CO) 
 
 THE 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 S^MIT'T^IW^WOW 
 
 @> 
 
 AKD 
 
 HIS CAT; 
 
 How from a poor Country Boy, destitute of 
 Parents or Relation?, 
 
 HE ATTAINED GREAT RICHESy % 
 
 Andwas prottioted to the high raid honourable 
 
 dicmiitv of 
 
 ' LORD MAYOR OF LONDON. ^^ 
 
 rOEKs 
 
 Printed by J. Kendrew, Colliergate 
 
FRONTISPIECE. 
 
 ■?<j»ssmt>i£5ia;»5Siga-a»KftKaBEagj^aa^ 
 
 Sir rticliard Wliiltingion behold, 
 
 in 3|ayorVs liobco arid Chain of Gold. 
 
tlTE 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 W^MIT'Tim^ TOM 
 
 AND 
 
 HIS CAT; 
 
 How from a poor Country Boy, destitute of Parents 
 
 or Relations, 
 
 HE ATTAINED GREAT RICHES, 
 And was promoted to the high and honorable dignity oC 
 
 LORD MAYOR OF LONDON* 
 
 YORK : 
 
 Printed ly J. KcndrCu^, Colluroai^. 
 
lloma7i Capital and Small Leiters. 
 
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 ' ' '"' '' ' -fc^^-^.^--*. . ■ ■• ■ ^i. .- . .-^ ■ > -Y ( I f- - ^•^^ 
 
 THEi 
 
 HISTORY OF 
 
 WHITTINGTON AND HIS CAT. 
 
 m amt t a 
 
 DICK WHITTINGTON was so 
 Veiy young when his father and mo- 
 ther died, that he neither knew theni 
 nor the place of his birth. He strolled 
 about the country^ as ragged as a colt, 
 till he met with a waggoner who was 
 going* to London, and he gave him 
 leave to walk by the side of his wag- 
 gon, without paying any thing for 
 
6 
 
 his passage, which oWiged little Dick 
 very much, having heard that the 
 streets were paved with gold, he was 
 willing to get a little of it ; but great 
 was his disappointment, when he saw 
 the streets covered with dirt instead 
 of gold, and himself in a strange place, 
 without food, friends, or money. 
 Though the waggoner was so cha* 
 
ritable as to let him walk up by the 
 side of his waggon gratis^ he took 
 care not to know him when he came 
 to town, and the poor boy was in a 
 little time so cold and hungry that 
 he wished himself at a good kitchen 
 fire in the country. In this distress 
 he asked charity of several people, 
 and one of them bid him ^^ Go to 
 work, for an idle rogue." That I will, 
 says Whittington, with all my hearty 
 I will work for you, if you will let 
 me. The man, who Ihought this 
 savoured of impertinence^ (though the 
 poor boy only intended to shew his 
 readiness to work) gave him a blow 
 with his stick, which broke his head, 
 so that the blood ran down. In this 
 situation, and fainting for want of 
 food, he laid liiiuself down at the 
 
8 
 
 door of one Mr. Fitzwarren, a mer-. 
 chant, where the cook saw him, and 
 being an ill-natured hussy, ordered 
 him to go about his business, or she 
 would scold him. At this time Mr. 
 Fitzwarren came from the Exchanxre. 
 
 and also began to scold the poor boy, 
 bidding him go to work. Whitting- 
 
9 
 
 ton answered, that he should be glad 
 to work, if any body would employ 
 him^ and that he should be able, if 
 he could get some victuals to eat; but 
 that he had got none for three days, 
 and that he was a poor country boy 
 and knew nobody^ and none would 
 employ him. He then endeavoured 
 to get up^ but v/as so very weak that 
 he fell down again^ which excited so 
 much compassion in the merchant, 
 that he ordered the servants to take 
 him in, and give him some meat and 
 drink, and let him help the cook to 
 do any dirty work that she had to 
 set him about. Whittington would 
 have lived happily in this worthy 
 family, had he not been bumped 
 about by the cross cook, who must 
 always be roasting or bastings and 
 
10 
 
 m$mm 
 
 
 ■ ■iiwnwiiiiB 
 
 when the spit was stilly she employed 
 her hands upon poor Whittington ; 
 till Miss Alice his master's daughter, 
 was informed of it^ and then she took 
 compassion on the poor boy, and made 
 the cooic treat him kindly. 
 
