CHAPTER XXIV.

Republican Convention at Chicago.—The Three Prominent Candidates.—Description of Conkling.—Logan.—Cameron.—Description of Garfield.—Resolution Introduced by Conkling.—Opposition of West Virginians.—Garfield's Conciliatory Speech.—His Oration in Behalf of Sherman.—Opinions of the Press.

The National Convention of the Republican party that met at Chicago, in June, 1880, will always be marked with a red-letter in the annals of our country. The third-term issue, the unit rule, district representation, and the arbitrary power of party managers, made the nomination for President one long scene of hard fought battles.

The three prominent candidates were General Grant; James G. Blaine, Senator from Maine; and John Sherman, Secretary of the Treasury.

The third-term party who desired the nomination of Grant, was strongly supported by Senator Conkling of New York, Senator Cameron of Pennsylvania, and Senator Logan of Illinois. These three great political leaders are thus described by a graphic writer, who was present at the opening of the Convention:—

"Just as the great Exposition Building had nearly filled up, there was a simultaneous huzza throughout the hall and galleries, and it speedily broke out in a hearty applause. The tall and now silvered plume of Conkling was visible in the aisle, and he strode down to his place at the head of his delegation with the majesty of an emperor. He recognized the compliment by a modest bow, without lifting his eyes to the audience, and took his seat as serenely as if on a picnic and holiday. The Grant men seemed to be more comfortable when they found him by their side and evidently ready for the conflict.

"Logan's swarthy features, flowing mustache, and Indian hair, were next visible on the eastern aisle, but he stepped to the head of his delegation so quietly that he escaped a special welcome. He sat as if in sober reflection for a few moments, and then hastened over to Conkling to perfect their counsel on the eve of battle. The two senatorial leaders held close conference until the bustle about the chair gave notice that the opposing lines were about to begin to feel each other, and test their position.

"Cameron had just stepped upon the platform with the elasticity of a boy, and his youthful, but strongly-marked face was recognized at once. There was no applause. They all knew that he never plays for the galleries, and that cheers arewasted upon him. He quietly sat down for ten minutes, although the time for calling the convention to order had passed by an hour, and looked calmly out upon the body so big with destiny for himself and his Grant associates. As he passed by he was asked,—

"'What of the battle?'

"'We have three hundred to start with,' he replied, 'and we will work on till we win.'

"This was said with all the determination that his positive manner and expression could add to language, and it summed up his whole strategy."

George F. Hoar, from Massachusetts, was appointed President of the Convention; and among the delegates from Ohio, and enthusiastic supporters of Sherman, was General Garfield, thus described by a writer in theChicago Inter-Ocean:—

"A big heart, a sympathetic nature, and a mind keenly sensitive to everything that is beautiful in sentiment, are the artists that shade down the gnarled outlines and touch with soft coloring the plain features of his massive face. The conception of a grand thought always paints a glow upon Garfield's face, which no one forgets who has seen him while speaking. His eyes are a cold gray, but they are often—yes, all the time when he is speaking—lit brilliantly by the warm light of worthy sentiments, and the strong flame of a great man's conviction.

"In speaking, he is not so restless as Conkling; his speech is an appeal for thought and calm deliberation, and he stands still like the rock of judgment while he delivers it. There is no invective or bitterness in his effort, but there is throughout an earnestness of conviction and an unquestionable air of sincerity, to which every gesture and intonation of voice is especially adapted."

On the second day of the convention a resolution was introduced by Mr. Conkling that every member of the convention should support the nominee, and that no one should hold a seat who was not willing thus to pledge himself. The question was opposed by several voices, and when Mr. Conkling called for a vote of the States, three delegates from West Virginia voted in the negative. Another resolution was then offered by Mr. Conkling, who declared that these delegates had forfeited their seats in the convention.

