East Saginaw courier. (East Saginaw, Mich.) 1859-18??, 1860-10-18
900 i i" From the Cincinnati Enquirer
Historical Reminiscence--The Dignity OF
."f- JOB the Presidential Office. 5l

~ During the Administration of Gen.
Washington and John Adams, our first
two Presidents, form and ceremony
was exhibited in the Presidential man
sion that made it quite republican
court. Gentlemen - American citizens
could not be presented to the IPresi
dent then, as now, in their simple citi-
zens' dress. They were obliged to don
a peculiar costume, half military and
hal court dress, consisting of a tinseled
coat, with short pants, silk stockings, and
powdered wig, aud other, aristocratic
appurtenances, to distinguish them from
the crowd. The President took his
drives in the vicinity of New York and
Philadel phia, at which places the national
Capitol was located, in splendid coach,
drawn by four or. six horses, with postil
lion and outrders in livery, similar to
those of Duke or Prince.
The President sent no written mes
sages to Congress, as at present. 1t was
his custom, when Congress convened to
appear before that body in all the pomp
OF royal state; meet the two houses in the
Hall of Representatives,, and deliver to
them an address upon the political state
of the country, commencing with the
! formula of Gentlemen of the Senate
and House of Representatives" 1t was
custom in exact imitation of the speech
made to Parliament at its opening by the
monarch of Great Britain. & A reply
called an address to the President" was
then made by the Senate and House of
representatives., in Which allusion was
made to the points discussed in his speech,
aud such measures and reforms as were
deemed eXpedient in Administration
policy. lDH AGO atsnl
Thomas Jefferson the great ideal
statesman of the Revolutionary era,
whose bold, democratic, radical notions
in reference to the origin and purposes
of government SO startled and alarmed
the conservatives of his era was the man
who put an end to the courtly forms that
had been deemed necessary to maintain
the personal dignity of the Office OF
President. He destroyed the social sys.
TEN of his predecessors in the Presiden
tiai chair quitehas eifectually as he revo-
lutionized their political policy. He did
not wear himself the court dress aud the
accompanying sword which had been
alluded to above. AN amusing anecdote
is related of him in this connection. a
negro barber in Philadelph who had
associated in his mind the office Of Presi-
dent with great courtly form, declared
that it was outrageous that the Ameri-
can people should reject as President such
gentlemen as John Adams aud &C.
Pickering, with their splendid qHsites, OF
hair SO neatly done up, for Mr., Jefferson,
who barbarously wore his hair short, ip
contempt of all fashionable and aristo-
cratic usagesl
The preparation of his address and its
language was always an OCCASION for a
party division into Democrats and FEEDER
slists, each desiring it as their chart of
the legislation Of the session. These
addresses and speeches over, it was the
unilorm custom of the two houses OF
Congress, headed by their officers, the
President of the Senate and the Speaker
Of the House, to visit in a body TIC
Presidential Mansion, where congratula.
tory and formal addresses, pro ani co.,,
were ma lc. Cen, Washingtop, ,accus