Having gone so far, I must not detain you for more than a brief period.
You have had such an able and interesting course of lectures given by
men of high talent, that little remains for me except to close this
course with congratulation to the Association in being able to procure
those individuals to give their valuable time to this desirable object;
for what in life is more interesting than the imparting the knowledge we
may possess to others who desire to acquire it, seeing that there is no
way in which moral and social intercourse is more advanced and
developed. Still, before closing, I must ask for a short time to go into
one or two other subjects. And first, I will take one of the greatest
importance to the commerce of this country, and one that has shown what
the mind has done for communicating the thoughts of one person to
another at far distant places--I refer to the telegraph. The land is
not only covered with wires, but even the vast depths of the great ocean
are made to minister to our requirements. The world, we may say, is
encircled with ropes, and instant communication has been the result.
What has achieved these great results but the mind of man applied to
science! And see in what a multitude of ways this application of mind
has been made to work! What does it bring into play? Why, we have mining
to produce the metal to make the wire; we have the furnace, hammers, and
wire-drawing machines to produce the wire from the raw material. We have
the forest then to go to for gutta-percha, for land poles, and for tar
to preserve the cables. We have the farmer for our hemp. We have the
chemist, we have the electrician, we have the steamer, and a great
number of other requisites before the silent but unerring voice of the
needle brings the thoughts of one man in America to another in this town
in an instant of time. Accidents and mistakes will occur in the
best-regulated works of all kinds, but I hope not often. One as to the
telegraph I must tell that happened during the Indian Mutiny. The
message meant to say that "The general won't act, and the troops have no