A Worm-Hole In A Ship

A man was at work in a ship-yard, in company with other men, in the building of a vessel,. He was preparing one of the planks for the bottom of the ship. "There," said he to his comrades, "is a worm-hole," as he planed off the rough outside of the plank. The workmen examined it, but concluded the hole was so small it could never do any injury. The plank was put in the vessel. Some years afterwards, as that ship was at sea, there came up a violent storm, and the ship sprung a leak. On examining the bottom, it was found that the water had for a long time soaked into a worm-hole, and rotted the wood for some distance around, till now, in the time of trial, when the waves beat furiously against the ship, it had suddenly given way. The men on board made every exertion to get her ashore, but were obliged to abandon her, and she sunk to rise no more. Many a person has been ruined in consequence of a very slight deviation from propriety, which has led on to others of a more serious nature, till, at length, their principles have been corrupted, and in the hour of temptation they have given way, and they have sunk to rise no more! A sad warning to others to watch against the beginnings of evil. It is the "little Foxes," as Solomon says, that "spoil the vines." The old foxes eat the grapes; but the little foxes, running on the tender parts of the vines, as they put forth to bud and blossom, spoil them before the fruit grows. It is thus that the character is corrupted and secretly undermined, by little causes, in early life. When one consents, in a single instance, to step beyond the bounds of propriety, they expose themselves to the most imminent danger of ruin. The following rule, if adhered to, will save you from a multitude of evils, while out of your parents' sight:

"Always conduct as you would if you were under the eye of your Parents, and never forget the one Eye that is always upon you!"

"How to be a Lady," by Harvey Newcomb (ch. 6 "General Behaviour," pg. 68)