Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1875-05-04
INTERESTING DISCOVERY.
Archaic Remains Developed in the
Ledger office.

- NAAG
Ledger Office.
As q general rule the editorial sanctum
OF a daily journal becomes the recepta-
Gle OF not only literary but other pos
thumous remains of men and women,
who have gone before to that or some
other bourne from whence, it is said,
mo traveller returns" What remains
OF genius are not cast into the waste
basket and from thence transferred to
the stove for cremation, are slowed away
in drawers of unknown depth and length
or into musty old p~igeon-holes, through
which the rats dance the minuet
at night or stalk in solemn
grandeur in couples, as if they we're
patroling down the silent corridors Of
time. Editors whose absence from the
tripod of public opinion according to
the ancient opinion) would necessarily
bring about the determination Of the
Journal over which they rule as monarchs
and in which they air their vagaries and
phantasies, pass away, leaving not a per-
ceptible ripple upon the editorial sea,
but years after, in their abandoned desks
are unearthed or dug up post mortem
remains in the shape of manuscripts,
concentrations, etc., that come to light
from out the gloomy and dusty corners Of
darkness to revisit the upper air, like the
ghost of Hamlet's immediate paternal
ancestor. And so was it yesterday, when
our sensational pencil singer, after ex-
hausting mind and matter land we do not
desire to assert that mind is not matter),
commenced a search after defunct items
in the drawers and pigeon holes of our
old editorial desk, which has quietly
supported the dust Of ages for several
years in one corner Of the LEDGER Office.
He did not expect that his search would,
like Professor Tyndalls investigation,
enable HIM to discern in that matter
the promise and potency Of every form
and quality of life" but yet he was ena-
bled to discover q spiritual phase of life
which affects matter (called man in the
strangest manner possible. 1t was not
a primordial fern of life or an authro.
pomorphism, although spiritual in its
essence and elements. How such
can affect matter is w~ell'known to
the chemist or scientist, and even the
historian Hume in his Natural His
tory of Religion "a work we would not
advise our religious readers to peruse),
says: IAN things in the universe are
evidently Of a piece; everything is ad.
jnsted to everything; one design pre-
walls throughout the whole" Lange's
History of Materialism does not explain
the mystery of this discovery of archaic
or medi@yal remains made by our indie
fatigable pencil-slinger. Away back in
one OF the drawers, buried beneath
papers musty and old with time, he found
and drew out a glass flask containing a
half pint of some mysterious looking
liquid. 1t sparkled like the Elixir of
Life, that tabled draught Of the medieval
astrologers, and was a fit subject for
investigation by an saalyitical chemist.
Our man, not having the necessary appa.
ratus convenient, had to fall back upon
the test of the five senses. The ancient
and long buried liquid looked like
whisky, smelt like whisky, and tasted
like whisky. Originally a bad and cheap
article, it had mellowed beneath the
touch of time and had become a LIQUID
most rare and, consequently, most valu-
able. How long il had been in gloomy
darkness and secreted within that drawer
will never be known upon earth-proba.
bly, ten years or more-but we do assert,
without fear Of successful refutation,
that no saloon in the city has one-half
so old or excellent a sample Of that
which Cassie addressed as-"O, thou
invisible spirit of wine, if thou hast no
name to be known by, let us call thee
DEVIL"