The Presidential inauguration.
The
Washington papers bring the particulars of the inauguration of
President Lincoln, on Monday.
The day before was chiefly spent by the crowd in chasing about to the different churches to catch a glimpse of "Old Abe;" but as he was closeted all day with
Senator Seward, they did not get a view of him. At night, he rode to the
Capitol and heard
Senator Crittenden's speech.
Monday opened fair, but very dusty.
Pennsylvania Avenue was swept, and the Washington Rifles were placed in detachments on the house-tops along the route, in order to sweep the people should an occasion offer.
The National Rifles,
Captain Schaeffer, remained at their Armory, in uniform, subject to order.
The Washington Star says:
‘
A little after 12 o'clock the word was passed along the line of the infantry on the avenue, and the cavalry on 14th street, to present arms.
This was handsomely done, when the
President and
President elect emerged from the lower (14th street) door of the hotel.--They were warmly applauded, and from our position, in front of the crowd, we heard not a single remark offensive to the outgoing or incoming
President.
This argues well for the self-respect of our citizens.
Mr. Buchanan looked, as usual, dignified and at his ease, and
Mr. Lincoln seemed to hear his honors meekly, and to be not at all excited by the surging, swaying crowd which surrounded him.
Mr. Buchanan's private carriage was first drawn up to the entrance, but from what we could learn of the movements going on, we judge that the
President elect preferred to make his appearance in an open carriage, where all could see him, as one was substituted for
Mr. Buchanan's close carriage.
’
The President and
President elect took their seats in the carriage, the military at a "present arms," and the band on the left playing "Hail to the
Chief."
Senator Pearce and
Senator Baker, of the Committee of Arrangements, having been seated in the same carriage, it moved out to its position in the line, being preceded by the company of Sappers and Miners, and flanked on the right by the
Georgetown Mounted Guard, and on the left by the
President's Mounted Guard.
There was some grumbling at this arrangement, as it was almost impossible to get a view of the
President elect, which seemed to be the chief object in view with the majority of spectators.
The President and
President elect having been received into line, turned to the right face and escorted them to the
Capitol.
There were twenty-one military companies in the line, including one company of U. S. troops, and there were a number of civic associations.
Among them the following:
Republican Association and Wide-Awakes, numbering 500 men, the former designated by a silver button and the red-white-and-blue sprig, and the latter by a silver eagle on the lapel.
They were headed by
Capt. Smith.
New Hampshire,
Vermont, and
Massachusetts delegations, each wearing an evergreen sprig in the lapel of the coat.
They were headed by Marshals
Gen. J. C. Abbott,
Gen. H. H. Baxter, and
Major Rogers.
The three States turned out about 250 men in the line, and, as one of them told us, confidentially, with "nary office-seeker amongst them."
Next came the great car of the Republican Association, placed on the running gear of one of Vanderwerken's large omnibuses, with pyramidal seats culminating in the centre, from which rose a staff surmounted with a large gold eagle.
From this eagle depends a canopy, which covers the top of the car. The sides were draped with
red,
white and
blue, and on each side was the word "Constitution" in large red letters.
From the rear of the car projected a flag-staff, from which floated the stars and stripes.
In front of the driver's seat was the coat of arms of the
United States, surmounted by appropriate drapery.
The car was drawn by six white horses, with white covers, on each of which the word "Union" was inscribed in large red letters.--In the car were 24 little girls, each dressed in white, with laurel wreaths, two of them representing the Goddess of Liberty, and the others each bearing the coat of arms of a State or Territory.
The New York delegation were headed by
Marshal J. H. Hobart Ward.
They wore badges of white satin with the words "New York" printed thereon.
They numbered about 250.
California delegation, numbering 50 men, headed by a carriage surrounded by the
California campaign flag, the Stars and Stripes, with a bust of
Lincoln and
Hamlin on it, and under the bottom stripe a white field bearing the words, "
California true to the
Union."-- The carriage contained
F. Stanford, late Republican candidate for
Governor of
California;
D. W. Cheeseman,
Lieut. Governor do.;
S. H. Parker, ex-State
Senator;
Samuel Gamage, high private; and
Master Willie Gamage, native Californian, bearing the flag above mentioned.
Their marshal was
Mr. Richard Chenery.
The Virginia delegation, one hundred strong, bearing the U. S. flag, with the name of the
State printed across it, and under the command of their marshal,
Mr. George Rye.
Never, in the history of
Washington, was so immense a crowd of spectators seen on Pennsylvania Avenue. From the Treasury to the
Capitol, on both sides of the
Avenue, from the building fine to the curb-stone, myriads were packed in solid mass, in incalculable numbers.
Every available window, and balcony, and house-top, near the
Avenue and on it, was full of human forms and faces, till no room remained to stand or sit.
Perhaps the oddest incident of the day was the following: As the civic portion of the procession passed up the
Avenue there was noticed a singular sound, not easily describable — a sharp, cracking, rasping sort of detonation, at regular intervals of perhaps three seconds. The police, on alert for air guns and other implements of assassination, walked up and down the line completely puzzled.
The locale of the peculiar noise soon became narrowed down to the
New England delegation, and pretty soon the facts of the case came out, creating no little amusement all around.
It seems that the
New England folks wear "pegged" boots and shoes pretty generally, and this season with extra heavy soles on account of the deep snows.
Coming South, the unusual heat and dryness of the atmosphere here has shrunk the peg-timber in their foot-gear excessively, occasioning a general squeaking with every movement, swelling in the aggregate, when the delegation was keeping step in line, to a volume perceptible in the pauses of the Marine Band for several blocks.
