KO. 7& 



GREAT EFFECTS 



FROM 



LITTLj: Oil. USES. 

A SERMON, DELIVERED AT THE ANNIVERSARY OF A 
MORAL SOCIETV. 



BY REV. EBENEZER PORTER, D. D. 




Ont hand did the deed, in one rtiommt ; but hundreds cf millions 
JMfcve been involved in the consequences, through sixtt; ceniaries, 

'- ,y See papre 4. 



PUBLISHED BV THE 



AMSiWLXCJk'm ^,B.aGS SOCSSTir, 



LSD SOLD AT THEIR DKFOSITORV, N0.H4NASSAU-ST11£ET, WEAR 
THE CITX-HALI,, NEWMORKJ AVI) BY AGENTS OF THE 
SOCjgETY, irS branches, and AUXlMARfES, IN, . 
THE PRINCIPAL CITIK3 AND T0VYX3 ' 

- IN TH*: US IT El) 'iTAT r 



6REA1? EyPECT3 PROM LITTLE CAUSES. 
THE SAFE COiN TRACT. 

A respectable merchant of or^ of our principal cities was 
travelling, about fiv© years since, in the county of B. in the 
State of New-York, and arrived, on Saturday evening, at a 
public house where he had been accustomed to lodge in 
travelling that way. After having taken some refreshment, 
m connexion wilh a number of travellers, he began the dis- 
tribution, in a respectful manner, of a Tract to each indivi- 
dual present. Before he had completed the circle of his 
distributions, he offered a Tract to a poor man, who de- 
clined receiving it, saying, " It's of no use to give one to 
me, sir, for I can't read." " Well," said the merchant, " it 
is probable you are a married man, and if so, perhupsyour 
wife can read it to you." " Yes," said he, " ray wife can 
read, but I have no time to hear it rotid." " You certainly 
can hear it read to-morrow, ' said the merchant, '* which i.^ 
the Sabbath." *' Sir," said he, " I have no more time on 
the Sabbath than on any other day ; I am so poor i am 
obliged to work on the Sabbath. It takes me the six days 
to provide for my family, and on the Sabbath I am obliged 
to get my wood." " If you are as poor as that," said tho 
merchant, " you must be very poor." *' I am," said he ; 
and proceeded to mention that he had no cow, and his fa- 
Kiily was very destitute. '' It is no svonder you are poor," 
replied the merchant, " if you work on the Sabbath. God 
will not prosper those who thus profane his day. And now," 
said he, '* my friend, I have a proposition to make to you. 
You, landlord, will be my surely that my part of .(he con- 
iract shall be fulfilled. From this time, leave off working 
on the Sabbath. If you have no wood with which to be 
comfortable to-morrow, get a little, for your necessity, the 
easiest way 3^ou can, and then, on Monday morning, provide 
a supply for the week; and hereafter, leave off your other 
labors, every week, early enough to provide a full week's 
store of wood on Saturday. Quit all your work on the 
Sabbath ; reverence that day ; and, at the end of sk months, 
whatever yon will say you have lost by keeping the Sabbath, 
I will pay you, to the amount of one hundred ffo/^ars." IbflThe 
poor man solemnly confirmed the contract, and the laiJaiord 
t'.ng;;ged to be responsible for the due payment of the money. 

THE SECOND MEETING. 

About five months afterward the merchant put up again 
at the same public house for the night ; and before he re- 
tired to rest, began, as bcforCi to distribute to each persca 

iiO. /4. [S^ii pcige 3 of cover. 



TSO. 7% 



aTLBILT SFrECT^ 



FROM 



LITTLE CAUSES. 

A SERMON DELIVERED AT THE ANNIVERSARY OF A 
MORAL SOCIETY. 



BY REV. EBENEZER PORTER, D. D. 




One hand did the deed, in one moment ; but hundreds of millions 
haye been involved in the consequences through sixty centuries. 

See page 4. 



"behold how great a matter a little fire 

KmDLETH." JAMES, iii. 5. 

Every child knows that a spark of fire is a little thing. 
It is extinguished by a drop of water ; or, if let alone, dies 
of itself. Yet a spark of fire often becomes the instrument 
of extensive utility or mischief. A spark of fire, from the 
fiint or the match, spreads the field of battle with the 
dead. A spark of fire is communicated to a magazine ol 
powder : in a moment, massy walls of wood and stone, 
the pride of war, and the la])our of years, yeaid to the 

Vol.3. 



