Virginia Free Press

THE INAUGURATION.

The scene in Washington on the 4th surpassed description. The weather so long disagreeable and cold had suddenly become delightful, and the sun shone brightly upon the advent of President Cleveland as it did upon that of his last democratic predecessor, twenty-eight years before. The city, Pennsylvania Avenue especially, was grandly decorated, nearly every house glowing with the rainbow hues of innumerable flags, whilst portraits of the President and Vice President-elect appeared at frequent intervals. The crowd was immense. We do not think the estimate of a hundred thousand in addition to the various organizations and the residents of the city an exaggeration, for not only were the side walks almost impassable, but the carriage ways of the avenue one of the broadest in the world, were as thick with people as the pavements of Broadway. Like the decorations, the crowd was dwarfed by its width and showed to less advantage than it would have done in other cities. The procession was one of the longest and finest ever seen. The regular troops were few, a mere guard of honor, and the President was escorted, as was meet, by regiment after regiment of citizen soldiery, men from the farm, the workshop and the office, who stand ready at a moment's warning to protect any State against invasion or domestic violence, should he call upon them as authorized by the Constitution. Gov. Pattison, with his eight thousand splendidly equipped Pennsylvanians showed that the Keystone State was ready to do her part, while Virginia and New York, Rhode Island and Georgia, Connecticut and South Carolina, North Carolina, Ohio and Missouri, sent each her quota to show that they too are loyal to the Constitution and ready to protect, preserve and defend it. The negro military organizations were accorded honorable recognition and a conspicuous place among the militia of their respective States. Their number, much exceeding that of any former occasion, and their handsome appearance and excellent drill must have astonished the Northern visitors and shown them how much the negro has improved under democratic rule in the South. The long lines of handsomely equipped political organizations, too, all from the North and West, for the South sent none and evidently composed of the most substantial citizens of those sections, gave earnest of their desire to restore in the government the honest and economical administration of our fathers. Over three hours, line after line filed past the almost dazed spectators, and it seemed as if there was to be no end to the display. The address of the President-elect was a very model, and its good taste and conservatism have, we see, forced approval even from his political opponents. We believe he has both the honesty and the nerve to make his words but the earnest of his actions. The closing scenes of the day's events were in keeping with the rest. The display of fireworks was the finest ever seen in Washington, and the streets were thronged with people and processions, prominent among which was that of the Flambeau Club of Topeka, Kansas, who made the air resplendent with a beautiful display of rockets as they marched. We must not omit some feature of the day's events—the perfect order and good humor which everywhere prevailed. Amid all the crowding, there was no display of selfishness and bad temper, and, altogether, the occasion was one of which the American people may well be proud.