Showered with evidences of undiminished popularity, the General came
down to his last day in office. One enthusiast sent him a light wagon
made entirely of hickory sticks with the bark upon them. Another
presented a phaeton made of wood taken from the old frigate
_Constitution_. A third capped the climax by forwarding from New York
a cheese four feet in diameter, two feet thick, and weighing fourteen
hundred pounds--twice as large, the _Globe_ fondly pointed out, as the
cheese presented to Jefferson under similar circumstances a quarter of
a century earlier. From all parts of the country came callers, singly
and in delegations, to pay their respects and to assure the outgoing
Chief of their goodwill and admiration. March 4,1837, was a raw,
disagreeable day. But Jackson, pale and racked by disease, rode with
his chosen successor to the place where he had himself assumed office
eight years before, and sat uncovered while the oath was administered
and the inaugural delivered. The suave, elegantly dressed Van Buren
was politely applauded as the new Chief to whom respect was due.
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