DR. BARTLETT.
By no means. You know, for example, that it gives you pain when you take hold of a nettle: have you then reason to cry out when you see a nettle? Those little creatures, even though provided with a weapon to defend themselves, or revenge an injury, will not seek you: they are more afraid of you than you of them.
WILLIAM.
See, the frog jumps away when we come near it.
EMILIA.
But what say you of rats and mice?
EDWARD.
They fear us yet more. You have often seen how they run away, if they hear the least noise. I for my part am more afraid of fleas and gnats than of rats and mice. What do all these creatures in the world? They are of no use.
DR. BARTLETT.
How do you know that they are not serviceable? I think, nay, I am sure they are. All that we discover the cause of in God’s works, is good: and our ignorance ought not to make us doubt of his goodness. A spider, for instance, you would say, is a disagreeable useless insect.