 Besides the crossness of the cook, 
 Whittington had another difficulty to 
 get over before he could be happy. 
 
11 
 
 He had by order of his master a flock 
 bed placed for him in the garret, but 
 it was so overrun with rats and mice, 
 that they ran over the boy's nose, 
 and disturbed him in his sleep. 
 
 After some time^, however, a gen- 
 tleman who had come to his master's 
 house, gave Whittington a penny for 
 brushing his shoes. This he put in 
 his pocket, being determined to lay 
 it out to the best advantage. The 
 next day seeing in the street a wo- 
 man, with a cat under her arm, he 
 ran up to her to know the price of 
 it. The woman, as the cat was a 
 good mouser, sought a good price for 
 it, but on Whittington telling her he 
 had but a penny in the w^orld, and 
 that he wanted a cat sadly, she let 
 him have it. 
 
12 
 
 This cat Whittington concealer! in 
 the garret^ for fear she should be 
 beat about by his mortal enemy the 
 cook, and here she soon killed or 
 frighted away the rats and mice, so 
 that the boy could now sleep as sound 
 as a top. 
 
 Soon after this, the merchant who 
 had a ship ready to sail, called for all 
 
13 
 
 iiis servants, as his custom was, in 
 order that each might venture some- 
 thing to try their luck, and what- 
 ever they sent was to pay neither 
 freight nor custom : for he thought, 
 (and he thought justly) that God 
 Almighty would bless him the more 
 for his readiness to let the poox* par«- 
 take of his good fortune. 
 
14 
 
 All the servants appeared but poor 
 Wiiittinoton, who havino; neither 
 Bioiiey nor goods^ could not think of 
 sending any thing to try his luck; 
 but Miss Ah'ce thinking his poverty 
 kept him away, ordered him to be 
 called. She then offered to lay down 
 something for him: but the merchant 
 said that would not do, for it must 
 be something of his own. Upon this 
 poor Whittington said, he had only 
 a cat, which he had bought for a pen- 
 ny that WMs given him. P'etch thy 
 cat, boy, said the merchant, and send 
 her, Whittington brought poor puss 
 and delivered her to the captain, with 
 tears in his eyes, for he said, he now 
 should be disturbed by the rats and 
 mice as much as ever. All the com- 
 pany laughed at the oddity of the ad- 
 
15 
 
 venture, and Miss Alice, wlio pitied 
 th- poor boy, gave him something to 
 buy another cat. While puss was 
 beating the billows, poor Whitting- 
 ton was severely beaten at home, by 
 his tyrannical mistress the cook, who 
 used him so cruelly, and made such 
 game of him for sending his cat. to 
 sea, that at last the poor boy deter- 
 mined to run away from his place, 
 and having packed up a few things 
 he had, he set out very early in the 
 morning on Allhallow's day : He tra- 
 velled as far as Holloway, where he 
 sat down upon a stone, (now called 
 Whittington's stone) to consider what 
 course to take ; but while he was 
 thus ruminating, Bow bells, of which 
 there was then only six, began to 
 ring, and as he thought, addressed 
 him thus : 
 
16 
 
 Turn again WhiHinston, ' 
 
 Lord Mayor of London. 
 
 Lord Mayor of London, said he to 
 himself, what would not one endure 
 to be Lord Mayor of London, and 
 
 ride in such a fine coach? Well I'll 
 go back again, and beiir ail the pum- 
 
17 
 
 melling and ill usage of Cicily, rather 
 than miss the opportunity of being 
 Lord Mayor. So home he went^ and 
 happily got into the house and about 
 his busmess before Mrs, Cicely made 
 her appearance. 
 
 The ship with the cat on board was 
 long beating about at sea, and at last 
 by contrary winds, driven on a part 
 of the coast of Barbary, which was 
 inhabited by the Moors^ and unknown 
 to the English. These people received 
 our countrymen with civility, and 
 therefore the captain, in order to 
 trade with them, shewed them pat- 
 terns of the goods he had on board, 
 and sent some of them to the king of 
 the country, who was so well pleased 
 that he sent for the captain and the 
 factor to his palace, which was about 
 
18 
 
 a mile from the sea. Here they were 
 placed, according to the custom of the 
 country, on rich carpets flowered with 
 silver and gold^ and the King and 
 Queen being seated at the upper end 
 of the room, dinner w^as brought in, 
 w hich was no sooner put down than 
 an amazing number of rats and mice 
 came and devoured it all. The fac-. 
 
