is quickly found out and avoided. On the other hand, she or he .who, >.although. ..well ; able to discriminate, never volunteers' • disparaging remarks, is widely appreciated; A far more dangerous and subtle "cat" is .thc one . whogives people away •whilst :seemingTto' Upraise.. "I. admiro ;her im-' mensely—she's , quite wonderful. . No oiib .would suppose—would they?—that her father began "life as a small tradesman-in the suburbs"—bf which fact one had been hitherto :qiiite unaware. Scandals are sometimes circulated and' gain ground without tho smallest foundation in fact, and as the. victims l themselves are, the last to hear' what is said, they have no chance of clearing themselves. .-. . . ' '.; :•

. It is usual .to* apply the term "cat" to women, and to saddle them with the reputation for felme malice that tho . name suggests .but my experience is that men offend quite as much as women ': in this respect. Theycortainly do infinitely more harm, for a man's condemnation carries .weight and conviction' with - it,whereas, . the '■:• utterances' of a: women are T often .attributed l to k)ine unworthy; motive; ' and' not / taken ~; seriously. . Taking all things into consideration, however, I believe'that society in general is far more charitably disposed nowadays than'formerly. People are niit so jnorrawrminded, so hedged in by convention, nor so easily shocked.. Women 'are allowed much more freedom. Altogether there is a more wholesome and tolerant tone, and 'cattislmess', in all its'forms is. the exception rather than, the rule." TOMMY FOUND IT • Georgo Ade, at a dinner at the Ritz, in London, said of luck: ■' • ; -"Nobody is so dependent on luck'as the playwright. When lie,prospers\he'considers luck a kindly ; goddess; but when his work fails then luck seems to him a spirit pervorsely cruel and mean. "Ho regards-luck, then as 'Tom' Jackson's wife,'' of;Lafayette,'.does.' ' . "'Tom'• Jaickson said' , one , morning at breakfast: . •. "'Hang it nil ! :While I was weeding I dropped by Imperial Order of the Roosters; pin. on tho, : lawn, and I'Ve been- looking ;for< it. now over half, an hour. It's • gone for •good,'.l "suppose.'. - • ..! i .' ... -night .-when .Jackson, sat down to dinner ther,o-,wa3 his pin beside his plate. " 'Bully for, you!':'said he.;, 'Where did you find .it, Martha?' :'"'l let Tommy go barefooted this afternoon,' said Mrs. Jackson, quietly."