and there convert it into sound; the sound is modified in the glottis by the assistance of the larynx; the tongue afterwards articulates it, and the lips complete the articulation in order to its becoming speech. These are quick and easy operations in the whole, by which our affections, thoughts, and wishes are made known to others. But even where (from distance) the sound or speech cannot pass from one to the other, such is the intellectual character of man, that he is able, by certain signs, marks, or letters, to commit his thoughts to paper—to wrap them up in packets and transmit them from one part of the globe to the other; and indeed, by the electric telegraph, men may converse together, though many miles apart. Surrounded with such blessings, it surely should be our care to cultivate sincerity and plainness of speech—to say what we mean, and mean what we say; for when the human will is imbued with celestial love, and the understanding bright with truth, it is day with man, and he then gives utterance to the inward joys of his heart; this utterance is called speech, which, being the correct outward form of the love that rules within, will always be found to "distil as the dew" (Deut. xxxii. 2), to refresh and nourish the common stock of human happiness.
If we may venture to contemplate angelic speech (for surely angels are not without their speech while man is so richly blessed), we can only imagine it to be like the soft flowings of love speaking with a tongue. In such speech there can be nothing harsh, cutting, or cruel; for the breathings of love can only be clothed in sincerity and truth. Each state of love utters, in sincerity and truth, the exact wisdom of its
