The Office Of Speech

The posession of the msrvelous and intricate faculty of articúlate speech. s:,y. a writer in Godey's, seema no more miracaloua to the unthinking tlian do the eternal varieties of eatinr,'. drinking and sleeping. Vet the former is arbitrary and conventional, the ; invention of man - perhaps not confined to liim. if Prof. Garner of monkey speech fame ia to be believed - while the lattcr are natural, absolutely common. and the sinc qua non of existence. The office of speech - the celebrated Frcneh diplomat to the contrary notwithstanding - is to convey thought. IIow important then, that thia vehicle of thought transferenee, this common carrier of ideas, this carriage laden with the most delicate and elusive of burdens, nothing less than the very essence of the soul - perishable freight, indeed - should be earefully watched and developed to its highest and best capacity. The comparativo oase with which the average individual may be taught to express the thoughts of himself or others in an intelligent, intelligible, even pleasing fasliion, makes it seem almost criminal to neglect such a vast possible addition to the general good. In none of the arts - for reading is not only an art, but the noblest of them all - does general information, education and intelligence count for so much.