19 
 
 tor, in surprise, turned to the nobles, 
 and asked them if these vermin were 
 not offensive ? O yes, said they, very^ 
 and the king would give half his 
 treasure to be freed of them, for they 
 not only destroy his dinner, as you 
 see, but they assault him in his bed, 
 so that he is obliged to be watched 
 while he is asleep. The factor jump- 
 ed for joy, he remembered poor 
 Whittington and his cat, and told 
 the king he had a creature on board 
 his ship that would destroy all these 
 vermin. The king's heart heaved so 
 high at the joyful news, that his 
 white turban dropped off his head. 
 Bring this creature to me, said he, 
 and if she will perform what you say, 
 I will load thy ship with jewels in 
 en change for hei\ The factor^ who 
 
20 
 
 knew his business, took this oppor- 
 tunity to set forth the merits of Mrs. 
 Puss. He told his majesty that it 
 would be inconvenient to part with 
 her, as when she was gone, the rats 
 and mice might destroy the goods in 
 the ship, but that to oblige his ma- 
 jesty, he would fetch her. '' Run, 
 run," said the queen, '' I am impa- 
 tient to see the dear creature/' Away 
 flew the factor, while another dinner 
 was providing, and returned with the 
 cat, just as the rats and mice were 
 devouring that also. He immediately 
 put down Mrs. Puss, who killed a 
 great part of thern, and the rest ran 
 away. The king rejoiced greatly to 
 see his old enemies destroyed by so 
 small a creature, and the queen was 
 highly deh'ghted, and desired that the 
 
21 
 
 cat micvht be brought near that she 
 might look at her. Upon which the 
 factor called '' Pussy, Pussy/' and she 
 came to him, he then presented her 
 to the queen, who started back, and 
 was afraid to touch her, but when the 
 factor stroked her and cried '' Pussy, 
 Pussy/' the queen touched her, and 
 cried', '' Patty, Putty/' for she had 
 
22 
 
 not learned English. He then put 
 her clown in the queen's lap, where, 
 she purring^ played with her majesty's 
 hand, and then sung herself to sleep. 
 The king having seen the exploits 
 of Mrs. Puss, and being informed that 
 she was with young, and would stock 
 the whole country, bargained with 
 the captain and factor for the whole 
 ship's cargo^ and then gave them ten 
 times as much for the cat, as all the 
 rest amounted to. With which, after 
 taking leave of their majesties^ they 
 sailed with a fair wind for England, 
 whither we must attend them. 
 
 The morn ensuing from the mountain's height^ 
 Had scarcely spread the skies with rosy light^ 
 
 When Mr. Fitzwarren arose from bed 
 to count over the cash, and to settle 
 
23 
 
 the business of the clay. He had just 
 entered the counting-house, and seat- 
 ed himself, when some one came tap 
 at the door. Who's there ? says Mr. 
 Fitzwarreii» A friend, answered the 
 other, I coine to bring you news of 
 the ship Unicorn : the merchant in* 
 stantly opened the door, when the 
 captain and factor entered with a 
 cabinet of jewels and a bill of load- 
 ing, for which the merchant lifted 
 up his eyes and thanked heaven for 
 sending him such a prosperous voy- 
 age. They then told him the advan- 
 tures of the cat, and shewed him the 
 cabinet of jewels which they had for 
 Mr. Whittington, upon which, he 
 cried out with great earnestness, but 
 not in the most poetical manner. 
 
