The Portland daily press., 1896-11-28
WASHINGTON TAKING. THE OATH.
Impressive Picture of the First Presiden
tial Inauguration.
("oodrow Wilson in Harper's Maya

| (Woodrow Wilson in Harper's Maya
zine)
On the Both Of April, in presence of q
great conoourse Of people, who first broke
into wild cheers at sight of him, and
then fell silent again upon the ins tans
to see him so moved, Washington stood
face to face with the Chancellor of the
State upon tho open balcony of thu Fed
eral hall in Wall street, aad took the
oath of office. "Do you solemnly
swear" asked Livingston, "that you
will faithfully execute the office of Presi
dent OF the United States, and will, to
the best of your ability. preserve, protect
and defend the constitution of the United
Statess" 81 do solemnly swear, replied
Washington, 'tbhau will faithfully ex-
ecute the office of president of the
United States. and will, to the best of my
ability, preserve. protect and defend the
constitution of the United States; :"
and then, bending to kiss the
| Bible held before him, bowed his head
and said, $50 help me Godl" in tones
| AAO lAnu OOul0 AAA5oahSy ~ 0CCP Woo eu0lI
thrill of feeling. "Long live George
Washington, President of the United
Ststesl' cried Livingston to the people
and a great shout went up with the
| booming of the cannon in the narrow
| streets.
Washington was profoundly moved,
and with all his extraordinary mastery
| of himself, could not hide his agitation.
Ii was company of friends. the Soma
tors and Representatives who stood
| about him within the Senate chamber as
he read his address, after the taking of
the OATH Some vary old friends were
there-men who had been with him in
the first continental Congress, men who
mad been his intimate correspondents
| and sworn supporters. Not many stran-
gers could crowd into the narrow hall !;
and it was not mere love of ceremony,
but genuine and heartfelt respect, that
| made the whole company stand while
he read. He visfbly trsm bled, neverthe-
less, as he stood in their presence, strong
and steadfast man though hS was, "and
| several times could could scarce make
out to read;" shifted his manuscripts I'M
easily from hand to hand: sestured with
awkward effort; let his voice fall almost
inaudible; was every way unlike him.
self, except for the simple majesty and
sincerity that shone In him through it
all. His manner but gave emmhasis, after
all, to the words he was reading. "The
magnitnde and difficulty of the trust, I"
he declared, could not but verwhelm
with dependence one who. inheriting
inferior endowments from nature, and
Impractical in the duties of civil admin
| istration, ought to be peculiarly con-
scious of his own defIoien cies;" and no
| one there could look az him and deem
| him insincese when he added, "All I
dare aver is, that 1t has been my faith
| full study to colleot my duty from just
| appreciation of every circum stance by
which 10 might be affected. All dare
| hope is that if in executing this task |
have been too much swayed by a grateful
| remembrance of former instances, or by
| an afectjonate senstbiliy to this tran
scendent proof of the confidence OF my
| fellow citizens, and have thence too
little consulted my incapaoitf as we'll as
| Gisinclination for the weighty and I'M
| tried cares before me, my error will be
pelliated By the motives which misled
| me, end its consequences be Judged by
Fly country with some share of the par
| Salty with which they originated.
| His hearers knew how near the truth he
struck when he said: "The smiles of
| heaven can never bs expected on ma
ton that disregards the eternal rules of
| order and right, which heaven itself has
ordained; and the preservation of the
sacred fire of liberty, and the destiny of
| the republican model of government,
are justly considered as deeply, perhaps
as finally, staked On the experiment. in
| trusted to the hands of the American
people" 1t was, no doubt, "a novelty
| in the history of society to see great
| people turn calm and scrutinizing eye
had dons to see 1T It o Careful ~ eaamina
| the extent of the evil" into which dis
| union aid disorder had brought IL; "pa-
tiently wait for two years until a rem
| edy was discover and at last volun-
| tarily adopt new order and government
| without having wrung tear or drop
| of blood from mankind" but Washing
ton knew that the praise deserved for
| such mastery and self-possession would
! be short-lived enough if the new govern
| menb should fail and be discreditsd.
1t was the overpoweriDg thought that
| he himself would be chiefly responsible
for It's success OF failure that shook his
| nerves as he stood there at thu begin
ming of his taak: and no man of sensi-
bility in that audience failed TO like him
the better and trust him the more i'm
plicitly for his emotion. 'sIt was a very
touching sosne," wrote Fisher Ames, OF
| Massachusetts. "It seemed to me an
allegory in which virtue was personifed
as addressing those whom she would
make her votaries. Her power over the
heart was never greater, ami the illustra-
ton TO her doctrine by her own example
was never more perfeot.'' 81 feel how
much shall stand in need of the ooun-
tenance and aid Of every friend to my
self, of every frieEd to the Revolution,
AMI Of every lover Of good government,
were Washington's words of appeal to
Edward RutledRe of South Carolina; and
he never seemed to his friends more at
| traotive or more noble than now.