Pomeroy weekly telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio) 1860-1866, 1860-10-12
A LECTURE ON TONGUE TANNING.



The tongue is an unruly member
Somehow or other, it seems to be held
responsible for most of the mischief done
in this world. And what is still more
unaccountable, women are almost in
variably involved therein, likewise-
Putting two and two together, isn't it
just possible that the female tongue is
under bad management? No use in tell
ing woman to hold her tongue-she
cannot do it any more than she can hold
a red hot coal. We ask no such impossi-
bilities of you, ladies-but we do think
you mig hit reform in one or two instan-
ces. -.-
Talk as much as you like, but let it
be less about people, and more about
things. When you once get on the sub
ject of your dear neiglbors, the tempta-
tion to allude to their faults becomes alb
solutely irresistible. Therefore your
wiser plan is to let them entirely alone
If you can!
Don't talk about your complaints and
ailments-the dreadful toothache you
expect to have to-day. The moment
you feel these dangerous topics trem-
bling on the tip of your tongue, shut
your mouth resolutely, and keep it shut,
until the grumbling fit is over! '''
Do not give utterance to the sharp,
sarcastic little observation that rises, al
most by instinct, to your lips, when
you see lady go past with faded bonnet
ribbons and an old fashioned MANTLE
1t won't add to the beauty and freshness
of your own wardrobe, and it may leave
a very unpleasant impression on other
peoples minds. Perhaps, if you knew
phy those dingy garments were worn,
your eyes might be the first to fill with
plying tears For we should be sorry
to believe that, with all your faults, you
were not true woman, tender and low
ing, and quick to compassion!
Don't, we beg and implore of you, get
into the abeminable habit of sprinkling
your conversation with French words
and phrases. Isn't the English language
broad, and comprehensive, and magnif-
cent enough to express all your ideas
without being patched by French idioms?
What is the use of saying cerise when
you mean red, and groseile when you
mean crimson? What is the common
sense of being ennuyee instead of good
honest tired and talking about the beaua
yeun of people whose charms are none
too ravishing to be described in plain
English? If you are scanted in ideas
they won't spread themselves over any
more ground in the French language
than in your mother-tongue-if not, dc
say your say in the glorious syllables
that Milton wrote in, and Shakespeare
found all sufficient! It is mere afecta,
ton to talk bad French, or to borrow the
hackneyed technicalities of modistes and
dry goods clerks.
Be very careful how you ridicule the
rest of the world. Wit is a dangerous
weapon in conversation. The wisest
person that ever lived is not without an
absurd side to his character. Nothing
sharpens your neighbor's perception oi
your own follies quicker than the dis
covery that you have been "making fun y
of his People shrink, instinctively, from
witty woman; for every satirical thing
she says, she may count new enemy
made.
Do not pronounce judgment harshly
on any of your own sex. Do not assert
that Mrs. Green has a bad temper, be-
cause you happen to have heard hel
speak pretty shortly. You would
scarcely deem it fair play were she tc
form her opinions of your disposition
from the lecture you gave your husband
when he tore up your housekeeping bills
to light his cigar, would you? Nobody
is perfect in tongue management, and
Mrs. Green has as much right to take
refuge under this fact as yourself.
And, as closing caution, never lei
anything tempt you to forget that the
words once out Of your mouth, nothing
can ever call them back!
We are not asking too much, are we!
Dear woman, we know there is any
amount of fortitude and frmness in youl
frail, slender looking frame, if it car
only be brought out. Didn't one oi
your charming sex put her arm through
the staples of door, once? Didn't an
other stab herself, to convince her tim
orous husband that I" it didn't hur
much?' Can't make us believe that the
same spirit is not iNyou, yet ready to bt
applied to the discipline of your tongues