WOMAN’S VOICE

Timaru Herald, Volume CXXXVIII, Issue 19861, 26 July 1934, Page 12

WOMAN’S VOICE

“There is one part of a woman’s education often forgotten or neglected—the culture and formation of a gentle voice,” remarks a London writer. “It is a great gift of Nature, to be aided by culture—an instrument of powerful influence for good. I speak not of singing hymns now, and of culture for harmony and musical purposes, though these tend to God’s praise, or to give innocent amusement, but this gentle vo : will be able to guide and persuade to good the manly heart of a faithful husband, will mitigate sorrow, lessen trial, and speak of hope and joy to her dearest friends and connections in accents at once powerful and pleasing. Let us then be careful in our schools to cultivate this most valuable acquirement. How different, in all respects, for a family, for friends and neighbours, are the kind, gentle, persuasive accents I have described, from sounds we sometimes (alas! too often) hear in the close abodes of poverty and trial—high, harsh, female treble tones of bitter import, scolding and reproaching, and driving away from the hearth and home (perhaps to sorrow and to sin) the husband and the children.”