If it could be done without making invidious distinctions, it would be no less delightful than instructive to refer specifically to the names and deeds of many other American women who have graced the age in which they lived, and added lustre to the annals of our Republic. But we must content ourselves by alluding to them in general terms; and in doing this, we must admit the fact that the noble deeds and exalted virtues of woman occupy a much less space in the world's history than they ought. It is sufficiently evident to everybody that women, in all the relations of life, exhibit a keener appreciation of right and wrong than men. Hence they are usually the first to approve what is right, and the last to concur in what is wrong. It was this devotion to principle which induced American women in the days of the Revolution to submit to the severest trials and deprivations, while they encouraged their sons, husbands, and brothers to go forth to the battle-field in defence of their country. In proof of their patriotism, these noble women, with their own hands and with cheerful hearts, spun, wove, knit, and baked for the brave and suffering soldiers, and even made an offering of their jewels on the altar of liberty, and rather than see the enemy enriched by traffic and unjust revenues, complacently approved the policy which cast rich cargoes of their favorite beverage into the depths of the sea. It was the same spirit, the same patriotism, which inspired the women of our own times on a still broader scale, in the late struggle of the North to crush the rebellion of the South and sustain in all its purity, its honor, and its glory, the dear old flag of the Union. This great work has been done manfully and nobly, and at immense sacrifices of treasure and of blood; but it could not have been done without the aid and encouragement of woman. It was woman who held the key and unlocked the hearts of twenty millions of people, and induced them, by her pleading appeals, to pour out their noble charities, as from floodgates, to supply the urgent needs of the largest and bravest army the world ever beheld. It was woman whose delicate hand nursed the sick, the wounded, and the dying soldier, and whose sympathies and prayers soothed and cheered his departing spirit. In the sanitary commission, in the Christian commission, woman was the master-spirit, the angel of mercy, the music of whose hovering wings animated the weary march of our gallant volunteers, and inspired their souls with invincible courage. It is woman who weaves the only wreath of honor which a true-hearted hero desires to wear on his brow, and the only one worthy of his highest aspirations. It is an indisputable fact that the power, the patriotism, and the influence of woman constitute the great moral elements of our Republic, and of our civil and religious institutions.