2 GREAT EFFECTS [118 

frightful explosion ; and, scattered in a thousand fragments, 
spread terror and destruction. A spark of fire lights in a 
closet, or on the roof of a building ; a family start from 
their slumbers, to see their dwelling with all its contents 
in a blaze. The flames kindle upon the nearest buildings ; 
the neighbourhood is involved in the spreading ruin ; and, 
behold, a city is laid in ashes I 

The text suggests one leading thought, which I trust is 
now clearly before your minds. 

Great effects result from little causes. 
Let us attend to the illustration of this truth, and its ap- 
plication to practical purposes. 

The extent of the kingdom of providence, and the con- 
nexion of minute with great events, is a subject, with 
which our duty and happiness are deeply concerned. When 
I speak of causes and effects, let me not be understood to 
exclude, or overlook the supreme agency of that almighty 
hand which created, and which controls all things. What 
are called the laws of nature are nothing distinct from the 
divine will, operating in a uniform manner. In support of 
the proposition suggested by the text, we derive an argu- 
ment, then, from the general doctrine of a divine provi- 
dence. The argument is this — God created the world. 
As an intelligent agent, he must have created it for some 
end. To secure the accomplishment of that end, he must 
govern it ; and his government, to be effectual, must be 
universal. It must extend to little thiugs : to all things. 
So the Bible teaches. The sparrow, though only equal in 
value to half a farthing, is not beneath the care of the 
great Jehovah. He feeds the young ravens, and clothes 
the lilies in beauty, and numbers even the hairs of our 
heads. This he does with ultimate reference to the great 
objects of his kingdom. So reason teaches. A very limited 
;acquaintance with the connexion of causes and effects, 
must satisfy us, that, in the government of providence, 
great things often depend on small things. ^ A moment 
seems scarcely worth our regard; yet centuries are made 
up of moments. The mountain that rears its stately head 
to the clouds, is composed of grains of dust. The rivei 
that rolls its majestic tide to the ocean, consists of drops. 
Here navies float on its waters j but followed backward to 



119] FHOISI LITTLE CAUSES. <^ 

its source, it becomes now a rivulet, and now a spring 
bubblin<y from the rocks of some distant region. 

The "greatest events which the world has witnessed, 
have resulted from a combination of concurrent causes 
each of which might seem altogether unimportant m itselt. 
Take the subject, to illustrate which, the Apostle uttered 
the. text The tongue is a little member ; yet it may prove 
« a world of iniquity, and set on fire the course of nature. 
We need not draw examples from the monstrous folly ot 
duellists, when so many examples are to be found among 
rational, sober men, and even in the christian church. 
That little member speaks a word. A partial alienation 
betwixt two friends commences; by the whispering ot 
other tongues, increases ; becomes coldness, then jealousy, 
then enmity. Their own passions, the partialities ot tnends, 
the officiousness of tale-bearers, act with combmed and 
mischievous effect, till a trivial misunderstandmg, which 
might have been amicably adjusted in one minute, beconies 
an incurable and ruinous controversy. Suppose the parties 
to be pastors in the church : suppose them to be pnme 
ministers of a nation : and see how the consequemies rise 
into incalculable importance. 

To change the figure, and adopt that of Solomon, lUe 
beginning of strife is as when one letteth forth water." 
The breach in a dam, which might have been covered with 
a man's hand, was neglected, and occasioned a deluge. A 
fly or an atom may set in motion a train of intermediate 
causes, which shall produce a revolution in a kingdom. 
Any one of a thousand incidents might have cut oft Alex- 
ander of Greece in his cradle. But if Alexander had died 
in infancy, or had lived a single day longer than he did, it 
might have put another face on all the following history 
of the world. i^r- 

A spectaclemaker's boy, amusing himself in his fatner s 
shop, by holding two glasses between his finger and his 
thumb, and varying their distance, perceived the weather- 
cock of the church spire, opposite to him, much larger 
than ordinary, and apparently much nearer, and turned 
upside dov/n. This excited the wonder of the father, and 
led him to additional experiments; and these resulted m 
that astonishing instrument, the telescope, as invented by 
Galileo, and perfected by Herschell. 



4 GREAT EFFECTS [120 

It is a fact commonly known, that the laws of gramtatlon 
which guide the thousands of rolling worlds in the plane- 
tary system, were suggested at first to the mind of New- 
ton by the Jfalling of an apple. 

