INAUGURATION AND CABINET OF MR. FILLMORE.
Wednesday, July the tenth, witnessed the inauguration of Mr.
Fillmore, Vice-President of the United States, become President
by the death of President Taylor. It took place in the Hall of
the House of Representatives, in the presence of both Houses
of Congress, in conformity to the wish of the new President,
communicated in a message. The constitution requires nothing of
the President elect, before entering on the duties of his station,
except to take the oath of office, _faithfully to execute his
duties, and do his best to preserve, protect, and defend the
constitution_; and that oath might be taken any where, and before
any magistrate having power to administer oaths, and then filed in
the department of State; but propriety and custom have made it a
ceremony to be publicly performed, and impressively conducted. A
place on the great eastern portico of the Capitol, where tens of
thousands could witness it, and the Chief Justice of the Supreme
Court of the United States to administer the oath, have always
been the place and the magistrate for this ceremony, in the case
of Presidents elected to the office--giving the utmost display to
it--and very suitably as in such cases there is always a feeling
of general gratification and exultation. Mr. Fillmore, with great
propriety, reduced the ceremony of his inauguration to an official
act, impressively done in Congress, and to be marked by solemnity
without joy. A committee of the two Houses attended him--Messrs.
Soulé, of Louisiana, Davis, of Massachusetts, and Underwood,
of Kentucky, on the part of the Senate; Messrs. Winthrop, of
Massachusetts, Morse, of Louisiana, and Morehead, of Kentucky, on
the part of the House; and he was accompanied by all the members of
the late President's cabinet. The Chief Justice of the Circuit Court
of the District of Columbia, the venerable William Cranch, appointed
fifty years before, by President John Adams, administered the oath;
which being done, the President, without any inaugural address,
bowed, and retired; and the ceremony was at an end.
The first official act of the new President was an immediate message
to the two Houses, recommending suitable measures to be taken by
them for the funeral of the deceased President--saying:
"A great man has fallen among us, and a whole country is called
to an occasion of unexpected, deep, and general mourning.
"I recommend to the two Houses of Congress to adopt such
measures as in their discretion they may deem proper, to
perform with due solemnities the funeral obsequies of ZACHARY
TAYLOR, late President of the United States; and thereby to
signify the great and affectionate regard of the American
people for the memory of one whose life has been devoted to the
public service; whose career in arms has not been surpassed in
usefulness or brilliancy; who has been so recently raised by the
unsolicited voice of the people to the highest civil authority
in the government--which he administered with so much honor and
advantage to his country; and by whose sudden death, so many
hopes of future usefulness have been blighted for ever.
"To you, senators and representatives of a nation in tears,
I can say nothing which can alleviate the sorrow with which
you are oppressed. I appeal to you to aid me, under the
trying circumstances which surround me, in the discharge of
the duties, from which, however much I may be oppressed by
them, I dare not shrink; and I rely upon Him, who holds in his
hands the destinies of nations, to endow me with the requisite
strength for the task, and to avert from our country the evils
apprehended from the heavy calamity which has befallen us.
"I shall most readily concur in whatever measures the wisdom of
the two Houses may suggest, as befitting this deeply melancholy
occasion."
The two Houses readily complied with this recommendation, and a
solemn public funeral was unanimously voted, and in due time,
impressively performed. All the members of the late President's
cabinet gave in their resignations immediately, but were requested
by President Fillmore to retain their places until successors
could be appointed; which they did. In due time, the new cabinet
was constituted: Daniel Webster, of Massachusetts, Secretary of
State; Thomas Corwin, of Ohio, Secretary of the Treasury; Alexander
H. H. Stuart, of Virginia, Secretary of the Interior; Charles M.
Conrad, of Louisiana, Secretary at War; William A. Graham, of North
Carolina, Secretary of the Navy (succeeded by John P. Kennedy,
of Maryland); John J. Crittenden, of Kentucky, Attorney-General;
Nathan K. Hall, of New York (succeeded by Samuel D. Hubbard, of
Connecticut).