I never had seen so wretched a looking creature.

It was dreadfully attenuated, being little more than skin and bone, and was sorely afflicted with an eruptive malady.

And here I may as well relate the history of this cat previous to our arrival which I subsequently learned by bits and snatches.

It had belonged to a previous vicar of Llangollen, and had been left behind at his departure.

His successor brought with him dogs and cats, who, conceiving that the late vicar's cat had no business at the vicarage, drove it forth to seek another home, which, however, it could not find.
Almost all the people of the suburb were dissenters, as indeed were the generality of the people of Llangollen, and knowing the cat to be a church cat, not only would not harbour it, but did all they could to make it miserable; whilst the few who were not dissenters, would not receive it into their houses, either because they had cats of their own, or dogs, or did not want a cat, so that the cat had no home and was dreadfully persecuted by nine-tenths of the suburb.