The art of printing shows from what casual incidents 
the most magnificent events in the scheme of Providence 
may result. Time was when princes were scarcely rich 
enough to purchase a copy of tbe Bible. Now every cot- 
tager in Christendom is rich enough to possess this trea- 
sure. " Who would have thought that the simple circum- 
stance of a man amusing himself by cutting a few letters 
on the bark of a tree, and impressing them on paper, was 
intimately connected with the mental illumination of the 
world?" 

Great effects may result from little causes. 

Let us pursue the illustration of this truth, as furnished 
by facts in sacred history. 

" The woman took of the fruit and did eat; and gave 
also unto her husband with her, and he did eat." In 
itself, how small was this action ; but it ruined a world ! 
One hand did the deed, in one moment ! but hundreds of 
millions have been involved in the consequences, through 
sixty centuries ! 

A spark of envy, in the bosoms of Joseph's brethren, 
grew into settled enmity, and led them to aim at the de- 
struction of his life. Here commenced a series of events, 
which occasioned the removal of Jacob's family to Egypt, 
and which gave complexion to the affairs of two nations 
through all subsequent periods. 

The seed of Jacob, who came down to Egypt, were 
only seventy persons. During their residence in that land, 
they mu-ltiplied to six hundred thousand fighting men. The 
king of the country, alarmed at this increase, issued a bar- 
barous edict, that every Hebrew male child should be de- 
stroyed at its birth. To avoid the execution of this decree, 
a Hebrew mother, having concealed Jier little son for three 
months, resolved to commit the babe to the mercy of Pro- 
vidence, with no protection from the elements and the 
monsters of the Nile but an ark of bulrushes. Soon, a 
stranger passed by that way, just at the moment that the 
babe wept. That stranger was a woman, whose heart 
could feel for a poor, forsaken infant : a princess too, the 



121] FROM LITTLE CAUSES. 6 

only person in Egypt who might safely indulge this ten- 
derness. The child was saved, and adopted as the son of 
the king's daughter. Little did that princess know what 
she was doing. That weeping infant, thus rescued from 
death, was to be the minister of divine vengeance to her 
haughty father and his kingdom; was to be the amanuensis 
of the Holy Ghost ; was to write five books of the sacred 
canon, containing the only authentic history of the crea- 
tion and first ages of the world ; was to become a distin- 
guished legislator, deliverer, and guide to the church of 
God. 

Joshua's victorious march into Canaan was suddenly 
arrested. His army were compelled to fly before their 
enemies : all was consternation and distress. What was 
the matter ? A single man, out of the twelve tribes, had 
embezzled three articles from the spoils of Jericho, con- 
trary to Divine command. Achan committed trespass in 
this thing, " and wrath fell upon all the congregation of 
Israel." 

Restrained by the energy of Joshua's authority' dlid ex- 
ample, Israel prospered ; but his djath was followed by a 
rapid decline of piety and morals. In this period of licen- 
tiousness, Micah stole from his mother eleven hundred 
pieces of silver. By a process, which exhibits one of the 
strangest traits in the human character, namely, the con- 
nexion betwixt depravity and superstition, Micah came to 
the resolution to appease his conscience, by making this 
stolen silver into a god. A vagrant Levite, from Bethle- 
hem Judah, became his priest. From this small begin- 
ning, idolatry spread like a leprosy through the nation. 
The fear of God was extinguished ; and such profligacy of 
manners ensued, even in the beloved tribe of Benjamin, 
that a peaceable stranger could not lodge among them one 
night in safety. One of the most dire calamities which 
flowed from these impieties was civil war. Brother was 
armed against brother ; and in three desperate battles, six- 
ty five thousand men were slain. " Behold, how great a 
matter a little fire kindleth." 

