with a ribbon. On the nomination of Madison, a barber burst out: "The country is doomed; what presidents we might have, sir! Just look at Dagget, of Connecticut, or Stockton, of New Jersey! What queues they have got, sir! -- as big as your wrist and powdered every day, sir, like the real gentlemen they are. Such men, sir, would confer dignity upon the chief magistracy; but this little Jim Madison, with a queue no bigger than a pipe-stem! Sir, it is enough to make a man forswear his country." As the inauguration ball would necessitate an unusual amount of hair-dressing, however, even the barbers were in good humor on this day, and added their plaudits to those of the crowds who thronged the streets of the capital. The festivities of celebration everywhere marked the public joy. Salutes of cannon from Fort Warburton and the Navy Yard ushered in the dawn. Troops of militia gathered early at Georgetown and Alexandria, and marched to Washington to escort Mr. Madison to the Capi- tol. Ten thousand people gathered along the way to see the procession, which everywhere was greeted with great hurrahing and throwing up of hats and waving of handkerchiefs. Arrived at the Capitol, Madison descended from his carriage and entered the Hall of Representatives, where, until the inaugura- -125- |