The times. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1897-1901, 1901-03-05


his profound emotion and convey 10 them
! his farewell blessing.
The accounts of the Inauguration OF
| jefferson are very conflicting, one de-
script!on representing him, attired as a
plain citizen, riding on horseback 10 the
Capitol, hitching the animal to the pal
| ings, and walking unattended into the
Senate chamber to take the GA IA Of office
| Such proceeding is certainly in conformity
| with the character of the great euthor
| of the Declaration of Independence for
he always condemned as savOring OF mon
a-chy all public ceremony at the swearing
in of a President Jefferson's was the first
inaugural to take place in The city of
Washington. The election had been made
not by the people, but by the House Of
| Representatives, after a bitter c, ntcst. In
the first exercise of As cons itutional
power to act in case of a tie.
! Jefferson, like Washington, had been
called from the retirement of a country
| home, where he had devoted himself to
! books more than to human society, a pen
| chant that had earned for him the title
of The Sage Of Monticello" He was a
man of plain tastes, caring nothing for
| his avowed principles of ultra-repubHcan-
| ism rendered him directly opposed. Ac-
! cording to popular account he came to
! Washington alone on horseback, in which
manner he had Travelled the entire dis
| lance from his estate at Monticello. He
! IS said TO have avoided, rather than have
courted, public notice, and his arrival in
! the city was known to but few persons.
! The now beautiful capital Of the nation
was, at that time, little better than a set
/ tlement in the wilderness, and the few
public buildings that had been erected
| looked strangely out of place amid such
sorry surroundings. \ number Of people
fiocked into town from neighboring dis
trfcts, but, nevertheless. the crowd that
witnessed Jefferson's inaugural would at
this time, and by contrast, appear ridicu-
lousy small.
jefferson rode to the Capitol unattended
by his predecessor in Office. and was es-
corted merely by a number Of his party
! friends in Congress and some leading citi-
zens to the Senate chamber, this latter
being the apartment now occupied by the
/ Supreme Court. Out of the regular order,
/ Vice President Aaron Burr had already
I
his chair to jefferson, who received the
oath administered by Chief Justice Mar
shall and delivered his inaugural address.
An artillery salute announced his Access
sion to office.
Another account represents jefferson as
| favoring a considerable amount Of dig
play at his inaugural. lie was, according
| to this version, met at the door of his
| boarding house, which was only a stone 5
throw from the Capitol, Oy a militia artil-
| lery company and a procession OF citizens,
and escorted by these he went on foot
| to the Capitol. The horseback story is
represented as being the fabrication of an
| Englishman named John Davis, VINO put
It In a book of American travels which
| he published in London two years later
In order to give II an air of truthfulness
| Davis Is said to have declared that he
was present at the Inauguration, which is
now held in various quarters to have been
falsehood. Without going further into
this discussion. it may be remarked that
Jefferson, on reaching the Senate chamber,
in which he was inaugurated. became the
central figure in one OF the most notable
| groups ever gathered together in pub
I lie place IN TINS country. l pom one side
OF him stood John Marshall as Chief jus
tice to administer the oath, and on the
other Aaron Burr. AS described by his
contemporaries, Jefferson was very tall
| (six feet two and a half inches in height
with 4 loose, shac king air about his s!en-
der figure. a very red. freckled face, and
neglected grey hair. He was clad in q
/ blue coat. a thick grey-coored hairy
I waistcoat, with red under waistcolt
Tapped over II, green velvetcen breeches
with pearl buttons, yarn stockings, and
slippers down at the heels. Marshall. as
described by Joseph Story in lS0S, was tan
and slender. not graceful and imposing
but erect and steady, with black hair.
small and twinkling eyes, and rather low
forehead plain and dignified in manners.
and very simple and neat In dress. Burr
was rather small in stature. but diguified