Evening star., 1897-03-04
DID NOT RIDE ALONE
Jefferson Walked in a Procession When he
Took the Oath.
The Story of the First Inauguration
to Take Place in Washington
Automatically Told.

The Inauguration of Thomas Jefferson.
the first to take place in Washir gtun, has
for nearly hundred years been described
as one of great simplicity. The story of
Jeffersons plain clothes and his solitary
ride to the Capitol has been repeated SO
often that any other account will be slow
to receive general acceptance. The imag-
iEation seizes so quickly en- the white
palings to which the third President is
said to have tied his horse while he went
into the building to take the oath that
something equally or more picturesque
would be required to efface the other his
|, ,toric fable. Yet it Is likely that the story
OF JefYersonian simplicity at the first in
auguration at the present Capitol will he
gradually modified. Mr.. Joseph B. Bishop,
in the Century for March, presents Who'll
ly different account.
The Myth Dixpelled.
"No Inauguration myth has been more
tenacious of life." says Mr. Bishop, than
that which pictured jefferson. attired as a
plain citizen, riding on horseback to the
Capitol, hitching his horse to the palings
and walking unattended into the Senate
chamber to take the oath as President
10 have done this would have been in ac-
cordance with his previous utterances for
he had strongly condemned as savoring of
monarchy all public ceremony at the swear
ing in of President. When the time for
his own Inauguration arrived however
the case seems 10 nave looked different to
him. Whether it was because he was TO be
the hrst President iEaugurate1 at the new
Capltol. or beca';se of al unWillingneSs to
disappoint the large numbers of his friends
ard pirtisans who had Assem- bled to honor
Slm is not clear; but the fact is that he
did permit a considerable display at
ceremonies Ha At ba
or his boarding house. which was only a
stones throw from the Capitol by a militia
artiiery company and a procession of
citizens, and, escorted by these he went
on foot to the Capitol. The norseback
story, or fake as it would be denominated
IN modern Journalism, was the invention Of
an Enshshman named John Davis who
put 1t in a book of American travels which
he published in London two wears later
IN order to give 1t an air of truthfulness
Davis declared that he was present at the
inauguration. which was not true A
Neraclous account of the ceremOnies was
ent to England by Edward Thornton. who
was then In charge of the British lega;ion
at Washington; and in this jefferson ~ as
described as having walked to the Caritol
lhese facts, together with a great mass of
interesting matter about .Iefferson,s in.
auguratlon, are set forth in detail bv
i1enry Adams in his History of the United
states and leave no doubt that the Davis
version vas a p.re fabrication
- - 7Shack1nE and RawbOned
On reaching the Senate chamber. in
Which he was to be inaugurated, jefferson
became member of one of the most strik-
ing groups ever gathered in a public placa
On one SIDE of him stood John Marshall as
chief justice to administer the oath. and on
the other Aaron Burr. who was to be sworn
IN as Vice President. AS described by his
contemporaries Jefferson was very tall (six
fLa s1r-o Lx.Ir 4
loose, Stacking air about his slender fig
ere, Z very red freckled face and neglected
gray hair. He was clad in a blue coat a
thick. gray-colcred, hairy waistcoat with
a red under waistcoat Tapped over it; green
EeiVeteen breeches with pearl buttons
yarn stockings and slippers down at the
heels-his appearance being very much that
of a raw-boned farmer Marshall as de-
scribed by Joseph Story in 1905 was tall
ana slender. not graceful and imposing
cut erect and steady, with black hair. small
and twinkliEg eyes and rather low fore
head plain and dignified manners and yery
simple and neat in dress. Burr was rather
small in stature, but dignified and easy IN
manners and dressed with aristocratic care
The three men were alike in one respect
they distrusted and disliked one another
Thoroughly. Jefferson both feared and
hated Marshall. saying Of him that he had
mind of that gloomy malignity which
would never let him foregO the opportunity
of satiating it on victim. Marshall said
| OF Jefferson. shortly before the Inaugural
! tion. that by weakening the office of Pres-
dent he would increase his personal power,
and that his letters had shown that his
morals could not be pure. Both jefferson
and Marshall looked upon Burr a politi-
cal and social adventurer who was living
up tC his own creed, Great souls care little
for small morals The outgoing President
| Mr. Adams, was not present at the eXer-
| cises; but he undoubtedly took a grim
pleasure in the presence of Marshall. whom
| he had made chief Justice, greatly to the
rath of jefferson, only few weeks be-
! fore After the ceremonies the new Presi-
| dent proceeded to the Executive Mansion,
OF The Palace as 1t was then styled in
| the same manner as he had gone to the
Capitol.
The Gnrb of Presidents.
washington set the example, which has
been followed at frequent intervals by new
Presidents even to cur day. of wearing at
| of American manufacture. He was dressed
! in suit of dark cloth made at Hartford.
1 have been able to find no mention of the
nationality of the light drab suit which
| John Adams wore. Jefferson was inaugu-
rated in his everyday Clothes which may
or may not have been exclusively Ameri-
can; but before the end of his service as
President he appeared at his New Year re-
ception dressed in an entire suit of home
| further, for, as he passed down the aisle of
| the House of Representatives to be inau-
gurated. he was spoken of as a walking
argument in favor of the encouragement of
native WOOL His coat had been made on
| the farm of Colonel Humphreys, and his
waistcoat and small clothes on that of
! Chancellor Livingston, all from the wool
| of merino sheep raised in the country. John
! Quincy Adams says in his diary that the
| house was very much crowded, and that its
appearance was magnificent, but that Mr..
Madison read his address In tone SO low
| that it could not be heard. Contemporary
descriptions of Madison picture him as a
small, modest and jovial man. Washington
Irving spoke of him in 1912, at the time cf
| his second election to the presidency, "a
withered little apple john and an English
observer as "a little man with small fea-
| lures, rather wizened, but occasionally lit
\ up with a good-natured smile He was
| habitualy neat and genteel in his appear
ance, says another writer, dressed like a
| 'well-bred and tasty old school gentleman.
| American wool seems, therefore, to nave
| made its first appearance as walking