med limb. The wonders of the Old
World, the treasures of tropical seas, the boundless wealth of our own
fertile inland, all that the present has of marvellous, all that the
past has bequeathed most precious,--all has been poured into the lap of
this sweet charity, and blesseth alike him that gives and him that
takes. It is the old convocation of the Jews, when they brought the
Lord's offering to the work of the tabernacle of the congregation: "And
they came, both men and women, and brought bracelets, and ear-rings, and
rings, and tablets, all jewels of gold; and every man that offered
offered an offering of gold unto the Lord. And every man with whom was
found blue and purple and scarlet and fine linen and goats' hair and red
skins of rams and badgers' skins brought them. And all the women that
were wise-hearted did spin with their hands, and brought that which they
had spun, both of blue and of purple and of scarlet and of fine linen.
And the rulers brought onyx-stones, and stones to be set, and spice, and
oil for the light. The children of Israel brought a willing offering
unto the Lord, every man and woman."

Truly, not the least of the compensations of this war is the new spirit
which it has set astir in human life, this acknowledged brotherhood
which makes all things common, which moves health and wealth and leisure
and learning to brave the dangers of the battle-field and the horrors of
the hospital for the comfort of its needy comrade. And inasmuch as he
who hath done it unto one of the least of these his brethren has done it
unto the Master, is not this, in very deed and truth, Anno Domini, the
Year of our Lord?

And let all devout hearts render praises to God for the hope we are
enabled to cherish that He will speedily save this people from their
national sin. From the days of our fathers, the land groaned under its
weight of woe and crime; but none saw from what quarter deliverance
should come. Apostles and prophets arose in North and South, prophesying
the wrath of God against a nation that dared to hold its great truth of
human brotherhood in unrighteousness, and the smile of God only on him
who should do justly and love mercy and walk humbly before Him; but they
died in faith, not having obtained the promises. That faith in God, and
consequently in the ultimate triumph of right over wrong, never failed;
but few, even of the most sanguine, dared to hope that their eyes should
see the salvation of the Lord.