New-York tribune., 1876-06-22

IL
Di,a"d arms TO be Investigated and put upon the
iou H., its ouponents he infused new spirit into
I'd almost before his opponents were aware
~, - cbapred the whole situation. Whatever may
- ,bopobt of the policy he pursued and the motNes
.otino him he had certainly shown the qualltles
e Ool;tical leadership in remarkable degree anu
Ia fairly earned the gratitude Oh MS party anu
sarnmost positon in it. He had met lnvesilsa'lcn'
~ opd had turned it, though he bore tho sears
u;. friends came up TO the Convention feeling that
- hod night TO demand the recognition OF his
eat services to the party. and ready 10 meet inc
;spe upon his personal integrity ana his coipie'e
r;ndication His OppOnents-and that Term hici"ueu
,bs bulk of the supporters of all the olher canuF
astes-were determined and aggressive my
'".;sted that enough of what had been charged had
heen proyed to make him adangerousy weak eanun-
sota ard that there was much more behind tha'
I'D he broupht out against him in case o1 DIS
nominotion. So the fight was waxing warm, Wheh
tba news came Sunday afternoon that he had Deeh
stricken down by apopleXy. The report ran throusn
the corridors of the hotels the streets ana th oi'
nIaees, where, notwithstanding the day. men "eio
concrecaed discussing the questions Oh tuo no'l' 'o
claims Of candidates, and the proDaDiil''eS oi .le
Convention In moment the piI'eihooS VI u''
nutinr ceased and hush fell on inc "Iangnls
nortissns At first If was thought to be hoaA
Jben when the report was confirmed, the SITUATION
took new and different phase There was no longer
ON the part of the opposition to Inn, the shaip per-
sonal criticism, the accusation OF corruption, the
hitter fling and railing charge which before had been
a. 1oud and constant He was out of the field, they
thought and they began to speak of him in the past
tense, and say kindly things of him. 1t al asi
bonpm now, and the bitterest spoke tenderly Of
him. He was magnificent leader they all said.
Wasl All, how the doors of human charity and
kipdliness swing open of themselves to the
mast tense But it began to look shortly,
as DISPATCHES of a > more encouraging
character came in as though this great strong man,
who had already encountered and overcome so much,
would shake loose from this last attack and conquer
physical disease as he had ISLANDER and detraotlon
So then for thirysix hours the question was as to
his physical condition.. The men who had deter
mined on his defeat changed their tactics and, with
many expressions of sympathy, insisted That MS
ease was much worse than had been reported ana
that it would not be safe TO nominate him. on that
account. Before the Convention met, however, it
had been ascertaiued beyond question that the i'll
ness was not serious, and that position was aban-
doned. Had he been nominated should have said
he owed it largely to the fact of his sudden Illness
which broke the force of the attacks upon him ana
created q sympathy for him among his opponents.
II did so change the situation that after the TACT OF
ms convalescence was established the opposition to
bis nomination was put simply on the ground that
he was not the strongest candidate and not upon the
truth of the charges against his personal character
And upon the whole the sudden cessation of bitter
ness and disappearance of personal amnesty 1lom
the controversy as soon as it was known that MI
Blaine had been overtakon with sudden illness, pre-
sented good side of human nature and so marked
81 agreeable episode.
From the time combinations began to be seriously
talked Of that is to say from the time the man
aging men in the several interests saw there
must he a combination to beat Blaine, there were III
my view but three possible candidates. Morton and
Conklng were, as has been remarked, surely and
hopelessly out. No combination upon either was
nossiblr Uartranft was feint Jewell an illusion,
and the various Unknowns the mercst chimcras OF
conjecture and surmse. The candidates were
blaine Bristow and Hayes ;and i'll that order. Blls-
tow-was stronger than Hayes in the number OF MS
supporters as first choice bat weaker in this, that
the element of opposition was more pronounced and
positive. There was indeed very bitter feeling
against Bristow on the part of many delegates, who
charged him with remaining in an administration
whose policy be opposed. His friends were scat
tered through the delegations and they had pro-
found belief IN him. They were the beet men IN
the party besides But Hayes was the stronger IN
not having excited any opposition. Blaine was
stronger than either in the number Of his following
but weaker than either in the fact that the oppos
ton had been concentrated against him as the lead
ing candidate, and that his nomination would Gre
ate a wider and more Intense dissatisfaction. ~
happened in the call of States in Alphabetical ORDER
that Jewell was first nominated, then Morton, ana
then Bristow After Kentucky had responded by
naming Bristow toe next State which answered was
Maine There had bean more or less OF enthusiastic
demonstration at the mention Of each OF the threc
names which had been presented. Upon the call ioT
Maine the slight hustle and confusion winch
pArvaded the Convention for instant
CEASED and silence fell upon the assembly.
It was the supreme moment in all the transactions
of the Convention. There. was no one in that vast
multitude who could not feel its thrill 1t was just
an instant and then "Bobp Ingersoll Of Illinois was
seen making his way through the narrow passage be-
tweon the delegates and the reporters to ascend the
nlatform This was the signal for OutbnTst OF ap-
piause Of cheers and shouts, and wild hurrahs, OF
waving of handkerchiefs, and throwing up OF hats,
TO which the previous demonstrations, hearty ana
prolonged as they had been, seemed tame ana com
monplace. Since William NJ Evarts gave to William
II. Seward the 20 votes Of Nsv-York in tie Chicago
. vigwam in 1860 and the party rose mp te the man
Il then almost worsped as its greatest leader there
has been no such scene in National Convention
There was greater tumult and confusion when
the nomination of Hayes was finally made, but that
was O demonstration Of somewhat different char
scter. Ii lacked the element of personal homage
and devotion. That was outbuTst Of pent-up
emotions upon the contamination of event
that had been waited for with anxious and
oven painful interest," this was - spontaneous
uprising to leader, recognition Of heroic and com
manding qualities in man. To say that Ingersoil
made fbe Sneech Of the Convention IN but TO repeat