The West Virginians asserted that they were true Republicans, but could not, and would not, pledge themselves in this manner. A hot contest of words would probably have ensued, had not Garfield taken the floor and spoken as follows:—

"I fear the convention is about to commit a grave error. Every delegate, save three, has voted for the resolution, and the three gentlemen who have voted against it have risen in their placesand stated that they expected, and intended, to support the nominee of the convention, but that it was not, in their judgment, a wise thing, at this time, to pass the resolution which all the rest of the delegates had voted for. Were they to be disfranchised because they thought so? That was the question. Was every delegate to have his republicanism inquired into before he was allowed to vote? Delegates were responsible for their votes, not to the convention, but to their constituents. He himself would never in any convention vote against his judgment. He regretted that the gentlemen from West Virginia had thought it best to break the harmony of the convention by their dissent. He did not know these gentlemen, nor their affiliations, nor their relations to the candidates. If this convention expelled those men then the convention would have to purge itself at the end of every vote and inquire how many delegates who had voted 'no' should go out. He trusted that the gentleman from New York would withdraw his resolution and let the convention proceed with its business."

One of the delegates from California immediately moved to lay the resolution on the table, and Mr. Conkling thereupon withdrew it.

On the fourth day of the convention, and just after the Grant men had set forth in glowing terms the claims of their candidate, Garfield was calledto the platform to represent Ohio. A hearty cheering greeted him as he began:—

