Litchfield enquirer., 1861-03-14
The Inauguration.

hearty expression of good feeling and conf denee, never before witnessed at an Inaugura ceremony in this country.
 An eyewitness of the exciting and impressive scene, we were struck most of all, as we surveyed the tremendous crowd which gathered about the stand from whence the President elect delivered his Inaugural address, with the entire and hearty spontaniety with which every sentiment of patri- ,otism and devotion to the Union, and every ex- :nress;on of a determination to maintain and pre-. serve the Union, was caught from the lips of the speaker, and echoed from twenty thousand voices thatpoured themselves out unanimously in uproar- ious cheers. The clear, ringing voice of Old Abe rose and was borne along to the ears of every one of the vast multitude, and hardly word waslost or sentence mistaken, as in the presence ofthat cloud of witnesses, the patriot President gave ut- terance to those few grand simple sentiments upon which the policy of his administration should be made evident, and the convictions he entertained of the powers, the prerogatives, and the proprieties of his position.
 The day of the Inauguration was soft, balmy, and spring like, such aswe sometimes realize here in the latter part of May, or in June just warm enough to make it comfortable out of doors, and
 just air enough stirring to temper the hot rays of the sum- The crowd that assembled in front of the stand from which the Inaugural was given, could not have numbered less than twenty-five thousand, while every window on that side of the Capitol was crowded with the faces of spectators, anxious to catch every word which fell from the lips of the speaker.
 Upon the stand were the dignitaries of the Su. preme Court, the Senate and the House, and the representatives of foreign powers, the latter in the resplendent uniform of their ofiee There were Senators Breckinridge and Douglas, the defeated candidates for the office upon which the speaker was now solemnly entering. There was the ven- erable Chief Justice of the Supreme Court, bent with the weight of four score years, but with his clear blue eye ever fixed intently upon the new President; there, last of all, was James Bucban. an, whose sands of political life were nearly run out, and whose last thoughts seemed fixed on the "only lamp by which his feet were guided,"i e. his boots.
 In one corner of the stand was Mrs. Lincoln. realizing perhaps the proudest moment of her life and the happiest, while little Willie Lincoln, a boy of about eleven, had crawled away from his mother while his father was speaking, and clam bering along the outer wooden railing, stood looking up into his fathers face, as he made his "speech." r..r .,. 5.,,s
 So much has been said and harped upon the ugliness of " Old Abe, I've feel bound to say that as he stood there reading the Iaaugural, dressed in a handsome, and wellftting frock coat, and suit of black, his form commanding, and his at titude graceful, his clear rich voice ringing out sentence after sentence, bold clear and distinct, his countenance lit up with all the enthusiasm of the moment, his gestures ever free and easy, and adapted exactly to the sentiment, he appeared anything but "ugly," and everything that is com. manding, inspiring and noble. Without being positively handsome, President Lincoln suffers no way in comparison with any President that has preceded him, unless it be MT. Fillmore his eyes are ofa clear deep blue and very bright, his forehead massive, his head finely formed, his mouth small, and with regular snowy teeth, and countenance lit all the while with singularly pleasing smile, at once expressive of frankness, amiability and integrity.
 With Mrs. Lincoln we have, strictly, nothing in this article nothing to do, but our readers will pardon us for saying that, she appears always ex- tremely ladylike, with small bat pleasing features and evidently of disposition and character be. fitting the wife of Honest Old Abe" -
 As we have said, the Inaugural was listened to attentively, from beginning to end, and only in terrupted by the frequent manifestation of appro- val by the listeners and whom near the close Mir. Lincoln made his eloquent appeal to his dissat- ished countrymen," and exclaimed, "We are not enemles-but friends-we must be friends ;' the shouts and hurrahs were long, loud, and wildly enthusiastic. Even from the commancement when he addressed the multitude before him and the country as FELLOW CITIZENS OF THE Irx,. TED STArEs;" to the touching close where be prophesied new era of brotherhood, the svmna. thy of his whole audience never sweryed moment from him. and as mere oratoricaleffo the effect ofthe address has never been surpassed blythe most finished and impassioned orators that ever stood on any public stage. And when we consider the fitness and adaptation of the words and senti- ments to the time, and the importance and inter est we hazard little in saying that a more eloquent, and fitting, and finished an In augural address has never been written or spoken.
 s After the address was concluded, which con stunned about forty minutes in delivery, Mir. Lin cotn turned to. Chief Justide Fancy, who rose as did those about him, and presenting the Bible to the President elect, administered to him the oath of office, which MT. Lincoln repeated after him, sentence for sentence, and at the end reverently bent forward and kissed the book, whereupon the simple grand ceremony was at an end, and ABRA. HAM LINCOLN became PRESIDENT OF THE UNI. TED STATES, for the next four years, with the sol. emn VOW alone before God, { 4topreserve, protect