we exclaim from our hearts, "Manifold, O God! are thy works; in wisdom
hast thou made them all."

When the heart of the woolspinner of Genoa was sickening with "hope
deferred," and his men, who had long been straining their eyes in vain to
catch a glimpse of land, were about to burst into open mutiny, and were
shouting fearfully to their leader to steer the vessel back again,
Columbus picked up a piece of wood which he found floating upon the
waters. The shore must be nigh, he thought, from whence this branch has
wafted, and the inference inspired the fainting hearts of his crew to
persevere and gain the hoped-for land; had it not been for this trifling
occurrence, Columbus would perhaps have returned to Spain an unsuccessful
adventurer. But such trifles have often befriended genius. Accidentally
observing a red-hot iron become elongated by passing between iron
cylinders, suggested the improvements effected by Arkwright in the
spinning machinery. A piece of thread and a few small beads were means
sufficient in the hands of Ferguson, to ascertain the situation of the
stars in the heavens. The discovery of Galvani was made by a trifling
occurrence; a knife happened to be brought in contact with a dead frog
which was lying upon the board of the chemist's laboratory, the muscles of
the reptile were observed to be severely convulsed--experiments soon
unfolded the whole theory of Galvanism. The history of the gas-light is
curious, and illustrates our subject. Dr. Clayton distilled some coal in a
retort, and confining the vapor in a bladder, amused his friends by
burning it as it issued from a pin-hole; little did the worthy doctor
think to what purposes the principle of that experiment was capable of
being applied. It was left for Murdoch to suggest its adoption as a means
of illuminating our streets and adding to the splendor of our shops. Had
Clayton not made known his humble experiment, we probably should still be
depending on the mercy of a jovial watchman for a light to guide us
through the dark thoroughfares of the city, or to the dim glimmer of an
oil lamp to display the luxury of our merchandise.

These facts, which we have gleaned from the fields of nature and from the
annals of science, may be useful to us all. If God has instilled the
instinct of frugality into the ant, and told us, in his written word, to
go learn her ways and be wise, think you he will be displeased to observe
the same habits of economy in us,