The attempt to conceal the evil heart, however, shall not always be successful. "The day is coming when hypocrites will be stripped of their fig-leaves" (Matthew Henry). Their trust shall be as frail as a _spider’s web_. Could any language be more expressive? In Eastern lands the flimsiness of the spider’s web is proverbial. "He shall lean upon his house (on that light _gossamer_), but it shall not stand: he shall hold fast thereby, but it shall not endure." The material is so frail, that the least violence destroys it; and the hypocrite’s hope is so flimsy, that it shall not stand in the judgment. "They weave the spider’s web, but their webs shall not become garments, neither shall they cover themselves with their works" (Isa. lix. 6). But turning to the spider itself, we may learn various lessons. I.—ITS SKILL AS A WEAVER. Like Hogarth’s good apprentice, it has made admirable use of its trade. Its web, however frail, is really a marvellous production. It is distinguished by beauty of design, fineness of texture, nicety and sensitiveness of touch, reminding us of Pope’s couplet— "The spider’s _touch_, how exquisitely fine, Feels at each thread and lives along the line." And when we add to this that the whole fabric is spun out of its own body—a part of its very life—it is not difficult to see that the spider’s work must be of the finest order, and well worthy of the study and imitation of every young apprentice. Every lad in going forward to the work of his life should set up a high ideal. In all that he does he ought to aim at perfection. Like the spider’s web, his work, whatever it is, should be a bit of himself—steeped in his own thought and shaped by his own effort. He may only be a weaver, but he must aspire to be a _good_ one—one who plans as well as labours, and reads as well as plans. For in the race of life, muscle is no match for mind, and skill will always outstrip slovenliness—just as the great Goliath must go down before the alert son of Jesse, and the pigmies of the African forest can easily outmatch and out-manoeuvre the lion. Let every young life go and examine the perfection of the spider’s web, and seek to do likewise. II.—ITS PROWESS AS A HUNTER. Popular prejudice has always been against the spider; and it must be admitted that there is a good deal to sanction the poet’s unfavourable verdict when he says regarding it— "_Cunning_ and _fierce_, mixture abhorr’d."