Noon had scarcely struck when the pavements were thronged with boys and girls hastening to their several schools. There the exercises consisted of addresses and music. As soon as these were ended, the parade began. There were 60,000 children in movement at once through the beautiful tree-shaded avenues: 112 Sunday-schools took part, arranged in seven divisions. They marched, with banners flying, to the music of military bands, which played their most triumphant strains. Mottoes, emblems, flowers, white dresses, rainbow ribbons, floating curls, and cheerful faces altogether made a pageant which it did tired people good to see. Twenty-three schools formed the Prospect Park division.
The Park itself had been dressed by nature in the brightest of green and the loveliest of early-blooming shrubs. The long meadow with its velvet sward was staked off for the children's evolutions, and protected from the crowd by genial policemen. On the grand stand sat his Honor the Mayor, and with him were a number of clergymen, and persons of official dignity.
Brooklyn has been called the City of Churches. She might be styled the City of the Innocents, so many lovely little ones does she gather every year at her wonderful May Anniversary.
When the march was ended, the scholars returned to their places of meeting, where they were feasted on cake and ice-cream before going to their homes.
No doubt some of them were a little weary, but not too much so to prevent their sleeping sweetly after their happy day.
THE CHILDREN'S DAY—FIFTY-THIRD ANNIVERSARY OF THE BROOKLYN SUNDAY-SCHOOL UNION.