The National Guard battalion,
Col. J. A. Tait, assembled at their armory at 9 A. M., and after going through the manual in a first-class manner, paraded through the avenue to the
Capitol.
Arrived there, they were formed in close order about the platform on the east portico, which position they maintained in order to keep the crowd from pressing too closely thereupon, until the inaugural ceremonies were concluded.
To guard the immediate neighborhood of the
President during the ceremonies was the special duty of this battalion.
The doors of the
Capitol were guarded by a strong force of special police, who admitted none except members, officers of the
House and Senate, and ladies.
When the reporters of the
House charged on the police and passed in, about every third man about the doors suddenly became a reporter, and the
expose of the ignorance of some was exceedingly refreshing.
No persons were admitted into the galleries of the
House, so Congress had its closing shouts and yells of "
Mr. Speaker," &c., all to itself.
A few disconsolate ladies watched from the windows of the passages around the galleries the forming of the military companies in front of the platform, and whiled away their time in listening to the half audible confusion in the
Hall.
The platform was erected on a level with the first broad steps of the portico of the east front of the
Capitol, and extended out to the base step.
It was provided with seats for some three hundred persons, (which were occupied by the
Cabinet, Diplomatic Corps,
Senators,
Representatives, Supreme Court, ladies, etc., and standing room in the rear for about twice as many more.
This, of course, was the great point of attraction, and, consequently, everybody sought during the morning to obtain a position there — and some tall struggling was made for the favorite places.
The enclosed walk.
As usual on such occasions, when the assembling in the immediate vicinity of the principal point of attraction of an immense throng of curious spectators renders a passage through utterly impossible, an enclosed walk was constructed several days prior to the inauguration from the street on the north side of the
Capitol to the north entrance door of the new Senate wing, a distance of some two hundred feet, through which the
President elect, the
President and the Supreme Court, Diplomatic Corps, etc., passed into the building, and from thence into the
Senate chamber.
The ceremonies at the Capitol.
Crowds gathered about the
Capitol early this morning, and retained their position there through all the hours until the arrival of the procession, lest they should lose the opportunity of a footing within hearing and seeing distance of
Mr. Lincoln during the delivery of the Inaugural.
The doors of the
Senate Chamber were opened at 11 o'clock A. M., for the admission of
Senators and others entitled to admission, as
Ex-Presidents and
Vice-Presidents,
Chief Justice Taney and the
Associate Judges of the Supreme Court, Diplomatic Corps, Heads of Departments, and Ex-Members of either branch of Congress, and Members of Congress elect,
Officers of the Army and Navy who, by name, have received the thanks of Congress,
Governors of States and Territories of the
Union, and
Ex-Governors of States,
Assistant Secretaries of Departments, and the
Assistant Postmaster General; the Comptrollers, Auditors, Register, and Solicitor of the Treasury, Treasurer,
Commissioner, Judges, the Mayors of
Washington and
Georgetown, and the Reporters in the Senate.
These were all admitted at the north door of the
Capitol--The families of the
Diplomatic Corps who were out in brilliant force, entered at the same door of the
Capitol, and passed thence to the diplomatic gallery.
Seats were placed in front of the
Secretary's table for
President Buchanan and
Mr. Lincoln, and, on their left, for the Committee of Arrangements.
The venerable
Chief Justice Taney and the
Associate Justices of the Supreme Court were seated on the right of the chair, and the
Diplomatic Corps,
en costume, with the Heads of Departments, to the left of the chair.
Members of Congress occupied seats to the left of the chair.
The galleries were reserved exclusively for ladies, and the display thereabout was of flower-garden brilliancy.
The Rotunda was closed, and the entrances to the
Capitol generally were kept as tight as wax.
On the arrival of the
President and
President elect, they entered by the north door of the north wing of the
Capitol, and proceeded to the
President's room.
The
Vice President elect was accompanied to the
Capitol by a member of the Committee of Arrangements, and conducted into the
Vice President's room, and afterwards into the
Senate Chamber, where the oath of office was to be administered to him by the
Vice President.
After the delivery of the Inaugural, and as soon as the inauguration ceremonies were concluded, the Military, with the Marshals and Aids, as a final ceremony, escorted the
President and his attendants to the
Executive mansion.
Though the reports, that an attempt would be made to shoot
Mr. Lincoln while delivering his Inaugural were not seriously credited, it was thought advisable to omit no precaution to frustrate any such plot; and, accordingly, the police in front of the
Capitol were noticed preventing the assembling of any suspicious looking individuals in compact masses, by passing among them ever and anon.
From the
Baltimore papers we take the following additional items:
‘
When the escort reached the
Executive mansion,
Mr. Buchanan, stepping on the threshold, said to
President Lincoln that having conducted him safely through the ceremonies, and introduced him to his new home, he would bid him a farewell, wishing him Heaven's blessing upon his administration.--
President Lincoln with deep feelings acknowledged this kind expression, and the great pleasure it would ever afford him to see
Mr. Buchanan at the
Executive mansion.
They then shook hands, and
Mr. Buchanan re-entered his carriage, and left for the residence of
Robt. Ould,
Esq., where he remains until to-morrow afternoon, when he starts for
Baltimore.
’
Immediately after the close of the Inaugural ceremonies there was a rush to the railroad depot, and from a few minutes to 3 o'clock until 6, when the last train started--five trains, averaging about sixteen cars each, left
Washington for
Baltimore, conveying from the
Federal Capital not less than 4,000 of those who but a few hours previous had eagerly crowded into it.
