The American. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1857-1857, 1857-11-28
TRIPLES.
HY W. wAGTAIL.

l often hear tri1es spoken of, and almost
always disparagingly or rcontemptuously "Its
only trifle, or. does not matter much;" or,
There's no use in quarrelling about trifes;"
or some poetic individual quotes .,a
"Trifes light as air."
In fact, by almost common consent, small
things are not deemed worthy of much thought;
and it seems quite q sufficient reason, to many
minds, that they are upconsidered triaes.h
! am an old man; / have seen much of the
world; Fi'have thought much, In my own
fashion, Of what | have seen, and my conclu-
sion is, that this is one of the great mistakes
the world makes. Trihes are al important;
they make up the mass of great things they
form the bulk Of the incidents of our lives;
they are the starting points from which great
events begin their course; they are as The
hinge, the little hinge on which the large door
turns-as the rudder, the small rudder, which
controls the vast ship, and guides it in its path
over the waves All the popular sayings are
not against me either on this point; the best
of them are with me- "Take care of the
pence, and the pounds take care of themselves"
is our English aphorism. The shrewd Scotch,
witha saving touch Of northern caution, have
their "Mony 'micbles max muckle." The
Spanitrd says, "The loose shoe-nai lanes the
horse" From the Arabs we get The last
straw breaks tho camel's back" All of them
wise sayings, evidencing an appreciation of the
power Of trihes. tsas sI sat
Wherever we turn the doctrine hold will,
il we have our eyes open, be impressed upon
us. Almost all the natural agencies by which
great operations are effected are minute-often
so small that they are imperceptible. The
rock which has been for centuries landmark
10 mariners suddenly topples over, and is lost
in the waters which formerly washed its base
How did it fallp Did some volcano explode
beneath it2 Did some earthquake e-shock shake
il from its positions? No; the skies were calm
above, AM the waters were smooth and bright,
rejecting bright the sunny armament; the
wind was hushed; there was a silent calm
around when the tall rock fell. What did il,
thcng This: day by day, year by year, CEN
tury by centEry, as the waves washed around
It's base, each carried of some little, impalpa-
BILE atom Of tritutatc1 matter; each an uncon-
sidered trife, light as air; but by the subtrac-
tion of such triaes the solid rock was worn till
it was unable to support its own weight, and
fell
Take another instance: An island is rising
up in the midst Of fathomless sea; /; atopmost
point appears, and the birds, and winds, and
waves, bring TO it the seeds of vegetation,
and it is clothed in sverdure. From that point
widening circle spreads, and in time there
slowly cmergcs from the waves an oasis Of the
ocean IKE the isles which stud the Southern
seas Here is work, not Of destruction, but
of creation. What great power has been at
work TO effect this2 Old fairy tales come up
TO the mind, and stories Of magic and witch
craft, and traditions Of the doings Of the gepil.
Some great submarine FIRE forcing mp the bot
tom Of the sea Is suggested by the reason. No,
no such thing. See where the edges Of the
new land are fringed with reefs, dangerous to
the passing bark-those fringes are Of coral
Take your microscope and examine more mi
nutely; you may sec the coral-worms still at
their worip--tiny creatures so small that you
might hold them in groups ON the tip Of your
smallest finger Little things. Well, they are
the architects Of the newly risen island Mil
lions Of them, millions Of myriads rather, have
lived for that work, and died at it, long before
you and Iwere born; SO long ago, that per-
haps our ancestors were naked, painted barba-
rians, whom they commenced their labors, un-
sounded fathoms deep below the surface. For
generation after generation the insect-builders
formed their narrow cells for generation after
generations they advanced upward over the
lifewerk--the monuments and tomhs Of each
other--till that first spot canie in sight and
grew green, like q basket Of floating verdure
amd the blue waves, and spread to the broad
island clothed with, tall palms and the luxu.
rant vegetation Of the tropics, and inhabited
by beings of our own race.
One other example, drawn from silent ma
turc, Of the greatest Of little things: Aspacious