of the question) is hard
to endure, even with the prospect of lobster and of chicken salad, ice
cream, and numerous other unwholesome things about to be. American
girls, before they 'come out,' may talk in a quiet way; but so soon as
they 'come out,' many of them think they must show that they _have_
'come out,' by the high pitch and rapidity of their voices, which quite
deprive a nervous man of his self-possession.

How much 'the charm of beauty's powerful glance' may be heightened or
lowered by the character of the voice which goes along with it! Woman
tells on others by a gracious manner, by the beauty of holiness as it is
manifested in all her ways, in all her relations, domestic and social,
and especially by her voice. A woman with a sweet and gracious voice,
the index of a sweet and gracious nature, may exert through it, in the
ordinary relations of life, without even knowing it, a better influence
than she could by advisedly devoting herself to doing good, even if such
devotion took the form of distributing religious tracts! The moral
atmosphere of a home may be not a little due to the voice of the wife
and mother. The memory, even, of a voice which was toned by love and
sympathy, may continue to be a sweet influence long after the voice
itself has been hushed in death. The influence of the voice for good or
evil, in the domestic, social, and all other relations of life, cannot
be estimated. A voice may even have a good or bad reflex action upon its
possessor. A slovenly articulation, for example, may be the index of a
moral slovenliness, and may react upon the latter. Subtle, indeed, and
imperceptible, are the influences upon ourselves, for good or evil, of
all our commonest doings.

A fond, worldly mother may be anxiously ambitious that her daughter
shall have all the accomplishments required for her fullest
attractiveness when she 'comes out.' Years may be spent upon her
musical education, with the poor result, perhaps, of 'fine sleights of
hand and unimagined fingering, shuffling off the hearer's soul through
hurricanes of notes to a noisy Tophet'; she may be taught dancing which
rivals that of a Taglioni, and French, and drawing, and painting; she
may be sent abroad to snatch the graces beyond the reach of art, of the
most elegant European society; and yet, in the grand scheme of
accomplishments, the speaking voice is left out and entirely neglected,
though she have a voice unpleasantly pitched, and with o