The sons of Eli made themselves vile, and he restrained 
them not. This negligence in the judge and the priest of 
Israel, proved a source oT the deepest anguish to himself 
And his country. These lawless sons, having access to the 



6 GREAT EFFECTS [122 

s?>cred utensils of the tabernacle, carried away the Aik of 
the covenant into the camp, to ensure victory over the 
Philistines. God was angry ; Israel was smitten with a 
terrible slaughter; and the Ark was taken. In the mean 
time Eli heard what his sons had done. His heart trem- 
bled. Blind with age, and bendiEg under the decrepitude 
of ninety-eight ye-ars, he tottered away to the gate of the 
city, and sat down there, that he might catch the first ru- 
mour from the army. Oh, should the Ark be taken, the 
glory oJt' Israel would be gone ! With what profane triumph 
Avould it be told in Gath, and published in the streets of 
Askelon. Presently a tumult is heard : — a messenger has 
come from the army : — where is Eli ? — " What meaneth 
the noise of this tumult," said the poor old man to the 
messenger panting for breath, " what is there done, my 
son ?" — " Israel is fled before the Philistines : there hath been 
a great slaughter among the people ; thy two sons, Hophni and 
Fhineas, are dead; and the Ark of God is taken." Eli 
heard all with composure, till the dreadful event was an- 
nounced, " the Ark of God is taken :" that was too much ; 
his heart sunk, he fain',ed, fell backward, and died. From 
that day, the ruin of Shiloh was dated. From that fatal 
(lay, their candlestick was removed out of its place, and 
their city dwindled to nothing. 

In the sequel of the Jewish history, we read that Go- 
liath of Gath came forth, day after day, and, with an atti- 
tude of daring impiety, challenged the Hebrews and their 
God. The men of war were struck with dismay, and the 
captains of Israel, with trembling hearts, and at a cautious 
distance, looked at the mighty man. At length, a strip- 
ling shepherd, the son of Jesse, unfit, as was supposed, for 
the fatigues of war, was sent to the camp on a common 
errand, to carry provisions and inquire for the welfare of 
his brethren. By permission of the king, he entered the 
lists to fight with Goliath. Clad in no armour but faith in 
the Lord of hosts, and using no weapons but a sling and a 
stoue, the giant fell before him. Thus a common stone, 
which had lain perhaps useless and unnoticed for ages in 
the bottom of a common brook, slew the champion, and 
routed the army of the Philistines, and decided a battle 
on which the ni*erests of a nation were suspended. 

Great effects may result from little causes. 



123] FROM LITTLE CAUSES. 7 

I have drawn out the illustration of this truth in so ma- 
ny particulars, because I wish to impress it on every in- 
dividual, with reference to the practical instruction which 
resuUs from it. This instruction may be included under 
two general remarks. 

First. It is a solemn thing to live in this world. 

We are a part of a complex system. Connected as we 
are with our fellow-beings and with eternity, every action, 
every circumstance pertaining to our character, however 
apparently indifferent, becomes absolutely important. If 
tlie history of our race, in past ages, proves this, no less 
does the course of events within our own observation. We 
have but lately witnessed the winding up of a drama, in 
which all the world have been actors. Little did its first 
authors anticipate the awful lesson of instruction to man- 
kind, w^hich its progress has exhibited. A few licentious 
men, having organized the principles of anarchy in the 
heart of Europe, blew the fire in secret for half a century, 
when it burst into a tremendous explosion. Like Etna's 
boiling furnaces, it poured out its rivers of flame, to mar 
all that was fair, and consume all that was flourishing 
around it. Every monarchy in Europe was shaken. Poli- 
tical and religious systems, reared by the labour of ages, 
felt the concussion, and fell among the mighty ruins of this 
sweeping desolation. 

I grant that efforts to do mischief are wont to be at- 
tended wdth fatal success, because they co-operate with 
the strong, downward course of human depravity. The 
river forms a broader and deeper current as it runs. The 
rock that is started from the mountain's summit by a sin- 
gle hand, rushes downward by its own weight, but a thou- 
sand hands could not roll it back. The mischief which 
Jeroboam did in Israel, lasted through twenty generations. 

On the contrary, it is easy to name those who have 
been illustrious benefactors of the world. Who can esti- 
mate the amount of good accomplished by Mose?, by Ne- 
hemiah, by Paul, by Luther ? Who can pretend to deter- 
mine, till it is revealed in eternity, the extent of good pro- 
duced by the preaching of Whitefield ; or the number of 
immortal souls that will be found at last to have been 
saved from eternal death by the instrumentality of Baxter's 
SainVs Eest 7 In this view every preacher of the Gospel 



$ GREAT EFFECTS [124 

may well tremble at the consequences which must result 
from his labours ; nay, at the consequences which may re- 
sult from a single word or action. With awful emphasis 
then it may be said of the preacher, whose doctrine or life 
is habitually corrupt : " Good had it been for that man, if 
he had not been born." 

