Year: 1876

VI Uu1uSdHu Hor6 dL plncn-anu the con-


course 50 vast that the fact of the proceedings


having been conducted throughout without dis


turbance or confusion is exceedingly creditable


to the participants in, and the spectators of,


them.


1t must be remembered that this is the first
national convention since 1860 which had any,


thing to do beyond registering the already de-


clared and undisputsd will of the organization,
The nominations of 1864, 1868 and 1872, as far


as the hrst office was concerned, were all as


much matter of certainty before they were


made as they were of fact afterWard. But in


this case there was the utmost need of pru-


dent counsels and careful forethought Per-


sonal and local preferences were to be weighed


in the balance with considerations of the nee


essity OF crystallizing and uniting the various


elements of the party. The work in hand was
one of kindness, of conciliatlon, of generous


liberation of minor differences of opinion re-.
specting men and measures of common and
cordial agreement to combine heartily and


mantully for good government. The spirit of


the convention manifestly was to look not to


the past but to the future. 1t was quite imma-


terial what anybody thought of the existing
order OF things compared with the more prac-


tical point, what shall be done to insure the ad-
vent of an administration which shall give
promise of meeting the views of those who find


the most fault and those who find no fault at
all with their present rulers.


The delegates and friends of the several can
ddates began to assemble 10 force on the first
day Of the week, and each succeeding train
brought recruits to the multitude There
were the usual appeals made in behalf of this
or that nominee and every candidate was
pressed most earnestly on the ground that he
was surer than any other of carrying the doubt
tul states. But amid all this lively and haru-
less electioneering there was the utmost good
temper displayed. The gentlemen who had


charge of the interests of their respective favor
ties had the good taste to limit themselves TO
speaking well of their own men without dis
paraging the others.


And so when the Convention met on the
morning of the 14th of June, while there was
no lack of earnestness or determination, there
was not the slightest indication of irritability
or moodiness. The discussions were pithy.
forcible and emphatic, but not discourteous.
AS they progressed it became more and more
evident that this was convocation of substan-
tlal and able men thoroughly conscious of the
| responsibilities they had accepted antresolutely
determined to fulfill them honorably and faith
| fully


The session of Wednesday being for organi-
zatiOn merely, was comparatively brief. On


each of the subsequent days the convention sat


for seven hours. Naturally enough, the mem
bers got somewhat acquainted with each other
during this time, and every step towards ac-
quaintance was an augury of increasing good
will Massachusetts sat beside New York, and
although there was little stiffness on both
sides = except, perhaps, on the part of
Mr. Curtis and dozen more or so of the sew
| enty who happened to be of New England
blrth-when they first got together it wore off
by degrees and portions of each tribe chatted
sociably at intervals. Mr.. Dana maintained
his no6 me tdngere attitude infiexibly and in
that respect think it was rather unfortunate
that he was the spokesman OF the old Bay
State, for his whole manner and bearing pfo-
Claimed in most unmistakabe terms his lofty
sense of his own superiority over his fellow
members, and of the superiority of his own il
lustrious commonwealth over every other in
the Republic. He inspired this feeling particu.
larly when he assembled the rostrum to advo-
| cate the selection of Gen. Bristow, and had the
bad taste to intimate his doubts whether any
other candidate could carry Massachusetts,. If
Bristow had been at any moment possible
nominee-which he never was-that speech
would have extinguished his prospects. But
Mr.. Dana served good purpose after all. He
presented rather striking example of the evil
OF dyspepsia in politics Nothing agreed with
him. He insisted that every thing had gone to
the bad-that the government had become one
reeking mass OF corruption and inIquity.
There was sourness in his visage, an acrid
tone in his voice which suggested AM intellect.
ual collie for which there was no other medical
ment but Bristow. He carried his splenetic
righteousness so far that the whole audience
heartily enjoyed the blsting that Ingersoll
gave him Immediately afterwards. There were
several thousand people in Cincinnati that
afternoon who admitted that the Senate didn't


make so great mistake as had been popular
ly supposed when they declined to advise and


consent to send this prophet OF evil to represent
his country at a foreign court


But Mr.. Danas colleagues were most of
them a different lot altogether. The genial
face Of Edward L. Pierce was in delightful
contrast to the bilious aspect of his leader
He showed, nevertheless how bravely he could
stand for a principle when he took tbs floor
to except to anything that had the appearance
of discrimination between races, as his propo.
sal to eliminate the Mongolan inquiry from
the platform. l always had respect for the
brothers Pierce-Henry and Edward-without
knowing them. They impressed me as men
who could be genuine reformers without being
dismal misanthropes. That opinion in respect
to one of them was confirmed by what saw of
him in Cincinnati. L found he had very de-
cided convictions Of his own, but was not on
that account Extensively intolerant of the sen.
timents of other people,


Then there was Learned who smiled upon the
scene as complacently as if he didn't believe
word of this new dogma of the total depravity
of all who hold office, and Davis straight from
Plymouth Rock looking for all the world like
the chosen legatee of John Aldel's gallantry,
Miles Stlndish's pluck and Elder Brewster's
pety, and yet as if he were not so far above the


rest of mankind, that he could not sympathize
nor fraternize with his less fortunate brethren
whose ancestors did not come over in the May
flower. The brothers Hoar were both in the
uOuSe. II. IOCkWOOu as u uelegaUe ana G00rg0
f. as spectator. The former in spite of
certain severity of aspect which may be simply
reflex of his Puritan origin, is so thoroughly
an honest man that it is a pity, to quote an
eminent authority, that he will persist in
thinking he has monopoly of that excellent
but purely negative virtue.


The Pennsylvanians gained no laurels in the
convention. They were worsted from first to


last. Their claim to cast the vote of their


State as a unit was negatived after free dis.


cussion and full vote And then they waited


so long to assure themselves In which scale the


victory was to turn that New York snatched


the laurels from them and made the nomina.


ton of Hayes ''fxed fact" 1 think there


was general degree of satisfaction about tnis


1t may have arisen from the general idea that


the Key Stone State believes too strongly


in the doctrine of looking after the main


chance, but it undoubtedly derived strength


from the current notion that the delegation


from that State had been conditionally prom


ised to more than one candidate after Hart.


ranft was ont of tha race