Catoctin clarion. [volume] (Mechanicstown, Md.) 1871-1940, 1881-11-10

House and Farm.
The Power of the Voice rs u
Home Eiimcnt.


touet accordingly, and thus oetraY
ourselves even more quickly than
through the countenance' We can
sometimes "see ourselves reflected
from the mirror "as others see us
which doubles makes us keep better
guard over the countenance; but 1t ~
quite impossible to hear ourselves as
others hear us, and Is not, therefore,
surprising that We, oftensr than we
are aware of, expose our inward per-
turbatjons.
AS to the habitual tone, it is usual
w such as was our brthright, un.eSs
we permit ourselves to become perma-
nently warped or soused by the cir
cumstances of our lives, when the
voice tlen becomes likewise disorder
cd. Any i'll that flesh is heir to IL H.
able to have n svmpathetic expression
in the tone OF voice. As tins, hoWeV-
or, is in a great measure beyond our
control as much as the c,ndlnona that
esDsa il. we can onlv seek to bear
those ills as cheerfn]ly as we can tor
our own sakea; with the secondary
object 81 making ourselves generally
agreeable to these about Us.
However charv nature may have
been in the measure Of melody He-
slowed upon our voices, she has not
LEI: ns without some compensation.
There is rarely voice that may not
he made pleasing by giving express
sion 10 the music uf the soul-cheer-
fitness, kindness and sweet temper
Likewise may HE most gifted Of vol
ces become anything but melody to
our ears if allowed to set themselves
In accord with bad temper
Parents have the greatest need to
keep guard over the manner OF Their
epeech as we'll as the matter OF 1t
We may so easily fall into the habit
Of scolding tone, in order to e'opha-
size either commands or reproots
when we are totally unaware Of it.
The effect is never good, and in most
cases creates rebellion in the heart
while it really intimilates the child
IF a child will not heed the expression
of our wishes given in our usual man
ner of addressing each other, it IS DO
cause we have taught them that We
only expect to be ooeyed when we
give special emphasis to our words
The most tender. hearted parents will
thus often do themselves as well as
their children the greatest lJNstloe
The child is for the time fully per-
suaded that the parent Is angry,
when there is probably not An angry
feeling behind it at all, Its merely
the habit Of the voice.
When we DO become irritated BY
our children, as we sometimes, must,
we ought to be extremely careful not
TO lose control Of ourselves, even IN
the tone Of our voices. The most Sc
we're rebnke | ever received from my
husband was given on an occasion
when, being unusually annoyed by
one Of my children, called from the
foot Of the stairs to the child at the
top areply to teasing question IN a
tone Of voice that must have been far
from lovely, for he said with snch
panied expression ooh; H !
would have given anything never to
have heard that. knew it WAS not
what | had said, but the tone IN
which | had said it. trust he has
forgotten it, but ! never could, and
the lesson was not lost upon me. If |
have since erred in that way it has
been with guilty consciousness of 1t,
and I pity those who seem unconscious
when they thus do violence to their
better nature.
| would not for moment be sup
posed to advocate hypocrisy either Of
tone or speech, but that the real kind
illness of our hearts which as members
of one family, whatever the relation,
emergencies will always develop, may
find constant expression, if only in
the tones Of the voice. Especially ia
this desirable from the parent to the
child AID between the children them.
selves. 1t may be very well that all
should subdue their tones to a low
key in order to secure reasonable
nuiat IN the h1usah old but that ia Of