"Mr. President:I have witnessed the extraordinary scenes of this convention with deep solicitude. No emotion touches my heart more quickly than a sentiment in honor of a great and noble character. But as I sat on these seats and witnessed these demonstrations, it seemed to me you were a human ocean in a tempest. I have seen the sea lashed into fury and tossed into spray, and its grandeur moves the soul of the dullest man. But I remember that it is not the billows, but the calm level of the sea from which all heights and depths are measured. When the storm has passed and the hour of calm settles on the ocean, when sunlight bathes its smooth surface, then the astronomer and surveyor takes the level from which he measures all terrestrial heights and depths."Gentlemen of the convention, your present temper may not mark the healthful pulse of our people. When our enthusiasm has passed, when the emotions of this hour have subsided, we shall find the calm level of public opinion below the storm from which the thoughts of a mighty people are to be measured, and by which their final action will be determined."Not here, in this brilliant circle where fifteenthousand men and women are assembled, is the destiny of the Republic to be decreed; not here, where I see the enthusiastic faces of seven hundred and fifty-six delegates waiting to cast their votes into the urn and determine the choice of their party, but by four million Republican firesides, where the thoughtful fathers with wives and children about them, with the calm thoughts inspired by love of home and love of country, with the history of the past, the hopes of the future, and the knowledge of the great men who have adorned and blessed our nation in days gone by—there God prepares the verdict that shall determine the wisdom of our work to-night. Not in Chicago in the heat of June, but in the sober quiet that comes between now and November, in the silence of deliberate judgment will this great question be settled. Let us aid them to-night."But now, gentlemen of the convention, what do we want? Twenty-five years ago this republic was wearing a triple chain of bondage. Long familiarity with traffic in the bodies and souls of men had paralyzed the consciences of a majority of our people. The baleful doctrine of State sovereignty had shocked and weakened the noblest and most beneficent powers of the national government, and the grasping power of slavery was seizing the virgin territories of the West and dragging them into the den of eternal bondage. Atthat crisis the Republican party was born. It drew its first inspiration from that fire of liberty which God has lighted in every man's heart, and which all the powers of ignorance and tyranny can never wholly extinguish."The Republican party came to deliver and save the republic. It entered the arena when the beleaguered and assailed territories were struggling for freedom, and drew around them the sacred circle of liberty which the demon of slavery has never dared to cross. It made them free forever."Strengthened by its victory on the frontier, the young party, under the leadership of that great man who, on this spot, twenty years ago, was made its leader, entered the national capital and assumed the high duties of the government. The light which shone from its banner dispelled the darkness in which slavery had enshrouded the capital, and melted the shackles of every slave, and consumed in the fire of liberty every slave-pen within the shadow of the capitol."Our national industries by an impoverishing policy, were themselves prostrated, and the streams of revenue flowed in such feeble currents that the treasury itself was well-nigh empty. The money of the people was the wretched notes of two thousand uncontrolled and irresponsible state banking corporations, which were filling the country with a circulation that poisoned rather than sustainedthe life of business. The Republican party changed all this. It abolished the babel of confusion, and gave the country a currency as national as its flag, based upon the sacred faith of the people. It threw its protecting arm around our great industries, and they stood erect as with new life. It filled with the spirit of true nationality all the great functions of the government. It confronted a rebellion of unexampled magnitude, with slavery behind it, and, under God, fought the final battle of liberty until victory was won. Then, after the storms of battle were heard the sweet, calm words of peace uttered by the conquering nation, and saying to the conquered foe that lay prostrate at its feet,—"'This is our only revenge, that you join us in lifting to the serene firmament of the Constitution, to shine like stars forever and ever, the immortal principles of truth and justice, that all men, white or black, shall be free and stand equal before the law.'"Then came the question of reconstruction, the public debt, and the public faith. In the settlement of the questions the Republican party has completed its twenty-five years of glorious existence, and it has sent us here to prepare it for another lustrum of duty and of victory. How shall we do this great work? We cannot do it, my friends, by assailing our Republican brethren.God forbid that I should say one word to cast a shadow upon any name on the roll of our heroes."This coming fight is our Thermopylæ. We are standing upon a narrow isthmus. If our Spartan hosts are united, we can withstand all the Persians that the Xerxes of Democracy can bring against us. Let us hold our ground this one year, for the stars in their courses fight for us in the future. The census taken this year will bring reinforcements and continued power. But in order to win this victory now, we want the vote of every Republican, of every Grant Republican, and every anti-Grant Republican in America, of every Blaine man and anti-Blaine man. The vote of every follower of every candidate is needed to make our success certain; therefore, I say, gentlemen and brethren, we are here to take calm counsel together, and inquire what we shall do."We want a man whose life and opinions embody all the achievements of which I have spoken. We want a man who, standing on a mountain height, sees all the achievements of our past history, and carries in his heart the memory of all its glorious deeds, and who, looking forward, prepares to meet the labor and the dangers to come. We want one who will act in no spirit of unkindness towards those we lately met in battle. The Republican party offers to our brethren of the South the olive-branch of peace, and wishes them to returnto brotherhood, on this supreme condition, that it shall be admitted forever and forevermore, that in the war for the Union, we were right and they were wrong. On that supreme condition we meet them as brothers, and on no other. We ask them to share with us the blessings and honors of this great republic."Now, gentlemen, not to weary you, I am about to present a name for your consideration—the name of a man who was the comrade and associate and friend of nearly all those noble dead whose faces look down upon us from these walls to-night; a man who began his career of public service twenty-five years ago; whose first duty was courageously done in the days of peril on the plains of Kansas, when the first red drops of that bloody shower began to fall which finally swelled into the deluge of war. He bravely stood by young Kansas then, and, returning to his duty in the National Legislature, through all subsequent time his pathway has been marked by labors performed in every department of legislation."You ask for his monuments. I point you to twenty-five years of national statutes. Not one great beneficent measure has been placed in our statute books without his intelligent and powerful aid. He aided these men to formulate the laws that raised our great armies and carried us through the war. His hand was seen in the workmanship ofthose statutes that restored and brought back the unity and calm of the States. His hand was in all that great legislation that created the war currency, and in a still greater work that redeemed the promises of the government and made the currency equal to gold. And when at last called from the halls of legislation into a high executive office, he displayed that experience, intelligence, firmness and poise of character which has carried us through a stormy period of three years. With one-half the public press crying 'Crucify him,' and a hostile Congress seeking to prevent success, in all this he remained unmoved until victory crowned him."The great fiscal affairs of the nation, and the great business interests of the country he has guarded and preserved, while executing the law of resumption and effecting its object without a jar and against the false prophecies of one-half of the press and all the Democracy of this continent. He has shown himself able to meet with calmness the great emergencies of the government for twenty-five years. He has trodden the perilous heights of public duty, and against all the shafts of malice has borne his breast unharmed. He has stood in the blaze of 'that fierce light that beats against the throne,' but its fiercest ray has found no flaw in his armor, no stain on his shield. I do not present him as a better Republican or as a better man thanthousands of others we honor, but I present him for your deliberate consideration. I nominate John Sherman, of Ohio."

