God has given the turtle a house. He has given us intelligence and all the materials and left us to construct the house in which we are to live upon this earth. But in heaven He has built our house for us. Jesus said: "In My Father's house are many mansions." The German translation has it, "In My Father's house are many homes." "I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again, and receive you unto myself; that where I am, there ye may be also."
Death may be a misfortune to a poor turtle, but not to a Christian man or woman, or a Christian boy or girl. Death is only the blessed Saviour coming to take us unto Himself.
Questions.—Do animals feel pain? Has God provided for their protection? Does the turtle have bones? Are your bones on the outside or the inside of your body? Where are the turtle's bones principally? How does the turtle protect himself? Tell the story of the bad boy and the little rabbits. Are the forms of animals similar to the form of our bodies? To what part of our body do the wings of the bird and the front legs of a horse or cow correspond? Do animals have a moral nature and a conscience? Are they accountable to God for their conduct? Are we?
GRASSHOPPER AND ANT.
NEGLIGENCE AND INDUSTRY.
THE largest city of the world is across the ocean, in England. In the busiest part of London is a very large building, called the Royal Exchange. On the top of the pinnacle, or tower, of this large stone building is a large grasshopper, and the English people have this legend in reference to it: It is related that some three hundred and seventy-five years ago, a woman, whose purposes we cannot know, might have been seen hurrying along a country lane, some distance outside of the city. Hastening along she came to a gate leading into a field, and looking in every direction to be sure that no one was near, she took off her shawl and wrapped it carefully around a little baby which she had concealed under her arm, and laid it gently by the side of a hedge. And then turning back to the lane, she soon disappeared in the distance. An hour or two later a little girl and a rollicking, frolicking boy, possibly returning from school, were crossing the field. It was in the later days of summer, when butterflies and grasshoppers abounded. As this light-hearted boy was whistling along his way, a large grasshopper bounded across his path, and, true to the instincts of childhood, the boy started in pursuit of the grasshopper. The chase was only begun when the grasshopper crossed the fence and landed in a grain field, which in England is called a corn field. Stooping to catch his prize, the boy discovered near by what proved to be a bright little baby, fast asleep in its mother's shawl. Joyful with the prize which they had found, the boy took it up in his arms, and hastened to his mother, who, although a farmer's wife, with many cares and several children, resolved to adopt the little stranger as her own.
The Royal Exchange, London.