Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1868-06-03
The Festival Of ihe Buds Of Promise
at Pranklfu-The Elixir Of Life.

EaOsl Vas a4oOl iDQeeo Nnen nc sOsd M
immortal soul 10 The eevil one in ex
change for youth and renewed lease upOT
life had he known what | know, he nigh
have purchased it at much cheaper rate
And SO might you, it you had been with IA
on last Saturday, mingling as we did will
some thousands of children brimiul o
happiness, and listening to their innocent
praliIe and sweet strains. Could you have
drank in the magnetic, invigoraiing, and
reiuynating atmosphere that emanates
from those happy buds Of humanity, you
wouldhaEe come homea better and a younger
man, and feeling as If a new lease Of life had
been bestowed upon You. The sombre
clouds that fear are now hanging round
your mental vision, would have been dis
PEELED as by the wand of the eRchanter and
the present and the future would have been
all tinted, e0ateitr de. rose.
One of the managers of the festival, my
old friend /. P, seems TO have long
ago found out this true arcana of life. 1t
IL now some twenty wears since we 6rst be-
came acquainted with him, and he looks
Just as young to-day as he did then. We
never meet him but he Is surrounded by a
troop of happy children, and he is ever on
the lookout TO provide some innocent en-
iOyment for them. His hand and heart
are always open to the appeals of the poor
and suffering, and the children Of misery
never apply to him in vain. Often mis-.
understood and even traduced, he never
theless keeps on doing good for IFS own
sweet sake, not looking for a reward here
below. You must excuse this aggressive
tribute to the oldest friend have in your
city, the one who has attached himself to
me by the golden links of long chain Of
manifold kindnesses and sweet courtesies.
THE ADVANCE GUARD.
At seven o'clock the cars of the Decatur
road were flled 10 overlooking with the
pupils and teachers of the Elm Street
School, all in the highest state of expecta-
ton of the good things in store for them.
As the railroad Transportation was made
quate TO carry out all the pupils at once,
two trips had to be made, and even then the
Utmost economy had to be observed to make
room for all. President Sloss had to be
guilty Of an act of cruelty, which shot a
paug to many a youthful heart. The boys
and girls had to be separated, and the for
mer had to take box cars, go as deck pas
sengers or occupy standing room in the
hooks and corners. The girls took this
separation very hard, and looked as sad and
demure as lot of nuns. Silence ruled su-
preme, whilst they were thus by themselves.
This is entirely sub rosa though, as some of
the Susies might pull my hair for this in
discretion, if they were to find it out. We
were much pleased, therefore, when sud-
denly some clear and silvery voices broke
ont into the beautiful refrain:
Come teachers, lay aside your care
Be children here to-day: .
With speech and song, this joyful thTong
Shall drive dull care away"
See On both sides of the road are the
strongholds and Notifications thrown up by
the wrath of man. A little farther on you'll
perceive the destructive evidences of the
still greater wrath of the tornado, the agent
of Him whorides upon the storm and holds
the winds as in the hollow of his hand.
What a changel 1t is but little over
three years ago since the partisan songs of
Rally round the flag" and Dixie" were
sounded through these very hills ahd dells,
often accompanied by the shrill soprano of
the minnie and shell, or the deep basso Of
the cannon. Then the demon "War"
ruled it supremacy over the land to-day
the Prince Of Peace sends ont thousands of
his little messengers, and they are singing
his praise accompanied by the peaceful
trombone of the locomotive.
Soon wen reach the shining river,
Soon our pilgrimage eye win cease; -
Soon our happy hearts will CULVER
With the melody OF Peace"
Yes, sweet children, may the war-6end
never again desolate our land, but may the
children Of the North and the South, and
of the East and the West live henceforth
in sweet harmony and peace. Let the vel
kin ring again with your mostferventstrain i:
Beautiful riyer beautiful riverl
River of Peace" from North to South,
As its flow each heart shall CULVER
Each patriots heart from source to mouth.
The country we passed through looks
like an extensive garden, and the wsViDg
crops give a glorious promise Of harvest.
But bark the bell rings, and here is the
baltle-worn town of Franklin. We stop
but a moment, as the picnic grounds are
u lille Oh int Gliici bluc Vi W.
THE DECENTRALIZATION.
Here we are at last at Mc(iavock's Grove,
and such an excitement You never saw.
Chaos seems to have come again. The little
girls who sat so demurely in the cara, all at
once have found their tongues again; and
here let me tell you that | have made a
very important and most startling discove-
~, namely, the influence of certain names
upon character. i took kind of super
fetal census in some of the cars, and found
out the proportionate number of all the
Joannies, Josephs, Willies, Charles, Mol
lies, Susies, Annas, Fannies, etc, etc,
and from observations made on the spot,
| have been able TO classify their owners
under two heads, namely Useful and orna-
mental The Johnnies and Josephs, and
the Mollies and Susies, belong TO the
former class; the Charles and Willies, and
the Fannies and Floras, TO the latter diVi-
sion. Who carried the heavy baskets and
brought the buckets of water Who did
all the hard work and got scraps at dinner
The noble fraternity of the Johnnies and
Josephs. Who carried the bouquets and
fans /? Who did all the flirting aud got
ala the pOtlnu CAKE anu Cduuy AT uAunEfl
Those dandi6ed Charles and Willies. Your
respected correspondent, to whom kind ia
tality or Providence has given both the
above names, helped about 200 very small
juveniles on and off the cars, and had to
staEd up all the way home for his reward.
One of his friends who glories in the name
of Bob. (another suspicious name), got a.
reserved seat in the cars, aud a bright
eyed young fairy loaned him a fan
10 boot What do you think of that
Tam so convinced Of the truth of my
new theory that | expect to change the
name of my little two-year old Charley
into Johnny, just as soon as l can get the.
consent Of certain lady who owns half
interest in the little fellow.
n THE PEOPLE OF FRANKLIN.
Col. McGavocks grove had been Sc
lected as the place for holding the picnic,
and better one could not have been found
in all the land, abonnding as it does in
pleasant shades, noble trees and gushing
springs The people of Williamson had
assembled in great numbers 10 welcome The
little juveniles which Dame Nashville had
sent on an airing. We found, also, nu-
merous delegations from Columbia, Spring
Hill, Brentwood, and even the Territory OF