"Gentlemen of the convention, your present temper may not mark the healthful pulse of our people. When our enthusiasm has passed, when the emotions of this hour have subsided, we shall find the calm level of public opinion below the storm from which the thoughts of a mighty people are to be measured, and by which their final action will be determined.

"Not here, in this brilliant circle where fifteenthousand men and women are assembled, is the destiny of the Republic to be decreed; not here, where I see the enthusiastic faces of seven hundred and fifty-six delegates waiting to cast their votes into the urn and determine the choice of their party, but by four million Republican firesides, where the thoughtful fathers with wives and children about them, with the calm thoughts inspired by love of home and love of country, with the history of the past, the hopes of the future, and the knowledge of the great men who have adorned and blessed our nation in days gone by—there God prepares the verdict that shall determine the wisdom of our work to-night. Not in Chicago in the heat of June, but in the sober quiet that comes between now and November, in the silence of deliberate judgment will this great question be settled. Let us aid them to-night.

"But now, gentlemen of the convention, what do we want? Twenty-five years ago this republic was wearing a triple chain of bondage. Long familiarity with traffic in the bodies and souls of men had paralyzed the consciences of a majority of our people. The baleful doctrine of State sovereignty had shocked and weakened the noblest and most beneficent powers of the national government, and the grasping power of slavery was seizing the virgin territories of the West and dragging them into the den of eternal bondage. Atthat crisis the Republican party was born. It drew its first inspiration from that fire of liberty which God has lighted in every man's heart, and which all the powers of ignorance and tyranny can never wholly extinguish.

"The Republican party came to deliver and save the republic. It entered the arena when the beleaguered and assailed territories were struggling for freedom, and drew around them the sacred circle of liberty which the demon of slavery has never dared to cross. It made them free forever.

"Strengthened by its victory on the frontier, the young party, under the leadership of that great man who, on this spot, twenty years ago, was made its leader, entered the national capital and assumed the high duties of the government. The light which shone from its banner dispelled the darkness in which slavery had enshrouded the capital, and melted the shackles of every slave, and consumed in the fire of liberty every slave-pen within the shadow of the capitol.

"Our national industries by an impoverishing policy, were themselves prostrated, and the streams of revenue flowed in such feeble currents that the treasury itself was well-nigh empty. The money of the people was the wretched notes of two thousand uncontrolled and irresponsible state banking corporations, which were filling the country with a circulation that poisoned rather than sustainedthe life of business. The Republican party changed all this. It abolished the babel of confusion, and gave the country a currency as national as its flag, based upon the sacred faith of the people. It threw its protecting arm around our great industries, and they stood erect as with new life. It filled with the spirit of true nationality all the great functions of the government. It confronted a rebellion of unexampled magnitude, with slavery behind it, and, under God, fought the final battle of liberty until victory was won. Then, after the storms of battle were heard the sweet, calm words of peace uttered by the conquering nation, and saying to the conquered foe that lay prostrate at its feet,—

"'This is our only revenge, that you join us in lifting to the serene firmament of the Constitution, to shine like stars forever and ever, the immortal principles of truth and justice, that all men, white or black, shall be free and stand equal before the law.'

"Then came the question of reconstruction, the public debt, and the public faith. In the settlement of the questions the Republican party has completed its twenty-five years of glorious existence, and it has sent us here to prepare it for another lustrum of duty and of victory. How shall we do this great work? We cannot do it, my friends, by assailing our Republican brethren.God forbid that I should say one word to cast a shadow upon any name on the roll of our heroes.

"This coming fight is our Thermopylæ. We are standing upon a narrow isthmus. If our Spartan hosts are united, we can withstand all the Persians that the Xerxes of Democracy can bring against us. Let us hold our ground this one year, for the stars in their courses fight for us in the future. The census taken this year will bring reinforcements and continued power. But in order to win this victory now, we want the vote of every Republican, of every Grant Republican, and every anti-Grant Republican in America, of every Blaine man and anti-Blaine man. The vote of every follower of every candidate is needed to make our success certain; therefore, I say, gentlemen and brethren, we are here to take calm counsel together, and inquire what we shall do.

