A Reception on New Years Day. 45 



After having lived now for a number of years in Europe, I 

 can well understand the astonishment of Germans newly arriv- 

 ing in America on seeing the simple and unceremonious manner 

 in which the President is treated. 



Though standing at the head of 40,000,000 of people, and 

 having during their reign more power than any European king, 

 neither Lincoln, nor Johnson, nor Grant behaved with half t'ne 

 conceit that we notice in a Prussian ' Regierungsrath/ The 

 title of the President is ' your Excellency / but it is only used 

 by foreigners. Americans call him Mr. President, or simply 

 by his name. There were before the White House no sentinels, 

 not even a porter ; everybody could enter the residence of the 

 nation. There were ooe or two officials in citizens' dress in 

 the house to answer questions ; but no crowd of gorgeously 

 liveried footmen was to be seen, and even at great public re- 

 ceptions everything went off as simply as possible, only such 

 arrangements being made as were necessary for preventing 

 confusion. There was no particular dress required, and sol- 

 diers coming directly from the camp m their cloaks went simply 

 in and shook hands with their highest chief. 



Such a reception, for instance, at New Year's Day was very 

 hard work for the President, especially for Lincoln, whose re- 

 ceptions were always excessively crowded, because people 

 loved him. All visitors entered a certain door, and passed — 

 as they came — in a single file to the President, to whom a 

 marshal called out the names. The President shook hands 

 with everyone, saying, at least, ' How do you do ? ' if not hav- 

 ing occasion for a few words more. The file passed out through 

 a window on a kind of bridge constructed of simple board. 

 This hand-shaking was a most fatiguing exercise, for it had to 

 be repeated several thousand times, and President Lincoln's 

 shoulder was always swollen after it, so that he could scarcely 

 use his arm for a few days. 



Notwithstanding this absence of ceremony, the President is 

 respected as much as any king. Outward pomp is not required 

 with a free people. An Asiatic'despot would be nothing with- 

 out his guards, his throne, and gorgeous dresses, &c. The real 

 power of a prince is based on the love of his nation, and the 

 comparative simplicity with which our august empress and 

 emperor appear now always in public is a very significant 

 token. 