But admitting that it is a solemn thing to live as the 
ruler of a nation, or the pastor of a church, does the sub- 
ject apply to persons in common life? It does. What 
though you occupy a humble station : only remember that 
you are immortal, and that others around you are immor- 
tal, and what importance does this single thought attach 
to every thing you say or do ? You take a walk ; you read 
a book ; you spend an hour in a social circle. The thing 
is done and forgotten. But, imperceptibly, perhaps, you 
have received impressions on your own mind, or have 
given impressions to some other mind, that will last for 
ever. Every man and every woman is connected with 
God's world by a thousand ties, and cannot live, no, not 
for a single day, without doing good or evil. 

You are a professed christian. Perhaps you sometimes 
forget the vows of God which are upon you ; and give such 
license to your tongue, or to your actions, as to wound the 
cause of the Redeemer. Did you ever soberly look at 
consequences in this case ? Did you ever reflect that what 
you have done in one half hour, may have influence a 
thousand miles distant, or a thousand years to come ? A 
mortal pestilence spread over a city ; that pestilence was 
introduced by a ship's crew, among whom it was gene- 
rated by a small defect in their ship ; and that defect was 
occasioned by the gnawing of a worm in an oak, that 
grew on another continent, a century before. 

You are a father. Do you say, how can I, an obscure 
man, who have no influence on the aff"airs of the great 
world, do mischief by my example ? What was that un- 
guarded word which you spoke this morning in your fa- 
mily ? You have forgotten : but your child will remem- 
ber it, perhaps, to his dying day. Say not, then, I, who 
am obscure, may act without restraint, especially when 
secluded from the world, in the retirement of my family. 
Obscure ! You are immortal. You must go to the judg- 
ment ; and every whisper of your life will be exhibited, 



125] FROM LITTLE CAUSES. 9 

before an assembled universe ! Secluded ! What if the 
eye of the world does rot follow you into the domestic 
circle ? Is it not restraint enough that your child is there ? 
That child has a soid, worth more than a million globes of 
gold. That child too, may become a legislator, a judge, or 
a pastor in the church. Take care, parent ! You act un- 
der a dreadful responsibility. You cannot stiry without 
touching some string that will vibrate after your head is 
laid in the dust. One word of pious counsel, or one word 
of sinful levity or passion, uttered in the hearing of your 
child, may produce an effect on your children's children. 
Nay, its influence may be felt on the other side of the 
globe, and may extend into eternity. 

You are a mother. Excluded from any share in the 
splendid achievements of the world ; is your influence, 
therefore, to be deemed unimportant ? By no means. The 
wife of a humble tradesman in London had a son, who at 
his birth, was apparently destitute of life, and was laid 
aside as dead. By the assiduities of a faithful nurse the 
expiring flame of life in the infant was happily preserved. 
His christian mother dedicated him to God, " and before 
he could read, taught him the history of the Old and New 
Testament, by the assistance of some Dutch tiles in the 
chimney of the room where they usually sat." That child 
w as Philip Doddridge ; afterwards, as you know, one of 
the most useful ministers that has lived in any age. 

By whose instrumentality was the prophet Samuel edu- 
cated for an exalted station in the church ? By that of his 
mother Hannah. Who taught young Timothy the Holy 
Scriptures ? His grandmother Lois, and his mother Eunice. 
Wherever the writings of the late venerable John Newton 
shall be read, it will be known that the instructions which 
his pious mother gave him before he was four years old, 
fastened an impression on his conscience, which cleaved 
to him through all his subsequent licentiousness, till he be- 
came an eminent believer and preacher of that Gospel which 
he had despised. In connexion with this take another fact, 
which spreads out our subject before us in all its interest 
Claudius Buchanan, a poor youth, wandering in the streets 
of London, incidentally heard a sermon from Mr. Newton, 
which excited his first religious impressions. How much 

good has been done by the indefatigable efforts and enter 
Vol.3. ^ ^ F2 



10 GREAT EFFECTS [126 

prise of Buchanan ! How little did he know, when he took 
his pen to write on that text, " We have seen his star in the 
east, and are came to worship him,^^ that he was kindling a 
fire, to burn with unabated fervour, in millions of bosoms, 
when the hand of death should have extinguished it in his 
own ! How many thousands are every day instructed and 
comforted by reading the Family Bible of Scott, another 
man, to whom Newton was a spiritual father ! Look now 
at this immense sum of good, and remember that, so far as 
human agency deserves to be mentioned in any case, all 
this is to be ascribed, under God, to the instructions which 
a little child received from his christian mother. 

