There was a great painter named Hogarth, who painted a series
of pictures. The first of the series shows two lads starting
in life as apprentices under the same master. They are about
the same age, are equally clever, and have the same prospect of
getting on. Yet in the other pictures, one apprentice, whose
name is Tom Idle, is shown to neglect his work for bad company
of every kind, gradually sinking from idleness into every
crime. The other apprentice, Frank Goodchild, is depicted as
always industrious and attentive to his business, and becoming
prosperous and rich. Another picture shows that Tom has sunk
into poverty and misery; another picture shows that Frank has
become a great merchant. One of the last pictures shows Tom in
the hands of the constables, brought before Alderman Goodchild,
who is now high sheriff, and who is pained and distrest in
recognizing his old fellow apprentice in the prisoner at the
bar.--JAMES T. WHITE, “Character Lessons.”
(1598)