The independent press. (Abbeville C.H., S.C.) 1853-1860, 1858-11-19
Tho Newspaper

The Washington Iuiom, of the 39ih ult.
publishes in full the admirable Grafton Of the
Hon. Caleb Gushing, Of Massachusetts,, before
the United States Agricultural Society, deliver.
cl ut Richmond Nn.. on Thursday. October
18Th. We select from it the following short
extract IN reference I. the newspaper ~ an IL
lustrut;"n Of ti.. int electua activity Of the
age in which we live:
"Most wonderful. I say. is the intellectual
anil social nclvity and efficiency of times.
We perceive it in the tecIning earth. in til:
crowded city. on the burlcncd sea We Q ceiv-
rl it in tI: increased productions of society.
and its tiXc'l monuments; we perceive it i'll
colleges and schools. in the debates Of the leg
islntivc assembly. the coart, the hustinys the
pulpit, and the lecture room; we perceive it
in that unimaginab!e fccundiiv Of human
thought Of which printing il the pro:nptcr, the
minister. and the pr"pngator.
Take, US exhibitor and ut the same time Us
illustration of this inct-take that familiar
thing, IL newspaper, a rare luxury of the rich
once. now the necessary of universal daily life
of the mental life Of mcn-as much fool
and drink of the physical life. How various
are the contents Of that diurnal shcet-how cX-
tcr,sivc is the knowledge it ihIpnrts-how vast
is the field Of its action and its srfuncss !
Whatever wants there may be in the human
brcust it shows how they may bc satisfied. IL
it he. rs Cowpcr says, 'the herald of noisy
world" with
News from nll nations numbering Mt its back
so il is the silent monitor Of the crring the so
lace of the sorrowful the companion OF the sol.
itarv, and the messenger to all Of thought and
reflection. When Shakespeare with not un-
lnlliablc estimation Of his own art. said of play
imc-'swhnsc end, both Mt the first and nov, was
and is to hold, rs it were, the mirror up to ma
ture 10 show virtue her own feature, scorn his
own image, and the very age and body of the
time its form and prcssurc'-how frlicit0usly,
though nuknowingly, did he no: represent the
usc.: of the newspaper press at the present
time. Faults it hn. in ample number and de-
gree undoubtedly for whatever men do, in
their highest as in their lowest works, testi-
fics to the inpcrfeetions Of our nature : and the
press, with its very shortcomings, is indeed the
very mirror Of the passing day. and Of course.
with its wisdom and folly. its virtues and its
vices. and all there is of blended good and evil,
Of Ornuz,l and of Ahriman, in the ways Of the
world And how the steam engine. and the
rail road car, and the ocean ship. and the tele-
graph cOnspireh to accumulate and to diffusc
the mass Of intelligence in that newspaper
sheet! Let us add. ns another sign Of the al
vanced state of society, that the knowledge
and scholarship manifested in the callings of
the hi her class of the newspaper press, wheth-
er imturnpe or America, are e,l ual now to tho
famous literary authorship Of other times
What q reputation was attained by Junius
! on account o a few newspaper articles in the
/
leading column Of the better journals of Eng land
France, Germany, Spain Italy, and the United
States, come before us day by day, nnd passes
OFT without our special note and with no indi-
vdua faffle to it's author, though it be higher
in composition and purer in spirit than is any
thing from the hand Of Junius."
-----o-s-----
MAN WITH PETRIFIED WIFE.--A few
days sipcc, (says the Cincinnati Inquirer OF
Oct. 30tl,.) gentleman residing in Rising
Sun, Indiaua, who had married second
time, wished to remove the body Of his
wife to n new cemetery. Preparation
were madeIto that effect, and laborers open
ed the grave in the usual manner; but when
they reached the coffin they could not lift
it, SO great was the weight. After obtain
ing considerable assistance, however, the
men succeeded in raising the coffin from
the tomb. They then could not resist the
temptation. of peering into the coffin and
learning the reason for its UNUSUAL weight.
and found instead ofthe remains of corpse
y stone figure, the exact counterpart Of the
woman who had died. THisgt1auge story
soonspread, and hundreds and thousands
! ofpersons were present 10 see tho strange
tspectacle. The husband took the body Of
his departed spouse home and has it there
now ,.where it is visiteTby hundreds Of the
curious and scientific. .Phe body seems to
have been petrifed, and to have become a
perfect stone woman. Tie probability is
thai .ha body has become adipocere an,l
! will before long mels and crumble.