 Go call him, and tell him or the same. 
 And call kim Mr. Whittington by name* 
 
24 
 
 Some tliat were present told him 
 that this treasure was too much for 
 such a poor hoy as VVhittin^ton ; he 
 said, " God forbid that I siiould de- 
 prive him of a penny, it is all his 
 own, and he shall have it to a far- 
 thmg." ^ He then ordered Mr. Whit- 
 tmgton in, who was at that time in 
 the kitchen cleaning, and would have 
 excused himself from going- into the 
 parlour, saying, the room was rub- 
 bed, and his shoes were dirty and full 
 of hobnails. However the merchant 
 made him come in, and taking him 
 by the hand, said, indeed i\Ir,%hit- 
 tmgton, I am in earnest v/ith you, 
 and sent for you to congratulate you 
 on your great success. Your cat has 
 produced you more money tlian I am 
 worth in all the world, and mav vou 
 
25 
 
 live lon^ to enjoy it and be happy. 
 At length being told that all the trea- 
 sure belonged to him, he fell upon his 
 knees^ and thanked the Almighty for 
 his providential care of such a poor 
 miserable creature. He then gratified 
 the captain, factor, and ship's crew, 
 for the care they had taken of his 
 cargo, and distributed presents to all 
 the servants in the house, not for- 
 getting his enemy the cook, though 
 she little deserved it. Now it came 
 to pass, that when Mr. Whittington's 
 face was washed, his hair curled, hh 
 hat cocked, and he was dressed in a 
 rich suit of clothes, that he turned 
 out a genteel young feUow ; inso- 
 much that Miss Alice, who had for- 
 merly seen him with nn e3'e of coni- 
 pas:sion^ novv viewed him vviiii other 
 
26 
 
 eyes, ^ %vhich was occasioned perhaps, 
 by his readiness to oblige her, and 
 by occasionally making her presents 
 of such things as he thought would 
 be agreeable. When the father per- 
 ceived they had .this liking for each 
 other, he proposed a match betM'-een 
 them, to which both parties cheer- 
 iuUy consented, and the Lord Mayor 
 
27 
 
 in his coach, court of aldermen, the 
 company of stationers, and a num- 
 ber of eminent merchants attended 
 the ceremony, and were elegantly 
 treated at an entertainment made for 
 that purpose. 
 
 History tells us, that they lived 
 happily, and had several children, 
 that he was Sheriff of London in the 
 year 1340, and then Lord Mayor, 
 that in the last year of his mayoralty, 
 he entertained King Henry V. and 
 his queen, after the conquest of 
 France. Upon which occasion the 
 king, in consideration of Whitting- 
 ton's merit, said, ' Never had Prince 
 such a subject/ Which being told 
 Whittington at the table, he replied, 
 ^ Never had subject such a king.' 
 He constantly fed great numbers of 
 
28 
 
 the poor ; built a church and a col^ 
 lege to it, with a year]y allowance 
 for poor scholars, and near it erected 
 a hospital. He built Newgate for 
 criminals, and gave liberally to St. 
 Bartholomew's hospital and other 
 public charities. 
 
29 
 
 REFLECTION. 
 
 This story of Wltiltington and his 
 Cat, and all the misfortunes which hap* 
 pened to that poor hoy^ may be con-^ 
 sidered as a cure for despair^ as it 
 teaches us that God Almighty has aU 
 ways something good in store for those 
 that endure the ills that hefal them with 
 patience and resignation. 
 
« 
 
 ^ 
 
 AGAINST LYING. 
 
 O 'tis a lovely thing for youth 
 
 To walk betime in wisdom's way ; 
 
 To fear a lie, to speak the truth, 
 That we may trust to ail they say. 
 
 But liars we can never trust, 
 
 Tho' they should speak the thin^ that's true 9 
 And he that does one fault at first, 
 
 And lies to hide it, makes it two* 
 
 Have we not known, nor heard, nor read, 
 How Grod abhors deceit and wrong ? 
 
 How Ananias was struck dead, 
 
 Catch'd with a lie upon his tongue ? 
 
 So did his wife, Sapphira, die. 
 
 When she came in and grew so bold, 
 
 As to confirm that wicked lie, 
 
 That just before her husband told. 
 
Pb i fO K + 
 
 > ^ 
 
 »^ 
 
 31 
 
 The Lord delights in them that speak 
 The words of truth ; hut ev'ry liar 
 
 Must have his portion in the lake 
 
 That burns with brimstone and with fire. 
 
 Then let me always watch my lips. 
 Lest 1 be struck to death and hell. 
 
 Since God a book of reck'ning keeps, 
 For ev'ry lie that children tell. 
 
 THE END. 
 
 J. K{::Kr>Rii.w, Printer, York. 
 
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