The herald., 1893-01-21
LANGUAGE Is SWEET.
EXPRESSION BY THE TONGUE IS
NECESSARY TO HAPPINESS.

TOOK More Pains in Talking.
How would You enjoy life with sweet
words left sout3 My littlest one runs to
s,e and with both arms about my neck
pulls me down to kiss me, and whispers
Es If it were q new secret: Papa, | love
fou. Oh, how just do lovo, love your
What pest it is to be pulled about so
when one is busyl How it disloaates
cne's collar and ones thoughts! But
what would you take for such prattle?
How would yott like it checked, and in
stead of such spontaneity be compelled
to imagine you are loved? Dear me, old
man, but why SO fussy? Do you not
know you arc loved? Do not actions
speak louder than words? Does not your
wife cook your meals, and does not your
girl put your room in order? Must you
also be mussed over and gebbled to in
order to be satisfied?
Thon comes my oldest hoy, . grand
fellow, stout and wholesome and brainy,
and before / am aware his arm is about
my neck, and he pulls my head over ON
his shoulder with kiss and ''Papa,
you are awful dear to me-" Pshaw, what
is there in wordsl A few sounds--noth-
ing clsel am not SO certain about that.
! only know that | would not take mint
Of money for that small bouquet of my
boys words. No, not for the world would
have to guess at his affection and get
hungry for Il solid certainty. There is not
enough such elcquence, as I have looked
about tho world. And yet it should not
flow too easily. Tongdy love is quite
ailother thing from open heartedness. In
my opinion we should bring up our
young folk to easily and frankly express
their feelings, only not to express any
more than they feel. The art and trick
Of speech is to be more eloquent than
trie, and so to turn love into lie.
Somewhere ! have lately read good
story of a married couple that FROM
some spleen vowed not to speak to each
other. Well, if they had not really loved
they could have got on without talk, but
in this case they could not. So by happy
inspiration they used the household cat
as a go between. "Go," said Betsy,
'and tell John that dinner is ready"
"Go," answered John, "and tell Betsy
am On hand" "Here, puss," says John,
"tell Betsy this pudding is remarkably
good, and teill take another plate Of it
Ii she pleases." ''Go tell john" answers
Betsy, sthat / am glad he likes this
peach shortcaie. and he shall have three
pieces if he will"
50 for years they kept their vows, bI,t
told their love and got ON famously. 1T
is general fact that friendship grows
stronger BY short separation and cor
respondence by pen. A man Or woman
will say sweet OF true things in letter
that they would not say first by mouth.
do not quite understand this, but l
know it is true. Friends treasure let
tcrs, and friendship never is quite itself
until few letters have passed. en-
courage young folk to write letters to
learn the art of talking well. One would
suppose it would bc the other way-that
good takers should write we'll --~..--
How came it about that the tongue
and adjacent organs got control of Ian
g'nhge? Possibly Dido can explain this.
She leaps and bounds about me in over
whclming joy. Her fiose is in my face
and her paws on my chest. At last, ut
terly unable to express all her emotion,
she throws back her head and explodes
in d bark. 1t is nothing but en- explo-
sion, but it is great relief to her.
That is the beginning of speech in all
creatures-only q noise made by the
rush of emotion through the mouth.
By and by this noise is modified to ex-
press different emotions. The dog can ex-
press dozen passions and resentments,
and yet most of these arc told by the
tail and the body in general.
The next step is, or was, to modify
these sounds into musical roles. The
bird does not enunciate first, but sings.
The lower races sing well and talk
badly. The highest art is to sing we'll
and talk equally we'll SO language
slowly gets stolen by certain set Of
organs that at first had little to do with
it. The legs and hands come less into
play to tell emotions; tho tail, which
4 has done so much animal talking, is
aborted. think it is aborted mainly
because it's functions are mostly passed
over to the tongue. have not heard
whether the tailed tribe of Africans wag
those appendages in friendly greeting
like dogs or not. I would not own
tailless cat or have horses tail even
clipped of it's hair. 1t is to abbreviate
speech; it is to lop off the organ of ex-
preston.
You will see that my theory about the
development Of language accounts for
many abnormal forms of speech. Pro-
family is q mere explosion of sound,
closely allied to the dogs bark and the
cats squall. 1t is not so wicked as it is
beastly. 1t is the natural language Of a
vulgar fellow who has no art of high
language Half the world talks by ex-
plosion and expletives. The more beast
ly mans habits the more profane he
becomes by necessity. 1t is his natural
language. What stretch it is from
such man to Coleridge or Emerson or
Lowell!
hear(, of man the other day, "Ah,
he is greaS scientist, to be sure, but he
is also such d splendid talker." The art
Of saying fine things finely you cannot
afford to be without. Live with wolves
and you will learn to howl" Gays the
Spaaish proverb. We ought to be able
to add, Live with men and you will
learn to talk we'll" But that is not so.
There are o few really good takers
really wise and witty tongues.-E. P.
Powell in ST. Louis Globe-Democrat
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