uri, President _pro tempore_. The Senate, accompanied by the
Diplomatic Corps and officers of the army and of the navy, all in
full uniform, then moved in procession to the east front of the
Capitol. When the cheers with which the President-elect was received
had subsided, he advanced to the front of the platform and delivered
his inaugural address, which he had committed to memory, although
he held the manuscript in his hands.

The personal appearance of General Pierce was dignified and winning,
if not imposing, although he was but five feet nine inches high,
slenderly built, and without that depth of chest or breadth of
shoulder which indicate vigorous constitutions. His complexion
was pale and his features were thin and care-worn, but his deportment
was graceful and authoritative. It was evident that he belonged
to that active, wiry class of men capable of great endurance and
physical fatigue.

The inaugural was a plain, straightforward document, intensely
national in tone, and it stirred the hearts of the vast audience
which heard it like the clarion notes of a trumpet. The new
President had an abiding confidence in the stability of our
institutions. Snow began to fall before he had concluded his
address and taken the oath of office, which was administered by
Chief Justice Taney.

William Rufus King took the oath of office as Vice-President on
the 4th of March, 1853, at a plantation on the highest of the hills
that surround Matanzas, with the luxuriant vegetation of Cuba all
around, the clear, blue sky of the tropics overhead, and a delicious
sea breeze cooling the pure atmosphere. The oath was administered
by United States Consul Rodney, and at the conclusion of the
ceremonies the assembled creoles shouted, "_Vaya vol con Dios!_"
(God will be with you), while the veteran politician appeared calm,
as one who had fought the good fight and would soon lay hold of
eternal light. Reaching his home at Cahaba, Ala., on the 17th of
April, he died the following day, and his remains were buried on
his plantation, known as the "Pine Hills."

President Pierce formed a Cabinet of remarkable ability. He had
wanted Caleb Cushing as his Secretary of State, but the old anti-
slavery utterances of the Massachusetts Brigadier had not been
forgotten, and Pierce could make him only his Attorney-General.
Governor Marcy was placed at the head of the Department of State,
and he invited Mr. George Sumner, a brother of the Sen