place in your widely extended and very useful Miscellany, its insertion will greatly oblige, Your's respectfully, Southampton, April, 1817. AMICUS. GREAT EFFECTS RESULT FROM LITTLE CAUSES. Extract from a Sermon, delivered Sept. 13, 1815, at the Anniversary of the Moral Society in Andover. By Ebenezer Porter, D. D. Bartlet Professor of Sacred Rhetoric in the Theological Seminary, Andover. 66 BEHOLD HOW GREAT A MATTER A LITTLE FIRE KINDLETH." 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 flint, or the match. spreads the field of battle with the dead. A spark of fire is communicated to a magazine of powder: in a moment massy walls of wood and stone, the pride of war, and the labour of years, yield to the 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! 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 application to practical purposes. The extent of the kingdom of providence, and the connexion 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 argument then, from the general doctrine of a Divine Providence. 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 things; 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 bairs 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 ihat rears its stately head to the clouds, is composed of grains of dust. The river that rolls its majestic tide to the ocean, consists of drops. Here navies float on its waters; but followed backward to its source, it becomes now a rivulet, and now a spring bubbling 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 in itself. 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 of 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 of other tongues, increases; becomes coldness, then jealousy, then enmity. Their own passions, the partialities of friends, the officiousness of tale-bearers, act with combined and mischievous effect, till a trivial misunderstanding, which might have been amicably adjusted in one minute, becomes an incurable and ruinous controversy.-Suppose the parties to be pastors in the church: suppose them to be prime ministers of a nation, and see how the consequences rise into incalculable importance. To change the figure, and adopt that of Solomon, "The 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. The same connexion betwixt small things and great, runs through all the concerns of our world. The ignorance of a physician, or the carelessness of an apothecary, may spread death through a family or a town. How often has the sickness of one man become the sickness of thousands? How often has the error of one man become the error of thousands? 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 off Alexander 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. Great effects may result from little causes. Let us pursue the illustration of this truth, as furnished by experience and facts. * 4 C 2 * "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 destruction 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 multiplied to six hundred thousand fighting men. The king of the country, alarmed at this increase, issued a barbarous edict, that every Hebrew male child should be destroyed at its birth. To avoid the execution of this decree, a Hebrew mother, having concealed her little son for three months, resolved to commit the babe to the mercy of Providence, 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 only person in Egypt who might safely indulge this tenderness. 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 creation, and first ages of the world; was to become a distinguished legislator, deliverer, and guide to the church of God. Joshua's victorious march into Canaan was suddenly arrested. His army were compelled to flee 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, contrary 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 and example, Israel prospered; but his death was followed by a rapid decline of piety and morals. In this period of licentiousness, 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 connexion 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 Bethlehem Judah, became his priest. From this small beginning 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, sixty-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 of the deepest anguish to himself and his country. These lawless sons, having access to the sacred utensils of the tabernacle, carried away the ark 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 trembled. Blind with age, and bending under the decrepitude of ninety-eight years, he tottered away to the gate of the city, and sat down there, that he might catch the first rumour from the army. Oh, should the ark be taken, the glory of Israel would be gone! With what profane triumph would 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 Phinehas, are dead; and the ARK OF GOD IS TAKEN." Eli heard all with composure, till the dreadful event was announced, "the Ark of God is taken :" that was too much: his heart sunk, he fainted, fell backward, and died.-From that day the ruin of Shiloh was dated. From that fatal day their candlestick was removed out of its place, and their city dwindled to nothing. In the sequel of the Jewish history, we read that Goliath of Gath came forth, day after day, and, with an attitude 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 strippling 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 stone, 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 interests of a nation were suspended. Great effects may result from little causes. I have drawn out the illustration of this truth, in so many particulars, because I wish to impress it on every person in this assembly, with reference to the practical instruction which results from it. This instruction may be included under two general remarks. 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 the history of our race in past ages proves this, no less does the course of events within our own observation. We have just 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 mankind which 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. Political 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 attended with 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 single hand, rushes downward by its own weight, but a thousand hands could not roll it back. The mischief which Jeroboham 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 estimate the amount of good accomplished by Moses, by Nehemiah, by Paul, by Luther? Who can pretend to determine till it is revealed in eternity, the extent of good produced by the preaching of Whitefield; or the number of immortal souls that will be found at last Without the slightest intention to insinuate any thing derogatory to the piety, learning, labours, or usefulness for which Whitefield, Doddridge, Edwards, and other ministers are justly famed, we may observe, without offence to any whose minds are enlarged, and their spirit truly catholic, that no minister in modern days has been so extensively owned of God as the late Rev. JOHN WESLEY. Had the rise of Methodism, with its unprecedented success in the saving conversion of tens of thousands of souls, formed a part of the author's subject, it would have enabled him, with pecu |