Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1869-08-21
OONFEDERATE PICNIC.
The Opening this Morning "A spIen.
dia Prospect for this Evening.
Colonel J. h. HeiskcIrs Address.

Colonel j. Il. HeiskcIrs Address.
Il The Confederate picnic, so long talked
Of, was inaugurated this morning with al
the pomp and circumstance that such az
interesting occasion would suggest. The
committee appointed for the purpose have
improved the grounds greatly. The circle
is enlarged, the music and speaker
stands improved, and various arrange
ments made that will crafty the taste
and conduce to the comforts of the crowd
at the picnic to-day. An immense number
OF tickets have been sold, and the profits
Of the day win be large, but at this time
we will not venture any estimate. VIZ
can say, confidently, that the COMMITTEES
appointed for the purpose Of arranging
for this picnic have worked zealously
and efficiently, and financially, we can
say in advance, that the picnic is sue I
| cess.
10 this connection We may particularly
mention Captain Frank James, Of the
appeal, Mr.. Henry Mode and Captain
J. N. Pollard. These gentlemen, we con
testify, have worked, early, late and UNI
ceasingly-yet none have failed to come
to time and lend faithful assistance.
The crowd assembled slowly and Col.
Heiskers address was postponed until
O'clock, or near that time. When in :
troduced, the gentleman delivered the
subjoined address, which we publish
from the manuscript: @-
am deputed by the Historical aud
Relief Society, who have planned this
| splendid reunion of youth and beauty and
social enjoyment, to greet their guests
and bid you welcome-welcome to these
broad shades, this lovely spot of earth,
sacred for the day to joy and sport and
social talk-sacred to the memories Of
the heroes ard the braves Of that Confed-
crate cause to which each of us is bound
by so many loving and bitter reeollec-
tions, and by so many sad and tender ties.
Welcome to this meeting of friends,
young and old--this sylvan scene, en-
livened by the brilliant colors Of gayest
silks and flowers, that vie with natures
own perfection bedecking beauty in
that which nature, with Infinite bounty,
has exhausted herself to produce
forms of female comeliness SO
varied, yet each perfect in its kind, that
none shall find its like-yet that each
shall be more lovely to some beholder
than any other. Oh that l could bind
in wreaths and chaplets and rich coronals
the words and flowers of speech that
would dojustice to the fair danes and
daughters Of Memphis, and scatter them
broadcast over this assemblage Of lowell
ness and grace.
One Of the objects of this meeting is
charitable. What a happy thought to
coin these smiles of beauty, these inno-
cent sports OF childhood, these love-pas-
sages Of the youth, these tender looks, and
COY, reluetant yielding to gentle touches
of the hands that thrill tho frame, into
aims and blessings for the poor OF that
loved cause which each of US will cherish
while memory preserves her domain. Let
us, then, welcome joy and happiness and
gladness, for the pleasure Of to-day may
carry comfort and joy to many who do
not share IL With rs now ~
One object Of our society is 10 EFeserEe
the records OF the great struggle Of heroic
men for the right to govern themselves.
History: the records Of the past. These
trees, beneath whose ample shades we
meet to-day, what o history they could
deliver il va copld but .s;nd traced upon
their leaves the photographs Of all that
hey have witnessed. Generous su8 lay
ish OF the present, the tree is the most
selfish and narrow Of historians. He
carefully lays up the record Of his own
wears, bst beyond that he reoks not
whether DeSoto rested his head upon his
giant bole, or whass princes q dssky hue
toasted beneath his shade or what
council Gres sprung beside his trunk. y. |,
bird or beast or creeping thing that sport
amidst his branches, he preserves no
trace. But let us be grateful for his
shade, and that he does record the date
when John Rice made his survey or old
Anthony Bledsoe marked his beginning
corner. The mighty stones are better
historians than these; they tell us of the
past, and stretch the fgurative days of
Moses beyond the ismsll beginnings of
recorded time, clothing creation With
grandeur and subimity which dwarfs
man and his paltry six Thousand years
of time into point, speck, an atom.
They tell us how the beasts Of the field
and the birds of the air grew and -four
ished and we're blotted out before man
was, and they reproduce the griffins and
monsters and chimeras dire iB tas pteg
rodactyls and the saurians ofthe geologist.
Shall nature and the stones record in i'm
perishable hierogiyphias the existence Of
these soulless beings, and man fail TO
erect monuments to his dead hesoes and
statesmen and patriots Egypt has
erected pyramids to preserve the record
of her times of greatness that Champoi-
leau might decipher them. Assyria is
up the long closed tonbs Of her
history, and Raylinson is reading there
the stories Of ages fos WHICH man has
hitherto looked to the words of moses 80
the only record. These record the works
Of kings aud princes. crtfnaffuL |
We reyel in the glories Of Greece and
Rome, ssd in the vivid pages Of Mscauley,
the delightful books Of Prescott, ard the
sonorous periods Of Gibbonj we see pass
before us the scenes Of bygone ages. No
theme for history has ever yet been found
which will task the powers of the mind
more eKsctingly than that Of the war of
the South against thc oppression and un-
ust aggression Of the Northern States.
All history will here Gnd a parallel The
greatest battles OF ancient or modern
times, the greatest heroes of the world.