The MECHANIC who puts off a small job, as unworthy of his attention, because he happens to have a larger one on hand; without stopping to reflect, that small streams are more numerous than large ones; that the former continually supply the latter; and that by a steady succession of small jobs, he may acquire a capital to execute large ones upon his own account.
The MERCHANT who will sit behind his counter with a segar in his mouth, and think it derogatory to his dignity to reply to a demand for a shilling's worth of any thing. Such "small things" are too insignificant for this man of smoke; and consequently when those who call for them, and find themselves neglected, have occasion to make a large purchase, they go to him, who will not only lay down his segar, but leave his dinner, if required to wait upon them in ever so small a way.
The PHYSICIAN, who passes by the the poor man's door hardly stopping to give a hasty prescription, although he never fails to loiter in the sick rooms of the rich and the powerful, till his sycophancy becomes as disgusting to the mind, as his medicine is nauseating to the stomach of his patient.
The LAWYER who turns a deaf ear to an honest client with but five dollars in his pocket; but is quick of hearing when accosted by a party with a fifty dollar bill, and not over scrupulous either about the justice of the cause.
The CLERGYMAN—and what shall we say of the Clergyman, who "despises the day of small things;" who forsakes and forgets the poor, but pious flock, which first cherished him, to gratify his pride and ambition, and acquire those robes and riches which moths may corrupt and thieves may steal; and who is so eager withal to make converts, that he does not stop to be satisfied that conversion is the offspring of conviction, forgetting how much joy there is in Heaven over one sinner that truly repenteth; and that the hope of the hypocrite shall perish for-ever!
The FARMER who clears more land than he can cultivate to advantage, destroying the present and preventing the future growth of timber to no purpose; who keeps his produce on hand, when he can get a good and saving price, in hopes it may rise; who sells it at last for less than he could have had at first; and who is not as grateful to God for a scanty harvest, as he is for a plentiful one.
We might enlarge the catalogue of those, who, by "despising the day of small things," never arrive at that of great ones; but we do not wish to tire the reader with a tedious essay, when a light and pleasant one is our aim.
There is, however, one precious delinquent, in whose soul we would gladly awaken those moral energies which alone can save it from eventual ruin; from the tortures of self condemnation, the contempt of mankind, and the horrors of despair.
We mean the YOUNG STUDENT of GENIUS, who consumes the vigour of his youth in the haunts of vice and infamy—who despises the minutia of his profession, whatever it may be, and wantonly neglects his daily studies for the present, in pursuit of pleasure, intending, perhaps, to make great and rapid strides at a future time—but when that time arrives may find his former neglect and dissipation have destroyed the energies of his mind, and left it like a sieve, incapable of containing any thing but dregs! In this case the ruin is indeed a melancholy one; for instead of being "led, through paths of glory, to the grave," the stews and the state prison are too often the pathways of such a youth to that closing scene; and his hic jacet may be found, if found at all, in the Potter's field, that last receptacle of the dregs of humanity! Think of this, ye giddy, ye thoughtless young men, who are squandering your precious moments in idleness and vice, dishonouring yourselves, disgusting your friends, disappointing the expectations of your country, breaking the hearts of your fond parents, and bringing their "grey hairs with sorrow to the grave!" How bitter will be your feelings, when you are driven to reflect, as you finally must be, and perhaps at the foot of the gallows, that by your folly and wickedness, you have not only sealed your own ruin, but madly
"Steep'd a mother's couch in tears,
"And ting'd a father's glowing cheek with shame!"