Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1858-08-17
Daily Jir9iniaa.
Mr.. Everett OH tho Atlantic Telegraph

"
Mr. Everett. on the occasion Of tho inauguration
Of tho Dudley Observatory, nt Albany. more ilan
n year ago. In cnumcranng the achievements ot
science. hc said
Such is l'aguage, tho representative Of thought
Dwell upon 1t, pray you. moment l"nsrt II -
great mystery of our being. by the use oi
few written or printed lines on paper 81 like each
other that, in language with which We arc unfa-
lniliar--witness II Malay or japanese manu-
script--thcrc seems scarce any difference between
them this unseen, intangible, mysterious mental
essence, compared with which perfume, n sound,
u lunar rainbow is gross and material, expresses
itself to the eye by the gentle impulse, the soft
vibrations which the lips imparr ~ ho elastic air.
it expresses itself to the rar. To give the spoken
word duration, translate il into written charac-
ter: to give the wr,,lcn sign vital emphasis,
translate it into vocal speech. ny one divine art,
the dead lcllcr. charged wi," living meaning,
sounds through cchaing halls. ard wins OF storms
It's way to sympathetic hearts; by anothor. the
nceting wayclcts If the air arc crystaliacd into
most marvellous rermaucnce, and become imrcr-
ishable gems of Thought, whose luster no lapse Of
time cnn obscure while. by the union Of both,
this incomprchcnsiblc beng the mind. gently
Yoocd from the vcstal chambers of our ,nmos, ma
turc, comes forth like bride adorned for her lord
" spouse. the word, clad in tho rich yesturc Of
con, crsntion, oi argument. Of eloqucnce, of poe
try Of song; to walk with him the busy or the
living generations. ethereal essences rs they are.
TO ou,sc columns Of brass and pyramids of gran
itc. and IL de ccnd in eternal youth the uncnding
highways M tho ages.
noes i, seem much tina, the skill Of men has in
thc,r Inter days contr,cl the means Of eon.muni-
eating intelligence almost with tho npidity Of
thought. across the cSpnusc al continents and be
meath the depth at oceans, by the ctociri0 wire!
That message dispatched from Boston at midday
will 80 lar travel the sun rs to reach st. Louis
IN hour before hc arrives ut that meridian! Nis
much-nud We contemplate with gust amaaement
the wonderful apparatus which. when laid down.
as sooner or later il perhaps will be- soas to
connect the three contincnts--mny. hy possibility
send the beginning Of such n sentence M ! ain
now pronouncing around the torraqucous globe and
return it to thu lips Of the speaker before he has
completed its uttcrnnce. But this amazing appa-
ratu4 is but another form vi language; it transmlts
intelligence only NJ it transmits words. IL is Ike
speech. like the pen like the press, another piece
Of machinery by which language is conveyed from
place to place. Tho really wonderful thing is Ian
guago itself. by wkigh thought IL nalc sensible
and communicated from mind To mind, not only
in the great living congregation of tho civilized
world for the time being but through tho vast
general assembly Of the ages, by which We are
able nj this moment lot only to listen to all the
great uttcranccs which express the thought and
emotions Of the prcscu, lny throug ghout the world
~
adisc in the morning of creation; to descend with
lante 10 the depths of penal woe TO listen to the
thundcrs Of Tully and b,mosthenc-. and, by the
golden rhniu of ctymology trace tho affinity and
descent OF nations back. through the labyrinth Of
the past almost 10 the cradle Of the race.
| hold in my hand portion OF the identical cleo
trical cable. given me by my friend Mr. Peabody,
which ia now april 20, 1857 inproercss Of mnn-
ufn.tnre. to connect America with Europe. ! read
upon it tn" foil wing words: " \ part u The slb-
marino electric telegraph cable manufactured by
Messrs. Glass & Co, Of Eondon, for tie Atlantic
Telegraph Company, to o"nlrti -. JohA'', New
foundland with Yalentia, Ireland. II distance Of
sixteen hundred and forty nautical, or nineteen
hundred statute miles" Does it seem NIL but in
credible to you that intelligence Shond travel for
two thousand miles, along those SENDER copper
wires, far down m all but tahomlrss Al
lautic, before penetrated by aught pertaining
to humanity, save when some fou.ilefiug vessel
has plunged with her company to the eternal sl-
lcncc and darkness Of the abyss? Docs ii sccin
say, all but miracle Il art, that the thoughts of
living men--'he thoughts that we think up here
the earth's surface in tho cheerful light ui day
about the markets. and the exchanges, and the
seasons and the elections, and the treaties and the
wars md al hc fond n"things Of daily life should
clohc themselves with elemental sparks, and
shoot with fiery speed in n moment, in tho twink
ling Of an eye, FROM hemisphere to hemisphere,
far down among the uneouth monsters that wnl-
low in the neither seas, along the wreck paved
floor, through the oozy dungeons Of the rny less
dccp:-thai the last intelligence Of the crops,
whose dancing tasscls will in u few months BE- CO.
quoting with the west wind on these boundless
prnrics, should 60 flashing aloug the slimy decks
Of old sunkcn gallcons which havr been rotting
f,r ages; that messages of friendship and love,
from warm living bDsoms. should burn over the
eold green bones OF men and women, whose hearts
warm as onrs, burst as tho eternal CULTS
closed and roarcd over them, centuries ago? Be-
hold another phenomenon, Of II surety not less sur
prl~ing-an intellectual electric tclcgraph--if
may 81 call t-uot less marvellous! The little
volume which hrl'l in my hand contains the two
immortal poems Of Homer. those world renowned
strains, which one Of the imperial minds Of our
race, not far from thirty centuries ago, poured
forth in the delighted ears Of heroic Greece. while
the sofic4t down {" youth, wars upon the check
of its young nationaliiy-those glowing, golden
legcnds-that sovereign wrath Of Achilles, which
"--shall burn unquenchably,
Until the eternal doom shall be"
the parting Of Hector and Andromsehe-a scene
to which the sad experience Of three thousand
years could not add one image of tenderness and
sorrow; the threats Of Jupiter to the awe-struck
with his lcaping tliunders; the piteous suppllca-
tions of aged Priam. kissing the hand and bath
ing with his tears the feet of the cruel chieftain
who had dragged the torn body Of his noblo son
three miles around the Iian wall; the weary and
sorrowful wanderngs of Ulysses, which every sub
sequent age of mankind has retraced with delight
these all, like the cunningly imprisoned airs of
a musical box, breath to US in perennial strain
Of melody from within the covers of this small
volume By the simple agency of twenty-four
little marks, stamped on the written the print
ed page, the immortal legend has flashed down to
us through the vicissitudes Of empires and eras;
across the vast expanse of enlightened and be-
nghed periods Of history; from region to region,
from his own rocky islet in the Kgean to shores
unknown undreamed Of. by him; beneath the