"We want a man whose life and opinions embody all the achievements of which I have spoken. We want a man who, standing on a mountain height, sees all the achievements of our past history, and carries in his heart the memory of all its glorious deeds, and who, looking forward, prepares to meet the labor and the dangers to come. We want one who will act in no spirit of unkindness towards those we lately met in battle. The Republican party offers to our brethren of the South the olive-branch of peace, and wishes them to returnto brotherhood, on this supreme condition, that it shall be admitted forever and forevermore, that in the war for the Union, we were right and they were wrong. On that supreme condition we meet them as brothers, and on no other. We ask them to share with us the blessings and honors of this great republic.

"Now, gentlemen, not to weary you, I am about to present a name for your consideration—the name of a man who was the comrade and associate and friend of nearly all those noble dead whose faces look down upon us from these walls to-night; a man who began his career of public service twenty-five years ago; whose first duty was courageously done in the days of peril on the plains of Kansas, when the first red drops of that bloody shower began to fall which finally swelled into the deluge of war. He bravely stood by young Kansas then, and, returning to his duty in the National Legislature, through all subsequent time his pathway has been marked by labors performed in every department of legislation.

"You ask for his monuments. I point you to twenty-five years of national statutes. Not one great beneficent measure has been placed in our statute books without his intelligent and powerful aid. He aided these men to formulate the laws that raised our great armies and carried us through the war. His hand was seen in the workmanship ofthose statutes that restored and brought back the unity and calm of the States. His hand was in all that great legislation that created the war currency, and in a still greater work that redeemed the promises of the government and made the currency equal to gold. And when at last called from the halls of legislation into a high executive office, he displayed that experience, intelligence, firmness and poise of character which has carried us through a stormy period of three years. With one-half the public press crying 'Crucify him,' and a hostile Congress seeking to prevent success, in all this he remained unmoved until victory crowned him.

"The great fiscal affairs of the nation, and the great business interests of the country he has guarded and preserved, while executing the law of resumption and effecting its object without a jar and against the false prophecies of one-half of the press and all the Democracy of this continent. He has shown himself able to meet with calmness the great emergencies of the government for twenty-five years. He has trodden the perilous heights of public duty, and against all the shafts of malice has borne his breast unharmed. He has stood in the blaze of 'that fierce light that beats against the throne,' but its fiercest ray has found no flaw in his armor, no stain on his shield. I do not present him as a better Republican or as a better man thanthousands of others we honor, but I present him for your deliberate consideration. I nominate John Sherman, of Ohio."

Of this powerful speech, that was constantly interrupted by storms of applause, Whitelaw Reid said,—

"It was admirably adapted to make votes for his candidate, if speeches ever made votes. It was courteous, conciliatory, and prudent."

The editor of the ChicagoJournalwrote as follows:—

"The supreme orator of the evening was General Garfield. He is a man of superb power and noble character.... He indulged in no fling at others. It was a model speech in temper and tone. The impression made was powerful and altogether wholesome. Many felt that if Ohio had offered Garfield instead of Sherman, she would have been more likely to win."

The Battle still Undecided.—Sunday among the Delegates.—Garfield's Remark.—Monday another Day of Doubt.—The Dark Horse.—The Balloting on Tuesday.—Garfield's Remonstrance.—He is Unanimously Elected on the Thirty-sixth Ballot.—Enthusiastic Demonstrations, Congratulatory Speeches and Telegrams.—His Speech of Acceptance.

Garfield's eloquent speech was followed by one from Mr. Billings, of Vermont, who proposed Senator Edmunds as a nominee. Mr. Cassidy, of Wisconsin, presented the name of Elihu B. Washburne, of Illinois, and was seconded by Mr. Brandagee, of Connecticut.

The battle was waged in this manner until a late hour on Saturday evening. Many of the delegates wanted to continue the balloting after midnight, and some urged the chairman, Judge Hoar, to ignore the Sabbath and let the convention go on.

"Never!" he replied; "this is a Sabbath-keeping nation, and I cannot preside over this convention one minute after twelve."

Garfield attended church in the morning, and dined with Marshall Field. The conversation attable turned upon the dead-lock in the convention and the quietus at Washington, where every one was waiting for further developments.