My second general remark is, that we should never 
yield to discouragement in our efforts to do good. 

Though the result of these efforts, in any case, should 
not be so immediate as we could wish, we are called to the 
exercise of faith, and patience, and courage, not of des- 
pondency. The first question is, in every such case. Is 
this a good object ? The second is. By what means shall it 
he accomplished ? Settle these ; and there is no third ques- 
tion. To deliberate whether such an object shall not be 
given over, is beneath the dignity and energy of christian 
principles. I know that the cause of piety and good mo- 
rals has stubborn obstacles to encounter. The majority of 
the world is against it. Still the friend of this cause may 
say, v/ith fearless confidence, like the prophet's servant, 
"They that be with us, are more than they that be with 
them.^'' Here again let facts speak for our instruction. 

The disciples of Christ were once a feeble, despised sect 
at Jerusalem. The Jewish senate deliberated whether to 
crush this sect at a stroke, or to let it die of itself. But be- 
hold, "the weakness of God is strongerthan men." Twelve 
fishe rmen of Galilee, without learning, without power, with- 
out friends, erected the standard of the cross. Hosts of op- 
position gave way before the triumphs of truth : and all 
th3 wealth and wisdom, the pride and prejudice, the power 
and policy of the world, could not resist its progress. 

But we need not survey past centuries. The astonish- 
ing events which we have recently witnessed, rebuke des- 
pondence in doing good. 

Look at the Concert of Prayer. A few British chris- 
tians, in a private chamber, resolved to set apart an hour, 



127] fROM LITTLE CAUSES. 1) 

on the first Monday evening of every month, to pray foe 
the revival of religion. The flame spread from minister to 
minister, and from church to church, till it reached the ex- 
tremities of the empire in which it began. From Britain 
the same spirit has been kindled, in various parts of Eu- 
rope, Asia, Africa, and America. 

It is no enthnsiasm to hope that all Christendom will 
soon unite in this concert ; and that the spirits of Luther, 
and Baxter, and Edwards, will look down from their abodes 
of light, to witness the church, resting from her long con- 
flict and agony ; and her prayers, from every part of the 
globe, ascending in one great cloud of incense to heaven. 

Look at the little band of men who formed the first 
Missionary Society in modern times. With means utterly 
incompetent to the magnitude of their undertaking, they 
assumed a motto worthy of the apostolic age : Expect 

GREAT THINGS, ATTEMPT GREAT THINGS." The history 

of their labours and successes demonstrates, that no obsta- 
cles are too great to be surmounted, no enterprise of chris- 
tian benevolence is too arduous to be undertaken in the 
strength of the Lord. 

Look at the British and Foreign Bible Society. In 
twenty years from its establishment, it distributed more 
than four millions of Bibles and Testaments, filled the 
world with kindred societies and the fruits of its benefi- 
cence, and its annual expenditures for this sacred object 
amounted to little less than five hundred thousand dollars. 

Look at the British Tract Society. At its fourteenth an- 
niversary, one of its founders said, " I have followed this 
Society from its birth : at first we could not number more 
friends than would surround this table. But this infant 
has become a Samson in strength." Twenty-six years 
from its establishment it had an annual income of forty 
thousand dollars ; and had distributed more than seventy 
millions of Religious Tracts, in various languages, which 
have gone as winged messengers of salvation to the ends 
of the earth. They have preached the Gospel in the 
splendid mansion and in the humble cottage. They have 
carried instruction " to the child in the school, to the tra- 
veller on the road, to the soldier in the camp, to the sea- 
man on the mighty waters, to the victim of disease in the 
hospital, and to the debtor, the captive and the cnminal 
within the walls of the prison." 



12 GREAT EFFECTS FROM LITTLE CAUSES. j^l29 

Look at the wonderful efforts to do good, which our own 
country exhibits. Time would fail to mention the Socie- 
ties for promoting Domestic and Foreign Missions,* Bible 
Societies, Tract, Education, and other charitable Associa- 
tions, which have recently sprung up without number, and 
some of which are among the noblest institutions of the age. 

