The Xenia sentinel. [volume] (Xenia [Ohio]) 1863-186?, 1864-11-25
About 'Little Things.8

possibly make any difference l,A lft.e
thing like that ca 90 90 harm Any day
t soon viii Le time, enough 20 put tbat to
a rights. IL Is 50 sma thut really -itis- Of
/ no consequence. These are snue Of a5e
excuses FIR net attending to little things
J Nearly ali great things spring from ne
tie ones That is, as used to ljarn at
school, an axiom, me hing selfe7iJent
A big man is a very small boy at first, au.l
so a pig, fat at Christmas, ighig twehs
ty score, at first Is a very little -s4aeIk5
1 was at dinner party once when. a gsR~
t!eman quietly asked, if I should ever have
supposed his wife, whom I had taken in io
dinuer, 10 have been, when be married
her a smlll person. ''My dear Sir, au-
swered, "smaH beginning often have large
ends. go they have, Sir," be SAID ".he
was eight stone, now she is nearer e;gh.
teen"
The Oth'r day poor woman wasmcnd-
ing a Stacking she was one Of thR class
who do mend stockings L stood watch
ing her-it is interesting to watch persons
doing things you never did, aud never
could learn to do yourself. There was but
a very smaH hole, and, forgetting my US
ual caution in such matters, as5ed why
she mended so slndll hole; why she did
not leave it till the hole was got much
larger, and then have a COED mend all at
once. She looked at.me. just as if she
thought I was SIM letoa. Aud so I was.
''DOon't ey knOaW, as if the suall hole be
minded, the big IN ont come
1 stood reprovel. I have since learned
that if one stitch in a stocking goes
/. efn. be at once put right an viii last
long time; but that if it be neglected,
the one stitch gone will soon become a
large hole, and battle all the mendng
p .wer Of the household.
twas not long aga that large tract
IF reel .imed lau6 was shining in all tue
richness and beauty which good farming
and rich crops can give. A large sluice-
gate kept out and regulated the once tri- ,
umphant waters. InUne day, almost IN
one short hour, this beautiful extent Of
Ia d was covered with the more triumph
ant waters, acres upon acres inundated,
the crops destroyed, and many hard
working agrienlgurist brought to the
verge Of ruin. The embankment had
given wav, the sluice-gate washed from
It's bearings, and the water again, with a
a mighty roar, as if exulting over ma's
carelesness, rushed over its Old posses
sions. 1t couldn't be helped. 1t was no
ones fault. Who would have thought
it? Such, probably, we're the excuses
made after the mischief was dose. Il IS
true some one, perhaps several persons,
had seen a few days before that there was
little steam IF water sPiriing through
the emb nkmebt or BY the side Of lhe
sluiee. But what of that? That vas
only trife, quite little thing; no one
would think any thing Of that; yet
what are the consequences? Tbose who
saw what eventually led, VII B IF they
would have known would be sureto lead
to such a dire catastrophe, what - real
ly but the beginning # the e never
said a ri about it; aud, ify had,
those to whom they told their s would
but have echoed back the s.sTeo'yped
observation, ''Little things Ike that are Of
no iGaY9 rtaDee," " CT WJrJs 70 that effect,
and would have givea nomore thought
to the subject till the final blow came.
A thorn just under the nail is Dot much,
but it will lead to the loss Of finger. A
bit Of skin scratched of the lip bas more
than once led to a fearful and lingering
death. How many a bad leg arises from
little wound that vas not attended to at
first, and annoys the patient for al his lif,l
A sand crack in b rse's hoof viii often
ina few days ruin the most valuable ant
NAL, and nail driven aWkWardly in the
shoe lame him for Life. A screw loose
has upset an entire train; and many a life
has been lost By ouly such httls thing
as leaving a gate open One coral worker
first laid the foundation Of these vast Pa
ci6c works. IF, thousands and thousands
Of years az Z we. had. seen the iudususiri-
Gus little buildera at work, should we have
imagined, should We have believed thatso
little thing could have Feared'so great
hap? The vast bunyan grove, is sprung
from one small plant Buta few years ago
it was nos enough to ward of the sun
from one nan, aud now it affords shelter 20
thousands Of birds and beasts, hiding in
its branches the gentle dove OF the FosoH-
Gus serpent. Truly az great thir gs
have little beginnings, and small words
oftendmes lead to great actions.