The Jersey City news. (Jersey City [N.J.]) 1889-1906, 1897-02-05
ideas for 1lWn1uem.

merely. but her entire manner Of utter
ance-depends much OF her attractiveness.
h can never be charming without pro-
per complete vocal equipment. writes
Junius Henri Browne in Hampers
Bazaar" Even physical beauty. a bril-
liant mind. and elegant I'M are not
sufficient. To these must be added a
winning speech. Indeed, a woman can
betterSafferd to dispense with beauty or
b~rilliance than she can afford to dis
pense with an agreeable mode Of ex-
pressing herself. She who can talk well,
whatever her defects, must always be
interesting. Talking well is an art,
though it has its root In nature, of
course. Intellectual as it is, 1t is in a
measure : corporal; for a good. round,
pleasant voice must come from a strong.
healthful body. Culture must furnish
the organ with intonation, accent, PRO-
nunciation, enunciation, before it can
be all hat it should so that speech is
not readily or quickly acquired 1t is the
result of careful and continuous educa-
ton, which is, in the end, highly remu-
nerativs.
If the mass of woman had learned
what a number of them have learned,
that they cannot be wholly interesting
WltuOul ILL lul0r6SlluS Speech, lS
reformation would be great and rapid,
To possess a low, sweet, rich voice
is not vouchsafed to the multitude.
Nature is not so kind as that; or she
may be too prudent to render the sex
so dangerous, or too considerate of con-
sequences. Such voices come largely
from climate, or from the favor of for
tune. But agreeable speech need not be
despaired on this account. 1t is pro-
durable by attention, effort, persever-
ance. The first step, and a long one,
may be made by determined s%elf-control.
Not only the quality, but the quantity,
OF voice desired and desirable, may be
attained. 1t is wonderful what culture
can do. and does do, constantly.
We Americans are generally reputed to
have bad v~oices-high, harsh, shrill-to
speak, as the phrase is, through the
nose. The repute is exaggerated, but
1T has ample basis. The harsh. shrilI
voices are in the main sectional largely
confined in New England, particularly to
the seacoast there. In the south voices
are for the most part soft, pleasant,
mellow, as they are often throughout
the North where eatarrh is not rife.
= oG1CClN VI Lii AIQefl-
can voice comes far less from climate than
from the national malady, -rvousne
with which are women are specially af-
fieted. Extreme nervousness prevents
them from regulating their speech. or
In any way attempting to regulate it.
Whatever their national voice. uncon-
trolled nervousness vitiates it's expression
by total disregard of the pitch tone. or
incubation. The organ of Israfeel him
self would not be melodious unless he
should master his nerves. Women of
deep culture rarely would the ear even if
their voice be deficient. for they know
how to use it. They hide its thinness. it's
hardness. its infrmity, by dexterous
management, by not lifting it too high.
by preserving its compass always. If
not euDhonious, it is not rough or dis
sonant. 1t is well sustained, easy. flu
ent; makes, in a word, a pleasant i'm
preston. And this is all that can be
asked, all that can be expected.
How many women from. sheer nervous
ness, are re~pellently c~acophonous and in
coherent! They fairly shrek; they talk
so fast that their words tumble over one
another, and are frequently unintel.gible.
they do. not finish their sentences; they
do not pause for breath: they neither
fairly begin nor fairly end. Everything
IS noisy, shrill, struggling, excited.
chaotic, and they call this wild, whfrling
babel conversation. Such instances. it
must be allowed, are extreme; but every
body has grown more or less familiar
with them. has suffered from and de-
plored them. The women responsible for
them are entirely sane, are commonly in
telligent, and, az a rule, fairly educated.
as education is ordinarily understood.
But they are possessed by nerves, are
entirely lacking in self-discipline, and
are ignorant practically of what it means.
The faintest degree of self-love would
work some sort of cure. Even these
women could, though it may not be be-
lieved, talk nationally and agreeably if
they would properly restrain and guide
themselves. All they need 10 do is to
conquer their rabid nervousness.
80
Grace, accuracy and elegance, which
are essential to becoming speech, are not |
subject to the nerves, but they are gov
erned by culture. One may rule ones
nerves absolutely, may own a pleasant
genial voice. and yet as we have all ex-
PSi1SiSSu, oASHu Us by nQ1StlnctneSS
barbarisms and general s~lovenliness of
utterance. 1t is hard to tell why clumsy
laundering. unlettered unconventional
speech should be SO ~repugnant, but we
are only too conscious that it Is, and
that we cannot overcome the weakness.
if such it be. No woman can be superior
to her speech, save under extraordinary
circumstances, or when she is lowered
with fascination. Her tongue alone often
exercises a witchery that no amount of
reason can resist or subdue. 1T is not
her beauty that enslaves me- says the
gallan knight of the sorceress in the
fairy-tale. While she is silent 1 am my
own master. But whenI hear her words
my soul struggles in vain" Many a gal
liant knight of today when errantry has
yielded to true chivalry, can echo the
same feeling as he discovers in a wom-
ms speech the sorcery of the heart.
An excellent talker creates her own
atmosphere. and in that atmosphere
she is seen at her best. We can imagine
anything of a silent woman, but when
she speaks with eloquence our imagina-
ton is captured and our admiration is
secur !
Crinkled bandeaux, curls. fluffy patches
to cover the ears and ringlets to frame
the faces of fair maids, is the decree of