Oxford Democrat. [volume] (Paris, Me.) 1833-1933, 1885-05-26
LEARSINo To srEAK.

lEAANANM " NNNAhs
From nlts u rAis BY Mr. Helen Hunt Jsck
with What GREATNESS Interest We listen
fOr The bAoy's frst word What q
nsw bond IL q, once and forever establish
81 between IL soul and ours ~ this my.-
t-riOus, inexpllcsble. almost Incredible
fscti That l. the use 80 FAR A. mere graf
lncsiion OF the ear goes Many other
sounds are more pleAsursble, the bsby's
laush. fOr Instance. OF II. insrtlculs
mufmu~ Of ooutcnt or slesplno-s.
bat the word l. revelation. . sacred
sign. Now ~ shall know what our be-
loved one wsnts now ~ shall knO~ when
and why the dear heart sorrows, OF Il glad.
How treasured We feel, boz oOundsni !
Now ~ cannot make MISTAKES ~ shall
40 all fOr the hest w can give happiness .
We can oommuuicsts wisdom, relation IL
established the perplsribg gulf Of silence
l. bFide~d. The baby sPsak-
But u l. not % the bAby's learning TO
-. al that w. propose % write hsre. All
hsnlss lssrn 10 sp-sk or, u they DO not,
We knos that ID means . terfible vista
tlon. "A calsmiiy rafc ihank God bot BIZ
Ter almost beyond parents strength 10
bar
hot Why. having once learned - speak,
does The bany leave 90 sp.Akiug WIN 10
becomes q man OF w,ma.i Many Of our
msn aud women to-day need, almost ~
mech - when thy were twenty. four
months ola. ~ l.arn 20 SPEAK. We
Do not mean lraruing TO -p~ak Ia public.
We Do not mean even learning u sp-ak
wi. to pronounce words Clearly and &C.
cursisly tLough there 1, need ,Dough %
that Ia this lsnd But that 3. not the need
~ which ~ arr aiming pow We mean
-umsthiug 80 much simpler, 80 much fur-
thsf back. that ~ hardly knOs how 10
-sy n Ia wofd- which shall b. simple
enough. and slso sufflci.utly strong. We
man lssfnlng a. sp-ak Al all In splts OF
al which sstlrical writers have said and
ssy % the luqascioos egotism. the qa~s-
tiOning curiosity 10 oar people, u Il true
to-day that The ss.rsg- American i rvii-
cent. tscitarn, spe-chle-s Creature, Who,
FOR bis own Sale. and still more for IN.
sake of all who love him, needs. more than
b. needs anything else under heaven, -
learn "a speAk
I.ook Al our silent railway AMI horse
cars. steambosi-cshins, hotsltAblss, 10
short. all our public places where people
ALfnAM LANNAtI sal
where good wlll aud the hsnit of SPEAKING
combined. would create an atmosphere Of
human vitality, quite unlike what We see
nov. Bat II IL not Of 80 much consequence,
amer all whether people sPsak In these
puOlic places OF not II they did, oue
very unpleasant phase Of our national life
would b. greatly changed for the better.
Bat II Is In our homes that this speeehlcss-
bsss tells most frArfully On the break
fast and dinner and tes.tablcs, al which
Silent fAtser aud mother lit down In
haste and gloom. 20 feed their depressed
children. This Is especially true OF
men and women In the rural districts.
They are tired; they have more work TO
DO In year than II Is easy 10 do. Their
lives are mODOtonous.-too much 80 for
the best h-slih OF either mind or body. II
they dreamed how much this monotony
could be broken aud eheered by the con-
slant habit OF taking with each other,
they would grasp at the slightest chance
OF . conversation. Sometimes II almost
seems As N complaints and sntsgonism
were better than such stAgnspt quiet
Bot there need not be complaint and 40.
tagonlsm; there Il no home so poor. 80
remote from srsirs, that each day DOES
not bring and set ready. for family vel
come aud discussion, beautiful sights AMI
sounds, occasions for helpfulnsss and
gratitude, questions for decision, hopes.
fears, pgret- The elements OF human
life are the same forever; any one heart
holds In itself the whole. can give all
things 20 another, can bear all things for
another but no giving, no bearing, no.
not even N II l. the giving up ola lie, N IL
IL done without free, full loving inter-
change OF speech, Il half the blessing II
might be.
Many q wife goes down 10 her grave q
dulled and dlspirited woman simply be-
cause her good and faithful husband has
lived by her side without talking 10 her I.
There have been days when one word OF
praise. or one word even OF simple god
cheer, would have girded her up with ns~
strength. She did net know, very likely.
What she needed. or that she needed any
thing bot she dropped.
many q child grows up q hard. unimpres-
unloyipg man or woman simply
from the unchser~d silence In which the
frst ten years Of life were passed. vvy
fsw fathers and mothers. even those who
arr fosnt. perhaps, In society, hsbitoally
tdlk with their children.
IL l. certain that this Il one Of the WORT
shortcomings OF our homes Perhaps no
other single change would do 30 much IN
make them happier. and therefore. 10 make
our communities bett~r, o for mn aud
women 10 learn N spsak.