ich Sumter roused. Moments of sadness, of gloom,
of bitter disappointment and deep indignation there have been; but never
from the first moment of the Rebellion to this its dying hour has there
been a time when the purpose of the people to crush out treason and save
the nation has for a single instant wavered. And never has their power
lagged behind their purpose. Never have they withheld men or money, but
always they have pressed on, more eager, more generous, more forward to
give than their leaders have been to ask. Truly, it is not in man that
walketh thus to direct his steps!

And side by side, with no unequal step, the great charities have
attended the great conflict. Out of the strong has come forth sweetness.
From the helmeted brow of War has sprung a fairer than Minerva,
panoplied not for battle, but for the tenderest ministrations of Peace.
Wherever the red hand of War has been raised to strike, there the white
hand of Pity has been stretched forth to solace. Wherever else there may
have been division, here there has been no division. Love, the essence
of Christianity, self-sacrifice, the life of God, have forgotten their
names, have left the beaten ways, have embodied themselves in
institutions, and lifted the whole nation to the heights of a divine
beneficence. Old and young, rich and poor, bond and free, have joined in
offering an offering to the Lord in the persons of his wounded brethren.
The woman that was tender and very delicate has brought her finest
handiwork; the slave, whose just unmanacled hands were hardly yet deft
enough to fashion a freedman's device, has proffered his painful hoards;
the criminal in his cell has felt the mysterious brotherhood stirring in
his heart, and has pressed his skill and cunning into the service of his
countrymen. Hands trembling with age have steadied themselves to new
effort; little fingers that had hardly learned their uses have bent with
unwonted patience to the novelty of tasks. The fashion and elegance of
great cities, the thrift and industry of rural villages, have combined
to relieve the suffering and comfort the sorrowful. Science has wrought
her mysteries, art has spread her beauties, and learning and eloquence
and poetry have lavished their free-will offerings. The ancient blood of
Massachusetts and the youthful vigor of California have throbbed high
with one desire to give deserved meed to those heroic men who wear their
badge of honor in scarred brow and mai