Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1874-09-30
Unseen Work.

The world is full OF martyrs, men and
women whose lives find no record. whose
work finds no mention, but whose impress
is left wherever their hearts beat. wherever
their footsteps tread. They are the pioneers
Of our civilizations their bones bleach the
earth which they prepared for occupation
and enjoyment; thoy dug tho road, and
planted the trees which shelter us from the
heat and make a garden OF the wilderness.
They expended their brief lives in labor. of
which. without thought Of what it cost, we
enjoy the results.
No work, however small no undertaking.
however large has been accomplished with
out much Of this unseen effort Wherever
we see a result, no matter how insignificant
we may be certain that unseen agencies have
been engaged for a long time in bringing it
about, and that what we see i, the smallest
part of that which remains behind. The
unwritten stories are the saddest, the unseen
work the hardest, the unknown prophets the
truest, the unthought-of influences the
strongest.
We talk Of education as if it were confined
to the few years and technical routine Of
school life, wholly disregardiul of habits OF
ancestry, Of the whole past of which the
child is made mp. Parents form ideal thee
ries respecting their children, and are di.al-
pointed at not realizing them, when their
whole past life and prenatal influences, of
which the children are the outgrowth. are
opposed to these high wrought conceptions
! The conduct of children is constantly bring.
ing to light the unseen work performed up
on them in the past, and before they saw the
/ light. Moreover, what was but tendency
or inclination in parent or ancestor be
7 l.,s fltt
wrought out in the unseen laboratory a pas.
sion in the child. The wife of butcher
| INDUCES her craving to see animals killed in
| the Slaughter-house in her child it becomes
a horrible instinct to torture and murder
| every little innocent that comes in his way
Children will soon be recognized as the
| pages upon which the recordoi their parent
age and ancestry are plainly written. Honol
and truth mutual love and unbroken faitl
win find recognition-quiet, obscure, and
uueventful though their course--while false
hood, treachery, deceit l1nayery, and wick
edness of every description will write theii
history so plainly that he who runs may
read.
One of the strongest incentives ON The
part of the parents to the practice of all the
virtues is the result in the lives and conduc
of their children. What we desire on
children TO be, we must be, In these case
at least an ounce of practice is worth
pound Of precept. 1t is worth nothing t.
inculcate certain moral IDEAS while our dai
" life is in direct opposition to our doctrine
and theories.
If we have planted potato it is no Use /,
talk cauli6ower or cultivate it for caulifow
er. 1t will come up potato, good or bad ac
cording to the original stock, aided by PAS
neglect OF cultivation. This is how unseel
work tells. 1t shows itself in results--re
suits not always commensurate apparent,
with the labor and effort, but unmistallabll
and fruitful Of good or evil to those win
come after.