The Jeffersonian. [volume] (Stroudsburg, Pa.) 1853-1911, 1858-08-26
NO. SO

who die to do II the profitable and in
terrstinE speaking to night; | shall leave
this thoronehfare untrodden-I do not
propose myS,lf TO go oser the wire.
| cannot help thinking that while they
Will make some allusion to the progress
OF the human mind, there is a poetical
that viii disclose. have thought ali
the way doWn to night, how strange it
VIII seem to have that cord lying in the
bottom of the sea, perfectly uudisturbed
BY the howiing Of storms and the thunder
of naVies far down beyond the anchors
reach-to see that highway, and know
that there will be earthquakes that will
shake the world, but the cord will be uu-
disturbed. Markets will come up, and
fortunes will be made, and down in the
bottom Of the sea the silent wire will car.
ry the news to US. Fortunes will 60
down, and the silent road will bear the
message: aud thus. without voice to speak,
twill communicate thuuders and noise and
earthquakes. But all these things will 90
though the sea quicker than thought they
will come, and then fa-h out on the 9TH
erslde again with fresh excitement To
me the functions OF that wire seem sub
lime.
Fellow citizens. mark the advantages
! which are 20 be derived from the coBnee-
ton OF the two constituents ty this wire.
To me the pre-emiDeDt ADVANTAGE seems
to be thls--it is bringing Dations nearer
together. We augur the best of results
from this. 1t is the separation of nations.
as of individuals, that works Mischief
The sileEt man Is Usually man full of
prejudices-fulI ol misconceptions; bring
ing u:en together, we not only rub down
the roug Ia corners, but We also take down
the wrong Impressions. Men that wear
satanic garments aud closeu boots. are.
after all, found to be very little different
from other people. Bringing people to-
gether l. the way to disperse worlds of
unkind feeling. The IL ore intercourse
Dations have with each other, the greater
is the tendency to stir the world into hab-
it's of goodwill. Bringing the nations of
the earth, thus as they are, together, will
contribute to hasten the day of universal
brotherhood.
But mark one thing: while this wire
will in the frst instance work towards
monopol y, in the second and III ain instance
it will work towards diffusion and the
coGimon veal; for though merchants and
politicians will iu the first instance be ths
users, yet in the main the people will be
the ones that will reap the benefits. II
it were possible for knowledge to DO con.
fined to few-if it were possible for mo-
nopoli,ts 10 lock up the enIS of this wire,
it might be disastrous to the people and
to governments; but now it has a tendeD-
CT to make knowledge co-extensive with
the globe, for what is known in London
in the morning will be known here before
the evening. What is snoken at 12 in
London will be known to us at 8, accord
ing to our time, and the enterprises of ali
the commercial centres and political cap
italS of the world will be Known to us in
less than an hours time; and when reyo-
luton shall move the old kingdoms, When
these throes begin TO be felt, in one hour
We shall feel the same apprehensions and
torments. 1t is no longer in her own bo-
som that France can keep her Secrets
Il is no longer in the olj British isles
that their knowledge can be confined; it
is flashed over the world. The globe will
have but one ear, ana that ear will be eY-
cry where.
Now, this instantaneousness of knowl<
edge, this diffusion of knowledge SO that
all men are brought together,-this is for
the benefit OF the common people, this is
what gives them power TO enlarge the
minds that God gave them, and by wbioh
they will be greater than ever dynasties
will be. dare scarcely any longer think
OF what .hall be. | remember the deris-
ion with which Whitney plan Of rail-
road to the Mis,ippi was hailed. | re-
member when it was disputed whether a
steamer could cross the ocean or not
AN these maryels, when they Grst were
proposed to Us seem incredible; but one
by Que they have been executed, aCa low
am prepared to believe almost any
thing; if man proposed to communicate
with tue moon. should no longer think
he was moon struck. (Htre some boys
began to initiate the growing OF cock,
when Mr.. Beecher facctiously said. y am
not prepared for that, for cid not know
that it was so near morning.
Fellow citizens, before give way to
those whom you may desire 10 hear
your own townsmen and irendS--let me
say one other thing; | do not say it be-
cause of sy profession. but because
think Of it. The facility OF our Intercourse
is not to be over e-tlWateI, hut We must
notunder-sslmate the po~er OF our nation
Y GU may pu, a cable Iu every sea port;
you may build your warehouses where
they stand FIVE stories or fifteen, and you
may Gil them With the costliest mereban-
disc; you mag increase your science aDt
skill to any extent, yet you are not more
powerful. for power is not in the materi-
al texture, but power remains in the man,
in the individual, the family, the village,
the State, the nation; these are the rese.-