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THE WORLD'S FAMOUS ORATIONS
IV
THE FIRST INAUGURAL ADDRESS[1] (1861)
In compliance with a custom as old as the govermnent itself, I appear before you to ad- dress you briefly, and to take in your presence the oath prescribed by the Constitution of the United States to be taken by the president "be- fore he enters on the execution of his office." I do not consider it necessary at present for me to discuss those matters of administration about which there is no special anxiety or excitement.
Apprehension seems to exist, among the people of the Southern States, that by the accession of a Republican administration their property and their peace and personal security are to be
- ↑ On the morning of inauguration day, March 4, 1861, an anonymous writer, quoted by Herndon, Lincoln's biographer, stood in the crowd at Willard's Hotel, where Lincoln was stopping. He describes how an open barouche drove up and the only occupant stepped out —"a large, heavy, awkward-moving man, far advanced in years, short and thin gray hair, full faced, plentifully seamed and wrinkled, head curiously inclined to the left shoulder, a low-crowned, broad-brimmed silk hat, an immense white cravat like a poultice thrusting the old-fashioned standing-collar up to the ears, dressed in black throughout, with swallow-tail coat not of the newest style: it was President Buchanan, calling to take his successor to the Capitol." The anonymous writer then describes Lincoln's appearance and manner when he arrived at the eastern portico of the Capitol : "He wore brand-new clothes; black dress-coat instead of the usual frock; black cloth or satin vest, black pantaloons, and a glossy hat, evidently just out of the box. To cap the climax of novelty, he carried a huge ebony cane with a gold head the size of an egg. In these, to him strange habiliments, he looked so miserably uncom-
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