Literary cadet and Rhode-Island statesman. [volume] (Providence, R.I.) 1827-1829, 1828-12-24

CAUSE AND EFFECT.-Sotne moralzing
rhymesier intimate that great events spring
from verv trivial causes-and indeed The fac
is so we'll attested by every mans experience,
that it is really wonderful how little importance
is commonly attached 10 trifles. BY a strict
and painful investigation Of every petty circum-
stance that occurs. people might in due course
Of time acquire the habits Of looking much far
Their into f%uturity than the are now wont TO Go.
Let the various effects that may possibly arse
from even the smallest affairs Of life, be closely
scrutinrzed, and every individual would find
himself, afi er q proper course OF study, gifted
with the grand faculty Of divlnation. II some
times happens that a fortune may depend on
| what at first view may be deemed the vsries,
| trifie conceivable. For instance, a nan on his
way to a lottery office, stops TO pick up q pin
| in the street and the time lost in the perform
| ance Of this act loses TO him the highest prize
in the lottery, which an instant before would
have been his, since the fortunate purchaser
| had lust made his selection between the only
| two tickets remaining with the broker. There
is much more infinitely more, Of the greater
phenomena Of existence involved in the slight
| est accidents, or governed by the merest ca
| prices, than people are ordinarily dl. posed TO
ina gine. Some expert chess players, from
modes Of calculation long exercised. may see
| tnTOlun HI ~ Consequences VI ~ fbR
even, perhaps, to the end Of the game. TIE
| art of computation, and property Of prcscience f.,
| might hapiy be attained and applied in relation
to the game of life; but whether the end would
| pay for tho means, is a question which each
| individual must determine for himself.
At all events, cases are continually happen
inc which show the policy Of paying great at
| tcniion 10 little things. The wise Of yore were
| sensible Of the utility Of such a habit, and have
| left us n thousand ma xinis teaching the same,
| whereby we NAV profit, if so he we will. Large
| streams from little fountains flow, said one
take caro- of the pence. and the pounds will
| take care Of themselves, said another - and so
| on, through chapters Of delightful proverbs OF
| similar import all proving incontestibly the
| Importance of giving heed TO Insignificant mat.
,ers. If the ladies Of England, some ages ago
had not evinced a desire TO trim some Of their
| habilnenis with a sorr Of fur, that they were
informed came a thousand leagues across the
| Atlantic from the cold regions Of Canada-and
if the French ladies' had not simultaneously
manifested a like disposition, the long and
| bloody war between the two nations respecting
the possession Of that country, which was 10
| furnish The fashionables at home with mufis
| and tIppets, might never have taken place.
Goldsmith declares shat this destructive quar-
rel occurred "all upon account OF one s'de's
desiring to wear a greater quantity OF furs than
the Other Here is a solemn lesson for the
ladies! How deeply should they ruminate up
on the consequences that may hang upon a
change Of furbelocs, or Turk beneath an alter.
ed 1ouuce. Fashion has long been regarded
as a despot; but TO her usual attributes ought
TO be added those of cruelty and murder.
Another lesson Tor the ladies-apd for
statesmen t,o-msy be found in the history Of
The conduct Of his Grace, .Villiers. the frst
Duke Of Buckingham, who, says Gordon, en-
gagged his country in two mad wars at once,
because his honor had suffered q rebuff in his
addresses TO two great foreign ladies' Look
ing further into antiquity, we find Csmbysses
involving the whole known world In a contest
which cos, a millioa Of lives, because his ia
Their, many years before. had besn cheated BY
an Egyptian monarch, in the matter OF a wife
sent to him by the latter. The historisn
aforementioned, also relates another instance
Of the mighty mischies that sometimes pro-
coed from worthless sources. The King OF
Siam had two white elephsnts--grcst rsrlties
in nature : one or which the KING Of Pegu had