raised his hat in response to the cheers with which he was greeted all along the route. Next came a carriage in which sat the Vice-President-elect, Mr. Colfax, with a member of the Congressional Committee of Arrangements, and the civil associations followed. There were the Tanners, the Invincibles, the Wide-Awakes, the Grant and Colfax Clubs, and the Colored Republicans. The rear was brought up by the firemen, with their brilliant steam-engines.

On arriving at the Capitol, the President and the President-elect were escorted to the Senate Chamber, where, four years previous, Mr. Johnson had attracted attention. by a drunken harangue. The Supreme Court was already there, with the Diplomatic Corps, gorgeously arrayed, and a number of the prominent officers of the army and navy were present in their serviceable uniforms. The galleries were filled with ladies gayly dressed, whose opera-glasses had been turned on the distinguished personages below as they had successively entered, and who kept up such a buzzing that it was difficult for the Senators to transact the closing business of the expiring session.

Mr. Colfax was sworn in, and afterward administered the oath to the new Senators, some of them, who had served in the Confederate army, not being able to take what was known as the iron-clad oath.

The dignitaries then walked in procession to the east front of the Capitol, when the appearance of General Grant was greeted with loud cheers from the assembled thousands who filled the area in front of the building. The President-elect soon advanced to the front of the platform, and, when the tremendous cheers with which he was greeted subsided, the Chief Justice administered the oath, the Sergeant-at-Arms of the Senate holding the

Bible, on which Grant rested his right hand, and then, at the conclusion, bowed reverentially and kissed the book. He then sat down while an artillery salute was fired by a battery stationed near by, and echoed back by the guns at the Navy Yard and at Fort Whipple, while the whistles of the steam-engines joined in the clangor. The band played "Hail to the Chief!" and thousands of voices joined in the applause.

When silence was restored, President Grant arose and drew from his breast coat pocket six or seven pages of foolscap, and, with great deliberation, began to read in a conversational tone his message to the nation and to the world. The first two paragraphs gave evidence of the practical character of the incoming President. Said he:

CITIZENS OF THE UNITED STATES:-Your suffrages have elevated me to the office of President of the United States. I have, in conformity with the Constitution of our country, taken the oath of office prescribed therein. I have taken this oath without mental reservation, with the determination to do to the best of my ability all that it requires of me. The office has come to me unsought. I commence its duties untrammeled. I bring to it a conscientious desire and determination to fill it to the best of my ability to the satisfaction of the people.

"On all leading questions agitating the public mind I will always express my views to Congress, and urge them according to my judgment, and when I think it advisable will exercise the constitutional privilege of interposing a veto to defeat measures which I oppose. But all laws will be faithfully executed, whether they meet my ap proval or not. I shall on all subjects have a policy to recommend, but none to enforce against the will of the people. Laws are to govern all alike-those opposed to as well as those who favor them. I know no method

to secure the repeal of bad or obnoxious laws so effective as their stringent execution."

During the reading the President's young daughter, crowded by the throng around her, ran to her father's side and took hold of his hand, which he, without interrupting his reading, held until a chair was placed for her, when she sat down seemingly contented with what she had done. When he had concluded, the President turned toward Mrs. Grant and shook her hand warmly, after which crowds of official and unofficial dignitaries swarmed to shake him by the hand.

President Grant, after having received the congratulations of those around him, returned to his carriage, and the procession commenced its return march. On arriving at the White House, the new President held an impromptu reception, and in the evening he attended the Inauguration Ball, which was given in the recently finished north wing of the Treasury Department. There was a great crowd, and the single stairway proved insufficient for the accommodation of those who desired to pass up or down, causing great dissatisfaction, which was increased when it was found that the best hats and wraps had been carried away early in the evening.

There had been great curiosity among politicians to know who had been invited by General Grant to preside over the executive departments, but the secret was well kept and the names of his Cabinet were not generally known until he sent their nominations to the Senate on the day after his inauguration. The nomination of Elihu B. Washburne, of Illinois, as Secretary of State, excited some surprise, as it had been understood that he was to be sent to France as Minister Plenipotentiary. It was soon known, however, that Mr. Washburne only desired to preside over the Department of State for a few days,

ostensibly for the prestige it would give in diplomatic circles in Paris, but really that he might appoint some of his political henchmen to profitable consulates. Mr. Washburne was confirmed on the 5th of March, and at the end of six days' service he resigned, when Hamilton Fish was nominated and confirmed on the 11th of March. Mr. Fish was the representative of an old and wealthy family in New York city. He had served acceptably in the United States Senate and House of Representatives, and as Governor of the State of New York, displaying considerable executive talent. He was a man of courtly presence, wealthy and hospitable, who had entered his sixty-first year, and who was well calculated for diplomatic intercourse with the representatives of foreign powers. Besides, he was on intimate terms with Senator Sumner, the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Foreign Relations since 1861, who aspired to the direction of the foreign policy of the Government.

Although the Secretary of State is considered the Premier of an Administration, General Grant regarded the Secretaryship of the Treasury as the most important position at that time. The Republic was at peace with other nations of the earth and the military and naval forces, which had grown to such enormous proportions during the war, had since then been economically reduced. But the Treasury was an army in itself, with its collections of customs and of internal revenue duties, its issues of interest-bearing bonds and of national banknotes, the coinage of money, the coast survey, the lifesaving service, and the revenue marine-all of which had been expanded during the war, until the clerks and employees were numbered by thousands. General Grant desired to place at the head of this overgrown establishment a business man who could reorganize it, prune

off

its excrescences, and reform its abuses. He had seen the admirable manner in which the large dry-goods house of A. T. Stewart was conducted, and he thought it would be well to have the Treasury Department managed in the same business-like manner. Mr. Stewart accepted the offered place and had a suite of rooms in the Ebbitt

House with a private entrance fitted up for his accommodation until he could purchase or lease a suitable residence.

When the nomination of Mr. Stewart reached the Senate, Mr. Sumner, who was disappointed at not having been consulted by General Grant as to the selection of his Cabinet, objected to the immediate consideration of the nominations. His objection prevented immediate action, and not long afterward it was mored that there was a statute, framed by Alexander Hamilton while he was at the head of the Treasury, pro