Staunton vindicator. [volume] (Staunton, Va.) 1860-1896, 1867-06-21
THE New York MErRopoL1rAN RECORD is

publishing series of interesting literary and
political articles from the pen Of j. Harmer,
Gilmer, Jr, Esq, of this city. The present
number Of that able journal contains two ar
ticles from Mr.. 6 one upon the Greatness
of Little Things" the other upon 'sOur Du-
ties to the Dead and the Living from the
former of which we select the following ex-
cerpt .is y ats4t's's
s.Let us recall few Of the examples Of
great principles evoked from small facts
there is deep meaning in their lessons
worthy of being borne constantly in mind.
It was the attentive and thoughtful intellect
of Calico which, being attracted when
youth by the steady swinging, backward and
forward, of a cathedral lamp, conceived the
idea of the pendulum after fifty years Of
labor and reflection, he gave to the world
that invention which has become one Of its
indispensable necessities, measuring the
morning and the evening, and counting with
one bloodless hand the universal hours of
pleasure and pain, and pointing with the 9TH
err to the minutes of bless and agony alike.
I It was an ordinary key, assisted BY a child's
kite, with which Franklin, Promethcus like,
drew the fire Of heaven to earth and extrac
ted the sting from the blind fury Of tue
storm. It was spider weaving his tiny web
on the attenuated fbres of which rested the
weight Of the morni ng's dew, that taught
Sir Samuel Brown the construction of sus-
pension bridges, whose use in the great inn
proyements of trade and travel has been in
calculable. It was the floating of'leaves and
seaweed beside his ship that crowned with
success the lifelong labors Of Columbus, and
enabled him to suppress the mutlny Of his
crew and reach the long sought continent.
It was the twitching, under the action Of
certain metals, of frogs leg, that gave i'm
mortality to Galvani, and beneath his inves-
tigation made the world twitch with galvan-
ism, girdling the earth with an electric cur
rent, over which the thoughts Of the antipo-
des flash quicker than lightning. TWAS the
diminutive ship-worm, perforating in its
singular mode the wood Of a vessel that in
structed Brunell in running the great tun-
mel under the Thames It was the modest
tca-kettle that gave the first hint Of the steam
engine. It was the falling of an apple from
it's twig to the ground that disclosed to New
tons mind one the greatest Of Natures laws.
This is mere allusion to very few OF the
little things that have borne great results ;
but the things themselves had but small
share in the grand achievements it was the
patient energy Of mind operating upon them.
the spirit of self development breathing new
life Of development into them. Had there
not been steady, persevering minds like those
Of Newton and Galvani, apples would have
idly fallen through all the summers Of time
before the unseeing eyes Of the many, and
the world would have been without large
portion Of it's most valuable knowledge; and
frogs might have twitched their useless legs
forever, while man would have been de-
prived of the promptest means for the inter
change Of his intelligence. Let us have an
eye, then, to the small things; bless the
hours and the days will bless us; take care
of the pennies and the pounds will take care
of us. Desert no purpose merely because the
prospect of success seems small. The plans
Of determined manhood, though to the com
mon eye they may seem but the cobwebs Of
the morning glistening brighter than the
/ dewdrops Of heaven with the delusive brilli-
ancy of hope, yet carefully tended and zeal
ously studied, will grow into the trusty bridge
spanning the deepest abyss Of difficulty.