Addressing the friend who sat beside him, Garfield said,—

"Yes, this is a day of suspense, but it is also a day of prayer; and I have more faith in the prayers that will go up from Christian hearts to-day, than I have in all the political tactics which will prevail at this convention."

When President Hoar called the convention to order on Monday morning, an anxious crowd hastily took their seats and prepared for the coming battle. Eighteen ballots were cast during the day and ten more in the evening, with no decisive result. The weather was extremely hot, but the hall was filled to its utmost capacity, and at each roll-call the whole twelve thousand would simultaneously rise to their feet with a noise like the roar of thunder. It was late at night before the convention broke up, and some of the delegates did not retire at all.

On Tuesday morning, a pencilled note, it is said, passed from Conkling to Garfield, which read as follows:—

"My Dear Garfield,—If there is to be a dark horse in this convention there is no man I would prefer before yourself.Conkling."

"My Dear Garfield,—If there is to be a dark horse in this convention there is no man I would prefer before yourself.

Conkling."

The reply was,—

"My Dear Conkling,—There will be no dark horse in this convention. I am for Sherman.J. A. Garfield."

"My Dear Conkling,—There will be no dark horse in this convention. I am for Sherman.

J. A. Garfield."

By the time the thirty-fourth ballot was cast, however, it began to be very evident that a "break" was imminent. Wisconsin gave thirty-six votes for Garfield, Connecticut followed with eleven more, Illinois gave seven, and Indiana twenty-nine.

Garfield immediately rose to his feet and said he had refused to have his name announced and voted for in the convention.

"I have not given my consent"—he began; but amidst much laughter the chairman interrupted, and said the gentleman was not stating a question of order.

The enthusiasm for the new candidate now rose to its highest pitch. When the thirty-sixth ballot was called, Sherman and the Ohio delegation, with the New York anti-Grant men, led off in a grand burst of applause for Garfield. One after another the States transferred their votes to him, till at last Wisconsin completed the majority.

Before the roll was called a salute of guns was fired in the park outside, the galleries sprang to their feet, and the wildest scene of excitement followed.

Each delegation had its State banner, and, withMassachusetts at the head, an impromptu procession was formed that marched over to the Ohio delegation and placed all the standards by the side of Garfield. The military band in the hall then struck up, "Rally round the Flag," and the whole immense audience enthusiastically joined in the stirring song.

"I shall never forget," writes an eye-witness, "the expression of Garfield's face at the time that delegation after delegation was breaking from its moorings and going over to him. I scanned him with intense curiosity as he listened to the call of States, and the certain coming of his nomination. His cheeks had a flush upon them, and there was a far-away expression in his eyes as he listened to the responses of the chairman, as if he was communing with the future. I can see his face at this moment as plainly as I saw it then, and I ask myself now whether as he swept the horizon of the future with his mind's eye, could he possibly have had a glimpse of the dark apparition that was even then being invoked into life. He looked anxious, almost troubled."

When the President of the convention announced that James A. Garfield of Ohio had received three hundred and ninety-nine ballots, the majority of the whole votes cast, Senator Conkling arose and said,—

"I move that he be unanimously presented asthe nominee of the convention. The Chair, under the rules, anticipated me, but being on my feet, I avail myself of the opportunity to congratulate the Republican party of the nation on the good-natured and well-tempered disposition that has distinguished this animated convention.

"I trust that the fervor and unanimity of the scenes of the convention will be transplanted to the field of the country, and all of us who have borne a part against each other here will be found with equal zeal, bearing the banners and carrying the lances of the Republican party into the ranks of the enemy."

Senator Logan followed Conkling in a similar congratulatory speech; and Eugene Hale, the defeated leader of the Blaine forces, said:—

"Standing here to return our heartfelt thanks to the many men in this convention who have aided us in the fight that we made for the senator from Maine, and speaking for them here, as I know that I do, I say this most heartily: We have not got the man whom we hoped to nominate when we came here, but we have got a man in whom we have the greatest and most marked confidence. The nominee of this convention is no new and untried man, and in that respect he is no 'dark horse.' When he came here, representing his State in the front of his delegation and was seen here, every man knew him because of his record;and because of that and because of our faith in him, and because we were in the emergency, glad to help make him the candidate of the Republican party for President of the United States,—because, I say, of these things, I stand here to pledge the Maine forces in this convention to earnest effort until the ides of November, to help to carry him to the presidential chair."

