Meigs County telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy [Ohio]) 1848-1859, 1857-10-27
Mr. Lyereii "pom Lsanh mage and
the Telegraph.

augura,ion of the Washington University
at St.Louis; gr EGF 77.1fii Z, -~Gi
"Such is language, tho representative
of thought. Dwell upon it pray you, 8
moment longer; it is great mystery OF
our being By the use Of few written OF
printed lines on paper. 50 lihe each Other
that, in languages with which we are un-
ftmiliar---wiyness Malay or sJapanes &c
manuscript--there seems scarce. apy diff
ference between them; this unseen, intan-
I tgible. mysterious nneiital essenee, conipar-
l-5t sit y ssiksh a slie,funaa; sound "a llinai
rainbow Is gross and material, expresses
itself to the eye; by the gen lie impulse. the
soft vibrations which tie lips inlpaft to
the elastic air it expresses itself to The ear.
To give tile spoken word duration. l trans
I late it into written signs vital emphasis,
i translate it-inte vocal speeoh. BY one
divine art. the dead letter, charged with a
! living meaning, sounds through echoing
! halls, and wins or storms It's way to syn-
pathetic hearts; by anoher, the fleeing
wavelets of the air are, chrystalized into a
most marvellous permanence. and become
imperishable gems Of thought, whose lus-
tire no lapse OF time can obscure; while by
he 'union'of both, this incomprehens BILE
heing, the mind, gently wooed from the
yesial chambers OF the inmost nature,
comes forth like y bride adorned for her
lovely spouse, the world; clad in the rich
vesture of conversation, of argument, of
eloquence, OF poetry, ofsong, ro walk with
lin in the busy or secluded paths OF life,
to instruct and delight the living genera
tions-ethereal essences as they are, to
outlive columns of brass and pyramids of
granite; and to descend in eternal youth
tile unending highways ofathe ages. p;
.yI"Does it seem much that the skill of
men has, in these latter days, contrived
the means of communcs ing intelligence
almost with the rapidly Of thought across
the cIpance Of continents and Beneath the
depth of oceans by the electric wire? That
message despatched from Boston al
midday will So far out-trayel the sun as
to reach St. Louis an hour before he ar
rives at that meridian! 1t is much and
we contemplate with just aynszement the
wonderful apparatus which, whea laid
down, as sooner or later it perhaps will be,
SO as TO connect the three continents; may,
by possibility, send the beginning of such
a sentence as / an now pronouncing
around the terraqueous globe and return
it to The lips Of the speaker before lie had
completed its uttersnce. But this anna
zlng appeIatul is but another form of Ian
guaYe, II transmits inteIlTgence only rs IL
transmits words. II is like speech. like
The pen. like the press. another piece of
machinery by whicn language is convey
ed from place-to place. The really won
derful thing is language itself, by which
thought is made sensible, and communi-
Gated fIom the mind, not ony from the
great living congregation ofthe civilized
world for the time being, but through the
vast general assembly of the ages. by
which Ne are able Al this moment, not only
to listen to all the great utterances which
express the thoughts, emotions of the pres
ent day throughout the world, but 10 soar
with Milton 10 the green fields of Paradise
in the morning of creation, to descend
with Dante to the depths of penal woe; to
listen to the thunders OF Tuly and Demos
themes, and by the golden chainy0f ety.
mology, trace the affinity and descent OF
ma lions back through the labyrinth Of
ihe past almost to the cradle Of the
race. -"' ~" A" '. N
Il hold in my hand portion Of the
identical electrical cable given me by my
friend, MIR. Peabody, which is now in-pro-
Yress of manufacture, to connect Amer ica
with Europe. Tread upon it in the fol-
lowing words: "A part of the submarine
telegraph cable, manufactured by Messrs: !
Glass " Co Of London, for the Atlantic
Telegraph Company, to connect ST. John S, |
New toundlahd, with Valencia, Ireland, a
distance OF sixteen hundred and forty nau-
tical, or nineteen hundred statute miles.
Does it seem all but incredible to you that
intelligence should travel for two thousand
miles. along those slender copperwires, far
down in the all but fathomless Atlantic, |
never before penetrated by sught pertain
ing to humani y save when some founder
ing vessel has plunged with her hapless
company to the eternal silence and dark
ness of the abyss? Does it seem, l say, 1
all but miracle Of art. that the Thoughts
ofliving men-the Thoughts that we think |
up. here on the earth's surface, in the |
cheerful lght of dayL-about the markets
and exchanges, and the seasons, and the
elections. and the treaties, and the wars,
and all the fond nothings Of daily life,
should clothe themselves in elemental
sparks, and shoot with fiery speed in a |
moment. in the twinkling of an eye, from
hemisphere to hemisphere, far down |
among the uncouth monsters that Wallow !
in the Dether seas, ,along the wreck paved
floor, through the ooSy dungeons Of the1
rayess deep; that the last intelligence of !
the crops, whose dancing tassels will in
few months be coqueLting with the west
wind on these boundless prsiries, should |
go flashing along the Shiny decks Of old |
sunken galleons, which have been rotting I
for ages; that messages Of friene-hip and |
love from warm living bosoms should bnrn
over the cold green bones of men and wo-
men, whose hearts once warm as ours, !
burst as the eternal gulfs closed and roared |
over them, centuries ago? Behold anoth- |
er phenomenon of a surety not less SIR |
prlsing-an Intellectual electric telegraph |
If l may SO call it-not less marvellous.