In short and easy rhyme.
The measured verses flowing
In accents clear and mild,
May blend into his troubled thought,
And soothe the little child.
But let the words be simple,
And suited to his mind,
And loving, that his weary heart
A resting-place may find.”[[205]]
Speak gently to a child; speak gently to all; but more especially speak gently to a child. “A gentle voice is an excellent thing in woman,” and is a jewel of great price, and is one of the concomitants of a perfect lady. Let the hinges of your disposition be well oiled. “‘I have a dear friend. He was one of those well-oiled dispositions which turn upon the hinges of the world without creaking.’ Would to heaven there were more of them! How many there are who never turn upon the hinges of this world without a grinding that sets the teeth of a whole household on edge! And somehow or other it has been the evil fate of many of the best spirits to be so circumstanced; both men and women, to whom life is ‘sweet habitude of being,’ which has gone far to reconcile them to solitude as far less intolerable! To these especially the creakings of those said rough hinges of the world is one continued torture, for they are all too finely strung; and the oft-recurring grind jars the whole sentient frame, mars the beautiful lyre, and makes cruel discord in a soul of music. How much of sadness there is in such thoughts! Seems there not a Past in some lives to which it is impossible ever to become reconciled?”[[206]]