Theo. Comstock, C. P. L. Butler, and J. H. Stauring. Committee of Arrangements: A. L. Buttles, Joseph H. Riley, and S. E. Ogden.

The invitation to visit the Capital was extended to Mr. Lincoln by the State and city committees at Indianapolis, and was promptly accepted. Preparations for the reception were immediately begun upon a scale befitting the importance and interest attaching to the visit; and on the morning of the 13th of February the several committees and the Adjutant General of the State issued the following:

PROGRAMME.—The President elect and suite, accompanied by the committees appointed on the part of the General Assembly and the Executive, will reach Columbus about 2 o'clock P. M. to-day, and will proceed at once to the State Capitol in carriages, under escort of the 1st Battalion, 2d Regiment, Lieut. Col. Mills commanding. The Governor will receive the President elect at the Executive Rooms; thence, accompanied by the committee of Escort, they will proceed to the Hall of Representatives, when the Governor will present the President elect to the General Assembly, through Lieut. Gov. Kirk, its presiding officer; after which the President elect will proceed to the rotunda of the Capitol, where he will receive the citizens until 5 o'clock P. M. From 8 o'clock to 10 P. M. there will be a levee at the House of Representatives for ladies and their escorts. This levee, and all ceremonies, will close at 10 o'clock precisely. The President elect will be the guest of the Governor during his stay in the city, and with his suite, accompanied by the Governor's aids and the proper committees, will leave for Pittsburg by special train at 8 o'clock A. M. on Thursday. The execution of this programme will be intrusted to Brig. Gen. Lucian Buttles, who is appointed Marshal of the day. Proper salutes will be fired on the arrival and departure of the President elect.

JOINT COMMITTEES OF ARRANGEMENT.

Senate Committee-James Monroe, F. P. Cuppy, Geo. W. Holmes. House Committee-Samuel Brown, G. W. Andrews, E. Parrott, J. Scott, Wm. J. Flagg, Isaac Welsh, Jesse Baldwin.

Committee of City Council—A. B. Buttles, J. H. Riley, S. E. Ogden.

GENERAL HEADQUARTERS, ADJT. GEN.'S OFFICE,
COLUMBUS, O., February 9, 1861.

SPECIAL ORDER, No. 45.

Quartermaster General D. L. Wood will make proper provision for the salutes, and Lieut. Col. Mills will furnish the infantry escort contemplated in the official programme for the reception of the President elect of the United States at the Capitol of Ohio, February 13, 1861, announced by the joint committee of the General Assembly of this day. By order.

H. B. CARRINGTON,
Adjutant General.

On the 13th, propitious weather and enthusiasm drew thousands of people together to pay their respects to the President elect. At an early hour High street was swarming with excited humanity. The people continued to arrive till noon, when not less than five thousand strangers were in the city. At about one o'clock the military of the city, headed by Goodman's band, formed and marched to the depot. Here the crowd was immense. Every eligible spot in the vicinity of the depot buildings was black with men, women and youths, who were painfully anxious to get a glimpse of the distinguished guest whom they had assembled to honor. As the time for the arrival of the special train drew near, the excitement grew intense; it could be felt rather than observed through the ordinary channels; and when the train was signalled from the first bridge, and the first of the thirty-four gun salute fired, this excitement found vent in a vigorous huzza. The train drove slowly up, and was at once besieged by hundreds of men wild with enthusiasm, who demanded that the President elect should show himself. A minute or two only elapsed after the train came to a halt, when Mr. Lincoln appeared on the rear platform of the train, and with head uncovered and a pleasant smile, bowed acknowledgment of the manifestations of consideration and respect which met

him on all hands. The air was rent with deafening shouts, as the President elect passed from the train to the open carriage in waiting. Then commenced the triumphal march to the State House. First in order were the military escort and band, then the President elect, followed by his suite and reception committee. This cavalcade was flanked by great crowds of the excited populace, while the more staid, in buggies, with foot passengers who could not find room on the flanks, brought up the rear. The band discoursed the national airs with great vigor, the crowd huzzahed their irrepressible enthusiasm, and the ladies and children waved their respect from the sidewalks and windows with handkerchiefs and miniature flags. The western steps and portico of the State House were densely packed with an expectant throng, while the broad walks leading from the western entrance of the yard to the building, and the space immediately in front, were jammed. Through this dense mass of humanity the President elect, escorted by the reception committee, directed his way, preceded by the military, who opened up a path to the vestibule of the Capitol. Cheer upon cheer, hearty and deafening, followed the distinguished guest as he passed into the State House to receive the respects of the Governor and Legislature. The crowd-a very good natured one, indeed— remained stationary, making the most of their uncomfortable position (being packed together as closely as pickles in a jar), until they should be favored with a speech and a levee from the President elect, which they knew were in store for them. Many pleasantries, suggested by the occasion and circumstances, were perpetrated, producing much good feeling.

While the crowd was thus held in suspense, waiting for the conclusion of the in-door proceedings, but one in

cident worthy of record occurred. The stars and stripes were elevated above the State House, and as they danced gaily in the breeze, three loud cheers were given with a will.

The fortunate people who had passes-and these, beside the legislators, were very few-began to crowd the Hall of the House, directly after the doors were opened. Lovely women, with the promptness of the sex on public occasions, took possession of the galleries; and when (as the reporter of the Ohio State Journal described the scene) "these were inundated with successive waves of crinoline, the rules were, suspended and the ladies admitted to the floor of the House." The Senators had taken seats with the Representatives. A tumult near the door of the hall announced the arrival of the President. Lincoln entered the room, attended by Governor Dennison and the legislative committees, and advanced to the Clerk's desk, the members of the two Houses rising to receive him. Governor Dennison introduced him to the Legislature, and the President of the Senate responded in the following speech of welcome:

Mr.

“SIR: On this day, and probably this very hour, the Congress of the United States will declare the verdict of the people, making you their President. It is my pleasurable duty, in behalf of the people of Ohio, speaking through this General Assembly, to welcome you to their Capital. Never in the history of this Government has such fearful responsibility rested upon the Chief Executive of the nation as will now devolve upon you. Never since the memorable time our patriotic fathers gave existence to the American Republic, have the people looked with such intensity of feeling to the inauguration and future policy of a President, as they do to yours. I need not

assure you that the people of Ohio have full confidence in your ability and patriotism, and will respond to you in their loyalty to the Union and the Constitution. It would seem, sir, that the great problem of self-government is to be solved under your administration. All nations are deeply interested in its solution, and they wait with breathless anxiety to know whether this form of government, which has been the admiration of the world, is to be a failure or not. It is the earnest and united prayer of our people, that the same kind Providence which protected us in our colonial struggles, and has attended us thus far in our prosperity and greatness, will so imbue your mind with wisdom, that you may dispel the dark clouds that hang over our political horizon, and thereby secure the return of harmony and fraternal feeling to our now distracted and unhappy country. Again I bid you a cordial welcome to our Capital."

Mr. Lincoln responded in these words:

"GENTLEMEN OF THE SENATE, AND CITIZENS OF OHIO: It is true, as has been said by the President of the Senate, that very great responsibility rests upon me in the position to which the votes of the American people have called me. I am deeply sensible of that weighty responsibility. I cannot but know, what you all know, that without a name-perhaps without a reason why I should have a name-there has fallen upon me a task such as did not rest upon the Father of his Country. And so feeling, I cannot but turn and look for the support without which it will be impossible for me to perform that great task. I turn, then, and look to the American people, and to that God who has never forsaken them.

"Allusion has been made to the interest felt in rela