Daily Democrat and news. [volume] (Davenport, Iowa) 1859-1864, 1861-03-04

xNAO0 Z - A~S~' -
To-day i great day for the nation
treat in more ways than one; great 'ot
zeal or for voc. To-day Abraham L'n-
ool, i, 10 duo form, - prescribed BY the
Constitution, insugursted President OF
,he Tinted States Of America. This -
the eighteenth inauguration. snd m1'
Lincoln is the fourteenth President. II
i : day 10 the history Of our nation
which will long be remembered. 10
have said be will bs inaugursted Pres'-
dent Of the United States. In form, tn's
statement il correct whether or not It
oil prove correct in fact. 10 matter
which millions Of good men aud hrm
n.triots are waiting to see decided. No
choice Of the people has ever gone 70
take the oath Of Office under such CIR
cum.tancss. Other administrations
have had much to contend With, other
pre,ideuts have seen dark hours and
threatening crises, but he, Who, to-day
,olemnly swears to "faithfully execute the
duti.s Of the. Office Of President OF the Y oi
ted States, and to prcserve,protect and DC
iend the Constitution takes upon him.
self such responsibility - no other man
Ia. ever before assumed. Will be DC
equal to the emergency Will he full
81 his oath
From Ill parts Of our oountry-from
the far off Pacific, from the North, the
South. the East and the West, there
have assembled . large concourse Of
people to witness this grand event.
We here express our tears that it will be
the last a.semblage which will ever con-
vene at Washington to witness similar
inauguration, for we look upon the dis
union OF this ~ foregone conclusion. II
Lincoln assume. to protect the Constltu-
ton AS it is, and assumes to be President
OF the United States, as he must do, or
fall short of his oath, he must, Of course,
assume the control Of all the property,
all the rights and powers belonging to
tho thiIty.four States which comprise
this Union. Seven Of those States
have already gone out, or declared them
selves out Of the Union have raised q
formidable army, aud equipped the same
with United States munitions have ia
ken posse -sion OF millions of dollars worth
Of property in forts and arsenals. be
longing to the general government and
have bid upon defiance to the same. Mr..
Lincoln swcars before high heaven to-
day, to assume and maintain the con-
troll OF all that property, Al d TO enforce
obedience to the Constitution. One Of
two things must be done He must be
reduced to the Illuminating necessity Of
being President os sensth.ng less .. thar a.
ObeUIeHCc. lucJc 10 no H'uu.S Siouud
no halfway honse at which to rest, NJ
G. ance TO dodge the responsibility one
way or the o,hcr. Will he allow the
Union to be divided lfnot Will he in.
auguratc war Ii war is the ultima
tum, what then? Will it produce
Union!
These questions and mole, ccary
hinge upon the Inauguration of Mr..
Lincoln to day. We pity the man.
Ills position is one that would tax the
skill of q greater man than he. We do
not know what policy be will lay down
in his Inaugural Address, but we think
we know what it will be. Let us
await the result. A few hours more
will tell Us the story. Whether it be
Of Union and perpetuity OF the geuer-
al government, or whether Mr.. Lincoln
will fold about our noble Republic the
cold winding sheet Of tho grave, will
soon, very soon De revealed.
Two hundred millions Of civilized peo-
pie have their eyes bent upon the scroll
which Mr.. Lincoln holds in his hand to-
day. With GREATNESS anxiety they are
listening TO catch each word and each
sentence. Not the reading Of the Dec
larAtion Of Independence in l77s was
attended with equal sollcitudc with that
OF the Presidents Inaugural. Let us
hope that it may be haibiuger OF
peace.
James Buchanan re.ires and Abra
ham Lincoln assumes the government
to-day.
ENDoRsEMENr. Tie Chicago Journal
and several other prominent Republican
papers which have come under our no.
tice, endorse the plan Of the Peace Con-
gress, though II declares that certain
portion of the territory of the United
States may be admitted into the Union
with or without slavery, as the people
living therein may indicate. The Jour
nat Gays this recommendation will be
pretty generally accepted.
What does the Gazette think about
~ Does it look like softenipg
DOWN. It 50. impresses us. Why