The Proper Inflection

It is to be regretted- wholly in the interest of her sex- that the woman who thanks a gentleman f or surrendering- to her his seat in the cars does not speak up boldly and cheerf ully as if she really meant what she said. It has been long maintained by our foreign critics, says the Pittsburgh Dispatch, that the English language lacks flexibility, nice shades of meaning, the quality of expression, compared to other tongues. But after careful observation at home and abroad I am satisfied that the lack of expression is rather in the English speaker tha.n in the language. There are an infinite number of shades of which this little "Thank you" is susceptible, as anyone about town knows. It may be uttered in such a way as to make the blood tingle with indignation. It can be said with such grace and sweetness that the recipiënt will carry the memory of itas the memory of some delicious perfume, or beautiful picture, or sympathetic strain of music- all through the long day of business cares. For such a reward as this thousands of men have Buffered uncomplaining, have endured the tortures of the inquisition, have f ought, bied and died upon the battlefield. It would seem a very simple thing, but the graces and politeness and gentleness of speech which distinguished the women of the chivalric age are now almost wholly unknown. When women talk of the decay of chivalry in men they forget that men are what women make them. Men are the exact reflection of their mothers and sisters and wives. Through the history of the men of the past we have accurate knowledge of the character of the women of that time. As it is impossible for the fotmtain to rise higher than its source, so it is impossible for men to rise higher than their mothers, their sweethearts, wives and sisters.