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In the _Tatler_ of September 13, 1709 (No. 67), is a list of great men
to be entered in the Temple of Fame, and in the subsequent No. 78 is
printed the following letter from a Citizen:--
"Mr. Isaac Bickerstaff, Sir, Your _Tatler_ of September 13 I am now
reading, and in your list of famous men desire you not to forget
Alderman Whittington, who began the world with a cat, and died
worth three hundred and fifty thousand pounds sterling, which he
left to an only daughter three years after his mayoralty. If you
want any further particulars of ditto Alderman, daughter, or cat,
let me know, and per first will advise the needful, which
concludes, Your loving Friend, LEMUEL LEGER."
"I am credibly informed that there was once a design of casting
into an opera the story of Whittington and his Cat, and that in
order to it there had been got together a great quantity of mice;
but Mr. Rich, the proprietor of the playhouse, very prudently
considered that it would be impossible for the cat to kill them
all, and that consequently the princes of the stage might be as
much infested with mice as the prince of the island was before the
cat's arrival upon it; for which reason he would not permit it to
be acted in his house.
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