THE SPIDER. 
101 
their merits and their uses, since none of God's creatures are 
made in vain ; all living things are endowed with instincts more 
or less admirable ; but the spider's plotting, creeping waj^s, and a 
sort of wicked expression about him, lead one to dislike him as a 
near neighbor. In a battle between a spider and a fly, one al- 
ways sides with the fly, and yet of the two, the last is certainly 
the most troublesome insect to man. But the fly is frank and 
free in all his doings ; he seeks his food openly, and he pursues 
his pastimes openly ; suspicions of others or covert designs against 
them are quite unknown to him, and there is something almost 
confiding in the way in which he sails around you, when a single 
stroke of your hand might destroy him. The spider, on the con- 
trary, lives by snares and plots ; he is at the same time veiy 
designing and very suspicious, both cowardly and fierce ; he al- 
ways moves stealthily, as though among enemies, retreating before 
the least appearance of danger, solitary and morose, holding no 
communion with his fellows. His whole appearance corresponds 
with this character, and it is not surprising, therefore, that while 
the fly is more mischievous to us than the spider, we yet look 
upon the first with more favor than the last ; for it is a natural 
impulse of the human heart to prefer that which is open and con- 
fiding to that which is wily and suspicious, even in the brute 
creation. The cunning and designing man himself will, at times, 
find a feeling of respect and regard for the guileless and gen- 
erous stealing over him, his heart, as it were, giving the lie to his 
life. 
Some two or three centuries since, when people came to this 
continent from the Old World in search of gold, oddly enough, 
it Avas considered a good sign of success when they met with 
