DESPISE NOT LITTLE THINGS. 27 



thus teaching how entirely it behoves us to avail our- 

 selves with promptness, and to the utmost, of the circum- 

 stances into which we are thrown. 



Distinguish, then, with the most watchful scrutiny, 

 between the dictates of wisdom and of folly, the sugges- 

 tions of reason and of fancy ; but do not abandon a train 

 of inquiry, merely because it seems likely to produce 

 but little. When you call to mind how many valuable 

 results have been obtained by the aid of the thermometer, 

 for example, that is, of a little mercury enclosed in a 

 slender glass tube, and recollect that a small piece of 

 magnetized iron suspended on a pivot led to the dis- 

 covery of the Western World, you will perceive that 

 nothing which tends, even remotely, to augment and 

 perfect the intellect of man, or to increase his resources, 

 is of trifling consideration. 



Remember that lofty trees grow from diminutive 

 seeds ; copious rivers flow from small fountains ; slender 

 wires often sustain ponderous weights; injury to the 

 smallest nerves may occasion the most agonizing sensa- 

 tions ; the derangement of the least wheel or pivot may 

 render useless the greatest machine of which it is a 

 part; an immense crop of errors may spring from the 

 least root of falsehood ; a glorious intellectual light may 

 be kindled by the minutest sparks of truth ; and every 

 principle is more diffusive and operative by reason of its 

 intrinsic energy than of its magnitude. 



I will remind you of some of the practical maxims 

 which I have at different times impressed upon you, 

 annex a few others, and then conclude. 



I. With regard to intellectual inquiry and conviction 

 generally, do not suffer yourselves to be bewildered 

 or perplexed by the attempts of sophistical or bad 