Short speeches followed from members of the other delegations and the nomination of James A. Garfield was declared unanimous.

While shaking hands with the crowd that gathered around him, Garfield turned to a correspondent of the ClevelandHeraldand said gravely:—

"I wish you would say that this is no act of mine. I wish you would say that I have done everything and omitted nothing to secure Secretary Sherman's nomination. I want it plainly understood that I have not sought this nomination, and have protested against the use of my name. If Senator Hoar had permitted, I would have forbidden anybody to vote for me. But he took me off my feet before I had said what I intended. I am very sorry it has occurred, but if my position is fully explained, a nomination, coming unsought and unexpected like this, will be the crowning gratification of my life."

Before nominating the Vice-President, the convention took a short recess, and Garfield attemptedto leave the hall. He was immediately surrounded, however, by an enthusiastic crowd, who followed him to the door and tried to take the horses off his carriage that they might draw it themselves.

A serenade followed at the Grand Pacific Hotel, but Garfield declined to respond to the ovation further than to give his thanks. More than six hundred congratulatory telegrams were received during the evening, among the most notable of which were the following:—

Executive Mansion, Washington,June 8th, 1880.To General James A. Garfield:You will receive no heartier congratulations to-day than mine. This both for your own and your country's sake.(Signed)R. B. Hayes.

Executive Mansion, Washington,June 8th, 1880.

To General James A. Garfield:

You will receive no heartier congratulations to-day than mine. This both for your own and your country's sake.

(Signed)R. B. Hayes.

Washington, June 8th, 1880.Hon. James A. Garfield, Chicago:I congratulate you with all my heart upon your nomination as President of the United States. You have saved the Republican party and the country from a great peril, and assured the continued success of Republican principles.(Signed)John Sherman.

Washington, June 8th, 1880.

Hon. James A. Garfield, Chicago:

I congratulate you with all my heart upon your nomination as President of the United States. You have saved the Republican party and the country from a great peril, and assured the continued success of Republican principles.

(Signed)John Sherman.

"The vote of Maine just cast for you is given you with my hearty concurrence. I assure you of my belief that you will have a glorious victory in November."James G. Blaine.

"The vote of Maine just cast for you is given you with my hearty concurrence. I assure you of my belief that you will have a glorious victory in November."

James G. Blaine.

Milwaukee, June 8th, 1880."Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be what thou art promised."Lawrence Barrett.

Milwaukee, June 8th, 1880.

"Glamis thou art, and Cawdor, and shalt be what thou art promised."Lawrence Barrett.

Washington, June 8th 1880."Accept my hearty congratulations. The country is to be congratulated as well as yourself."C. Schurz.

Washington, June 8th 1880.

"Accept my hearty congratulations. The country is to be congratulated as well as yourself."

C. Schurz.

Similar dispatches were received from other members of the cabinet, and from various senators and representatives at Washington. When General Grant heard the news he said, "It is all right—I am satisfied."

At the earnest request of the delegates, an informal reception was held at the Grand Pacific, and near midnight Garfield responded to the committee appointed to notify him officially of his nomination, as follows:—

"Mr. Chairmen and Gentlemen,—I assure you that the information you have officially given me brings a sense of very grave responsibility, and especially so in view of the fact that I was a member of your body, a fact that could not have existed with propriety had I had the slightest expectation that my name would be connected with the nomination for the office. I have felt with you great solicitude concerning the situation of our party during the struggle, but believing that you are correct in assuring me that substantial unity has been reached in the conclusion, it gives me gratification far greater than any personal pleasure your announcement can bring."I accept the trust committed to my hands. Asto the work of our party and the character of the campaign to be entered upon, I will take an early occasion to reply more fully than I can properly do to-night. I thank you for the assurances of confidence and esteem you have presented to me, and hope we shall see our future as promising as are the indications to-night."

