Lamoille newsdealer. [volume] (Hyde Park, Vt.) 1860-1877, 1873-09-03
The Angel In the Block.

-"It Is related Of Michael Angelo that, while
walking with some friends through an obscure
street In the city Of Florence. hc discovered a
block of fine marble lying neglected IN yard
and half in dirt and rubbish. geEardless Of
bis holiday attire he at once fell to work apont
clearing away Its filth, and striving to In e..
from the slime and mire in which Il lay. His
companions asked him in astouishment what he
was doing, and what he winted Of that worth
less piece Of rock. oh. there's an angel in
this stone,' was the answer, 'and must get IL
out lie had il removed to his studio, and
with patient toll with mallet and ehiSel, he
brought the angel oat What to others was
buta rude, unightly stone. TO his educated
eye was buricd glory Of art. and undiscovered
at glance what might be made Of IL A ma
son woull have put II in a stone walk, acart-
man would have used il filling in or to grade
the slrects, but he transformed IL 70 ereationof
A beautiful story this. and now as 10
another application Of its moral.
Every human being may be likcned TO a
block Of marble just as it comes from the
quarry. Parents, teachers, and sur.
rounding circumstances are artists who
ehiscl, hew, polish, discipline aud develop
the character Of the child. And every
child is born with the attributes Of both
angel and devil Ii the angel be not de-
veloped, we inquire why not Ii the
devil--perverted passions and prop"nsi-
tics-bc developed instead Of the angel
moral aul spiritual sentiments then
somebody is TO blame. Do children take
after their parents Is there anything
in hereditary dcsccHt.? Can child ere.
ate his own will, spirit, disposition, tend
eucics, and charater2 Children are
blocks of marble right from the quarry,
and the marble in tho quarry, is course
or fine. From fine quarry We get fine
marble, ircm poor quarry poor stone.
Pure and healthy parents will have fine
children, with angelic tendencies prcdom-
mating. Low, course, impure, drunken,
diseased parents should not expect much
angel in their children. Directors may
point to seeming exceptions. We state
the law. "God is not mocked." His
laws are neither revised nor repealed
Obey and live. Disobcy and premature.
ly die.
Parents, look at those little human
blocks before you. They are subject to
your mOlding chisel. Your words,
your actions, aye, your very
hGGA. statutes "'"'vSv Sd B4Sse BEFSed 0RR shOsf
smiles on their plastic faces at your will !;
you encourage or you deprcss you cle-
vate or degrade; you distort or you beau
tify you make angels or you make dew
! lis.
Do not shrug your shoulders and deny
personal responsibility. You cannot put
the blame all on Adam, Eve, and the
serpent. That child came into exist
cuce through human agency. Their pa
rents were the agents. There we're pre-
natal inAuedces at work which gave shape.
tone, and direction to its body and brain.
Later, the food, the drink, the quality Of
air it breathed: the language, tho prayers,
the music il heard the beautiful or the
horrible objects it saw--all had their cf-
fects in forming its character. Was it
born in the Five Points Of New York, or
in the sluns of some other city? Were
its parents low vagrants, vagabonds, or
criminals, or were they selfish though
well-to do citizeus Were they rich,
purse-proud, sclf-indulgent, distant,
naughty, and dOmincering? We pity
their children. Chilcren are expected 10
resemble and take after pareus. oh,
that we may become what He intended
. us TO be Finely chiseled, polished, and
graceful sculptures in marble are beauti-
fnl works in human art. But how much
more grand, beautiful, graceful, and in
comparabIy angelic are intelligent, kindly,
loving, just, righteous, noble, and godly
men and women
Reader, let your studies, your efforts,
your life, be devoted to developing the
angel in the--hunan--bock. d