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The Wide-Awake Parade.
The Wide-Awake torchlight procession this evening will be one of the most striking and picturesque sights ever seen in this City. Delegations are coming from all the neighboring towns and cities, and it is probable that not less than 25,000 will parade in our streets tonight. The route they will take will be seen in another column. Each man of the whole number carries a torch, and the effect of the immense procession thus illuminated will be highly brilliant and effective.
The rapidity with which the Wide-Awake organization has been completed is very remarkable. It had its origin in Hartford, Conn., some two years since, and aimed at nothing more than an efficient preparation for the preliminary duties of a Presidential canvass. It has since extended to every section of the Northern and Northwestern States. Its members are young men of character and energy, earnest in their Republican convictions and enthusiastic in prosecuting the canvass on which we have entered. The South has been taught to regard them as a military force, raised and trained for purposes of aggression upon Southern rights. Nothing could be more unfounded or absurd. Their purposes are thoroughly pacific and political. But it cannot be denied that, in case of emergency, they would form the nucleus of an admirable volunteer force for any service that might be required of them.
