Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913 Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act 1913 The Prisoners (Temporary Discharge for Ill Health) Act, commonly referred to as the Cat and Mouse Act, was an Act of Parliament passed in Britain under Herbert Henry Asquith's Liberal government in 1913. Some members of the Women's Social and Political Union (WSPU, commonly referred to as suffragettes) had been imprisoned for acts of vandalism in support of women's suffrage. In protest at being imprisoned some of the suffragettes undertook hunger strikes. The hunger strikers were then force-fed by the prison staff leading to a public outcry. The act was a response
The Old Cat and the Young Mouse six years later, when the young composer was studying in Paris, and became his first work to be published. The Old Cat and the Young Mouse The Old Cat and the Young Mouse ("Le vieux chat et la jeune souris") is a late fable by Jean de la Fontaine (XII.5). Written towards the end of his life, its grim conclusion is that 'Youth thinks its every wish will gain success; Old age is pitiless.' La Fontaine prefaces his poem with a dedication to the young , who had asked the poet for a fable on a cat and mouse theme.