I ask you now, brethren, to review this subject. Survey 
the world in motion : the wonderful characteristics of this 
age of action. Then look at the dear, immortal children, 
in your families and schools : then look forward into future 
generations, and into eternity ; and say, — have you not a 
great work to accomplish ? Every man, woman, and child, 
can do something — can do much. Who cannot spare one 
cent, to buy a small Tract ? That Tract, dropped on the 
high road, or given to a stranger, may carry comfort to 
some desponding, or conviction to some careless heart; 
may reclaim some profligate, awaken some drunkard to so- 
briety, some Sabbath-breaker or swearer to saving refor- 
mation. 

The day is coming, when men will be accustomed to 
reckon the establishment of a Tract or Moral Society, or a 
prayer meeting, among the instruments of ushering in the 
glory of the church, and the salvation of the world. It is 
not improbable that eternity will disclose to us, how the 
astonishing events of this age sprung at first from the closet 
of some obscure saint, like Simeon and Anna of old, " pray- 
ing to God alway, and waiting for the consolation of Israel. " 

Courage^ then, brethren ! Stand up to your work, and go 
forward. God is with you. The struggle betwixt sin and 
righteousness is drawing to a close. The storm which has 
agitated the church is ceasing to rage. " The long night 
oif discord and calamity which has enveloped the world, is 
passing into a glorious day. With humble hope and joy, 
we hail the approaching consummation of the prophetic 
word, when the seventh angel shall sound, and great voices 
be heard in heaven, saying, " The kingdoms of this world 
are become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and 
he shall reign for ever and ever : Alleluia ! Amen.'* 

* In 1808, the spirit of Foreign Missions, which has since excited 
a deeper interest in the American churches than any other subject 
ever did, was confined to the bosom of two or three pious young men, 
with whom it originated 

THE ENI). 



3RBAT EFFECTS FROM LITTLE CAiTSES. *> 

present a Tract. He observed a plain but well dressed man, 
who seemed to be eyeing him with especial interest, and who, 
when he approached him, said, " Did you never distribute 
Tracts here before, sirT' " Probably I have ; I am not 
unfrequently distributing them.'' " Did you not, four or 
five months ago, give a Tract to a man here who said h© 
worked on the Sabbath ?" The merchnnt, who, as the tim© 
for fulfilling his engagement had not arrived, had not before 
thought of it during the evening, then replied that he recol- 
lected thfe circumstance very well, '* Well, sir,*' continued 
the other, "1 am that man. I carried home the Tract you 
gave me," (it was the Tract entitled Subjects for Conddera- 
tion,) " and told my wife every word of our conversation. 
She said you were right ; and we sat down together, and she 
read the Tract aloud. So much affected were we with the 
Tract, and with what you had said, that we scarcely slept 
any all night. In the morning we aro^e, 1 went and procured' 
a handful of wood with which to get our breakfast, and after 
breakfast was over we sat down and read the Tract again. 
By and by one of our neighbors came in, as was usual, to 
loiter away the day in vain conversation. We told hira 
what had happened ; he said you were right ; and my wife 
(hen read the Tract again to him and myself. Other neigh- 
bors came in, and we did the same by them. They came 
again the next Sabbath, and we again read the Tract to them ; 
and now, sir, we have at my house, every Sabbath, a reii-, 
gious meeting: that Tract has been read every Sabbath 
since I saw you, and the reading of it is now accompanied 
with religious conversation and prayers !" 

** Well," said the merchant, " if you have kept your pro- 
mise, you perhaps would be glad of your money. How 
much am 1 to pay ]" " O nothing, sir," replied the other ; 
" I never prospered so as I have since I observed the Sab- 
bath to keep it holy. When I saw you before I had no 
cow — now we have a cow, and all our wants are comfort- 
ably supplied. W^ were never so happy before ; and never 
can be thankful enough for what you have done for us." 

The landlord assured the merchant that he never had 
known such an alteration in a neighborhood as had taken 
place in that, since he was last there. Before, the whole 
neighborhood spent their Sabbaths at work, or in visiting, 
fishing, hunting, and other amusements ; but now they were 
seriously attentive to the subject of religion, and met everj 
Sabbath for the worship of God. 

No. 74 



16j?/).]6REAT EFFECTS FROM LITTLE CAUSES. 

