Cleveland (OH) Herald, “The President’s Inaugural,” March 5, 1861

THE PRESIDENT’S INAUGURAL.

The Inaugural of President Lincoln will take its place in history as one of the most remarkable state papers of the present age. Unmindful of the maxim attributed to the Talleyrand that “the use of words is to conceal thought,” he deals frankly and plainly with the questions presented. There is no mistaking his tone. He has been elected President of the whole United States – not of a mere section and he intends acting in that capacity. He has taken a solemn oath to protect and defend the property of the United States, and he cannot violate that oath. He has sworn to execute the laws, whatever those laws may be, and he will perform his duty. The constitutional rights of each section of the Union shall be respected and protected, to the utmost of his power. The Union, perpetual and inseparable, is his leading idea, and that idea will influence all his actions. But in his official course he will remember that he is the servant of the American people, and their will, constitutionally expressed, shall be his law.

The Inaugural will bear repeated reading, and each new perusal will but strengthen the conviction that at length we have got “the right man in the right place.” The Union men of the South cannot fail to be pleased with it unless, as has heretofore been the case, they allow the misrepresentations of unprincipled Locofocos to outweigh their own better judgment.