an idea to be conceived at one and the same time by a multitude of
minds. No! it was the spontaneous expression of a deep and pervading
principle of American society--of American humanity--a free outpouring
of the American heart; and as such it will stand upon the page of
history as the evidence of a civilization behind none of its age.

Nor is this the only mark of the moral awakening of our people.
Instances are every day appearing in our midst of this truest of
charity, not the least of which are the 'wood processions' of the
Western cities and towns; those long lines of wagons laden with fuel and
provisions for the families of the absent soldiers, whose sole object
and motive is the comfort of those whose protectors and supporters are
sustaining the country's honor in the field; evidences more striking
than the founding of charitable institutions or benevolent societies,
since the latter may, and too often does, arise from the most selfish
and vainglorious motive, while in the former the individual is lost in
the many who press eagerly to bear their part in a noble work, in this
spontaneous outpouring of true and heartfelt benevolence. From this same
spirit arises the wonderful success which attends the efforts of
sanitary commissions and soldiers' aid associations in alleviating the
sufferings and softening the privations of our soldiers in the field.
With such evidences constantly appearing before our eyes of the deep and
noble feelings of the American heart, who can doubt that our
civilization is a progressive one, our enlightenment equal? Who can
doubt the capacity of the American people for good, or look with
foreboding upon our future?

Another important sign of the times, as evincing our advancing
civilization, is the revival of art in our midst. In the midst of all
our bustle and toil and eager strife for gain, there has ever been a
something wanting to the completeness of our life, a something to fill
and satisfy that yearning of the soul for aesthetic beauty, which is at
once an evidence of its progress and its capacity for diviner things.
Too long have we been absorbed by the desires of our animal nature, in
whose pursuit there is little gratification to that finer portion of our
inner selves which will not be silenced by anything short of the deepest
degradation. The people--the great people--need something--something
higher, more ennobling, more tender--to fill the vacant spot in their
hearts and home