THE SPIDER'S PARLOUR.

THERE is a little spider in Australia that might with great propriety ask the little fly to walk into his parlour; for he has a very neat little parlour, with a real door, that will open and shut on a hinge. I think there is no other animal besides man that can make a hinge. It seems wonderful that God has given this knowledge to a little insect which we commonly look down upon as among the most insignificant. There are none of His works that we can justly despise. "All Thy works shall praise Thee, O Lord."

A gentleman discovered one of these little underground spider-houses, and made the acquaintance of the owner, and came often to see him, so as to become acquainted with his habits. He brought him insects for his food every day, and made a certain tap on the door, which the spider soon learned to understand. Then he would come up and push open the door, which was much like the lid of a box, and come out to get his breakfast. After he had received it, he walked back into his house, and shut down the lid very carefully. The inside was made of web and earth, and was as smooth as satin. He leaves his little door ajar at times, and when some silly, peeping insect comes peering around it for curiosity,

"Up jumps the cunning spider,

And fiercely holds him fast."

He does not take him up, but down "his winding stair," and, alas! he never comes out again. But we must not blame the poor spider. It is the way God has given him to get his food, and it is no worse in him than for us to eat the flesh of the

gentle lambs and the pretty birds. They do not wish to be killed any more than the flies do. Your dear father is a far more dreadful creature to them than spiders are to flies. It is a great comfort to think that, when the one sharp pain of death is over, all these little creatures have no more remembrance of their troubles. They have no soul as you have, that must live on for ever. Yet God takes care of each little life. Are you afraid, then, that He will ever forget you? Your Creator will

never forget you, but remember you are a sinner, and must meet God as your Judge. Have you Christ for a Mediator ?-Presbyterian.

NOTICES.

The Editor wishes to be a means of placing a strong, healthy, working lad, of 14 years of age (the son of a poor Christian woman) in a situation where he could earn his living, and be learning something by which he might afterwards gain his livelihood. May the "Father of the fatherless and the Judge of the widows" provide. Address, Editor of the LITTLE GLEANER, Shefford, Beds. Received.-T. Howell, M. J., C. M., Selina M-n, Miss Barry. We warmly thank the following friends for their very timely help in our work :-E. M. J., £1; 8., 5s.

"RALPH ERSKINE'S SERMONS."-VOL. III., 2s. 6d. cloth, and 38. half-bound, will (D.V.) be ready in about a month. They may be had of any bookseller, or post-free from M. Kent, Day School, Shefford, Beds.

Now ready, Vol. IV. of the "Sower," 8d.; Vol. XII. of the GLEANER, half-bound, 1s. 9d.; and Vols. I. and II. of "Clifton Sermons," 1s. each, post-free, or of any bookseller.

Erratum.-Page 51, line 8, for "Mrs. Thornton," read "Lady

Leven."

A TRUE STORY.

I AM going to tell you about the Covenanter,* John Paterson, of Penyvenie, a godly man, who counted not his life dear to him for the cause of his God, who was willing to suffer bonds and imprisonments, or even death itself, rather than do that which his Father in heaven had forbidden

We love those gracious men, the Covenanters, but we do not believe, in so far as they resorted to arms in defence of the kingship of Jesus, they were guided by the spirit of Him who bids us not to "resist evil" (Matt. v. 38).-ED.

D

him to do. I will tell you how he was driven from his home, from his wife and children, hunted like a wild beast by the troopers of the king, and forced to find for himself a hiding-place, on the hill-side, in the glen, in the forest, or withersoever the Lord led him. And once when fleeing from the face of his enemies, when he was almost in their hands, God so directed his steps that he fell through a crevice in the rocks down into a large cavern, where he was for the time as safe as if the earth had opened her mouth and swallowed him up, and where he found for the future a far more secure and comfortable abiding place than he had before been able to devise. The cave was so large, dry, and airy that he was able to make it quite a comfortable home; and the entrance to it was so small and so completely hidden among the confused blocks of granite that lay scattered around, that none of the inhabitants of the place had ever discovered its existence, not even those who had spent all their lives near the spot, and had supposed that no part of that crag of Benbeach was unknown to them.

Mrs. Paterson was a woman of the same spirit as her husband; dearly as she loved him, she would rather, as she told him, see him beheaded on the scaffold, rather follow his bloody corpse to the grave, than know that he had in anything acted against his conscience; and sorely as she missed him from his hearth and his home, faint and sick as her heart often was with longing for his dear presence, yet rather would she have borne to know that they were never again to enjoy each other's company upon earth, than that he should buy a safe return to his family by denying, even in the smallest thing, the Lord who had bought him with His own most precious blood. After the

Lord had shown them that sure hiding-place, of which I told you, the husband and wife, the father and children, were able to enjoy much more of each other's company; with the help of a little furniture brought from the farm house, the cave was made quite comfortable.

Mrs. Paterson and the children could visit the poor wanderer there without much danger of discovery; and sometimes, when the pursuit after him was less hot than at others, the whole family spent days together in this new home as happy as ever they had been in the farm house of Penyvenie, and far happier-for did not God reward their fidelity to His cause by shining upon them with the light of His countenance, blessing them with His presence, and with many sure and precious tokens of His love and favour ? Then, besides being a happy home for themselves, this cave proved often a haven of refuge for many of their brethren, persecuted like themselves for their faithfulness to their God. Many a happy meeting of God's saints took place under its wide roof; many hours were there spent in sweet communion with God, and in joyful converse together, telling each other of God's wonderful dealings towards them, of the marvellous deliverances He had wrought for them from the hands of their enemies.

There was one deliverance of this kind that John Paterson was particularly fond of relating to his children, or his friends, as they sat round a fire kindled on the floor of the cave. He said that the recollection of it was so sweet and precious to himself, as reminding him of the Lord's tender, loving care of His people, and was always a strengthener of his faith to trust that same loving God for the future; and therefore he was glad to give all whom he loved the pleasure of knowing it