The invention of the Telescope, it has been said, result- 
ed from the amusement of a spectacle-maker's boy. On 
the same optical principles was constructed the Mcroscapey 
by which we perceive that a drop of stagnant water is a 
world teeming with inhabitants. By one of these instru- 
ments the experimental philosopher measures the ponder- 
ous globes that the Omnipotent hand has ranged in maje^ic 
order through the skies: by the other, he sees the same 
hand employed in rounding and polishing five thousand 
•minute, transparent globes in the eye of a fly. Yet all 
these discoveries of modern science, exhibiting the intelli- 
gence, dominion, and agency of God, we owe to the tran- 
sient amusement of a child. 

The Tract called The Great Question Answered^ was one 
day presented by Rev. Dr. Henderson, at the gate of the 
royal gardens in Copenhagen, to a young physician who 
passed by. He read it, and it made such an impression 
on his mind, that he applied to a patient, one of the Mora- 
vian Brethren, tq assist him in iinding the donor. This 
pious man rested not till he had found him, and informed 
liim of the deplorable destitution of the Scriptures in Ice- 
land. This laid the foundation for Dr. Henderson and Dr. 
Paterson being engaged in the service of the Bible Society; 
and consequently for all the blessings which have flowed 
from Bible Societies in Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, and 
Russia ! 

A New England Clergyman, in 1813, on entering a 
bookstore in his own neighbourhood, observed a small 
religious pamphlet, recently published, and inquired the 
price of it. He was told it was sixpence. His mind in- 
stantly reverted to the cheapness with which such publi- 
cations were issued by the Religious Tract Society (if 
London. " Thar book," he replied, " should be afforded 
to all who'wish to'purchase it for distribution, at a penny— 
and it must be I" He consulted with a few friends, h.^ 
Tract Society was formed, which issued, in a few months, 
more Tracts than had, befi^re btTen printed in the Uiiited 
States. That Society,' with others, constituted the Ameri- 
can Tract SocietYjJ of the final extent of the operatians 
or usefulness of whith, -the OmnipotenV Mind abue can 
form an adequate conception. 

No. 74. . ' . 

Fau-shaw, Frinter. 



16 ;?;).] GREAT EFFECTS FROM LITTLE CAUSES. 

The ijivention of the Telescope, it has been said, result- 
ed from the amusement of a spectacle-maker's boy. On 
the same optical principles was constructed the StUcroscope^ 
by which we perceive that a drop of stagnant water is a 
world teeming with inhabitants. By one of these instru- 
ments the experimental philosopher measures the ponder- 
ous globes that the Omnipotent hand has ranged in majecitic 
order through the skies : by the other, he sees the same 
hand employed in rounding and polishing five thousand 
^minute, transparent globes in the eye of a fly. Yet all 
these discoveries of modern science, exhibiting the intelli- 
gence, dominion, and agency of God, we owe to the tran- 
sient amusement of a child. 

The Tract called The Great Question Answered^ was one 
day presented by Rev. Dr. Henderson, at the gate of tha 
royal gardens in Copenhagen, to a young physician who 
passed by. He read it, and it made such ^n impression 
on his mind, that he applied to a patient, one of the Mora- 
vian Brethren, tq assist him in finding the donor. This 
pious man rested not till he had found him, and informed 
him of the deplorable destitution of the Scriptures in Ice- 
land. This laid the foundation for Dr. Henderson and Dr. 
Paterson being engaged in the service of the Bible Society; 
and consequently for all the blessings which have flowed 
from Bible Societies in Iceland, Denmark, Sweden, and 
Russia ! 

, A New England Clergyman, in 1813, on entering a 
bookstore in his own neighbourhood, observed a small 
religious pamphlet, rer>.ently published, and inquired the 
price of it. He was told it was sixpence. His mind in- 
stantly reverted to the cheapness with which such publi- 
cations were issued by the Religious Tract Society cjf 
London. " l^hzX book," he replied, " should be afforded 
to all who'Wish to'purchase it for distribution, at a penny—- 
and it must be I" He consulted with a few friends. A.^ 
Tract Society was formed, which issued, in a few months, 
more Tracts than had, befi^re b^en printed in the United 
States. That Society,' with others, constituted the Ameri- 
can Tract SociETr.j of the final extent of the operations 
or usefulness of which, 'the OmiiipotenMMiud abne ciiu 
form an adequate conception. 
• No. 74. . 



Fau'shaw, PriuUr, 



