“The angry word suppressed, the taunting thought,
Subduing and subdued, the petty strife
Which clouds the color of domestic life;
The sober comfort, all the peace which springs
From the large aggregate of little things,—
On these small cares of daughter, wife, or friend,
The almost sacred joys of home depend.”
Few things are more important in a home than its conversation, yet there are few things to which less deliberate thought is given. We take great pains to have our house well furnished. We select our carpets and pictures with the utmost care. We send our children to school that they may become intelligent. We strive to bring into our homes the best conditions of happiness. But how often is the speech of the household left untrained and undisciplined?
The good we might do in our homes with our tongues, if we would use them to the limit of their capacity of cheer and helpfulness, it is simply impossible to state. That in most homes the best possible result from the gift of speech is not attained, is very evident. Why should so much power for blessing be wasted? Especially why should we ever pervert these gifts, and use our tongues to do evil, to give pain, to scatter seeds of bitterness? It is a sad thing when a child is born dumb; but it were better far to be born dumb, and never to have the gift of speech, than, having that gift, to employ it in speaking only sharp, unloving, or angry words.
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