"I accept the trust committed to my hands. Asto the work of our party and the character of the campaign to be entered upon, I will take an early occasion to reply more fully than I can properly do to-night. I thank you for the assurances of confidence and esteem you have presented to me, and hope we shall see our future as promising as are the indications to-night."

In a similar manner Senator Hoar and the committee officially apprized General Arthur of his nomination to the Vice-Presidency; his acceptance was given in a brief informal speech, but it was not till the "small hours" that the excited crowds began to disperse.

Return Home.—Ovations on the Way.—Address at Hiram Institute.—Impromptu Speech at Washington.—Incident of the Eagle.—The Tract Distributor.

The next morning, Garfield left Chicago for his home in Mentor. The journey thither was one continual scene of ovations. An immense throng followed him from the hotel to the station, and a large committee from Cleveland met the train at Elyria.

As the car containing Garfield and Governor Foster of Ohio, entered the depot at Cleveland, a salute of a thousand guns was fired. A procession of the militia and the Garfield clubs accompanied them to the Kennard House, and among the transparencies borne by the crowd was one with the happy inscription:—

"Ohio's senator, Ohio's Major-General, Ohio's President. The true favorite son of Ohio is the favorite son of the Union. He who at the age of sixteen steered a canal-boat will steer the ship of state at fifty."

Garfield had promised to deliver an address at the commencement exercises of Hiram College.

The morning after his arrival in Cleveland, therefore, he left as quietly as possible for the little town, where thirty years before he had held the humble position of college janitor.

"I have sought but one office in my life," he said one day to a friend, "and that was the office of janitor at Hiram Institute."

As he approached the college grounds the students came out in a body to greet him. It was a touching scene, and his beautiful address to them is given in full, in the latter part of the volume.[B]With all his honors he never forgot this place so "full of memories."

After a short stay at Hiram, he went on to his home in Mentor, to take a few days' rest before returning to Washington.

His address to the enthusiastic crowds that gathered around him when he reached the Capitol, is so full of his peculiar magnetic power that we give it entire:—

"Fellow-Citizens:—While I have looked upon this great array, I believe I have gotten a new idea of the majesty of the American people."When I reflect that whenever you find sovereign power, every reverent heart on this earth bows before it, and when I remember that here for a hundred years we have denied the sovereignty ofany man, and in place of it we have asserted the sovereignty of all in place of one, I see before me so vast a concourse it is easy for me to imagine that were the rest of the American people gathered here to-night, every man would stand uncovered, all in unsandalled feet in presence of the majesty of the only sovereign power in this Government under Almighty God."And therefore to this great audience I pay the respectful homage that in part belongs to the sovereignty of the people. I thank you for this great and glorious demonstration. I am not, for one moment, misled into believing that it refers to so poor a thing as any one of our number. I know it means your reverence for your Government, your reverence for its laws, your reverence for its institutions, and your compliment to one who is placed for a moment in relations to you of peculiar importance. For all these reasons I thank you."I cannot at this time utter a word on the subject of general politics. I would not mar the cordiality of this welcome, to which to some extent all are gathered, by any reference except to the present moment and its significance; but I wish to say that a large portion of this assemblage to-night are my comrades, late of the war for the Union. For them I can speak with entire propriety, and can say that these very streets heardthe measured tread of your disciplined feet, years ago, when the imperilled Republic needed your hands and your hearts to save it, and you came back with your numbers decimated; but those you left behind were immortal and glorified heroes forever; and those you brought back came, carrying under tattered banners and in bronzed hands the ark of the covenant of your Republic in safety out of the bloody baptism of the war, and you brought it in safety to be saved forever by your valor and the wisdom of your brethren who were at home, and by this you were again added to the great civil army of the Republic."I greet you, comrades and fellow-soldiers, and the great body of distinguished citizens who are gathered here to-night, who are the strong stay and support of the business, of the prosperity, of the peace, of the civic ardor and glory of the Republic, and I thank you for your welcome to-night."It was said in a welcome to one who came to England to be a part of her glory—and all the nation spoke when it was said,—

"Fellow-Citizens:—While I have looked upon this great array, I believe I have gotten a new idea of the majesty of the American people.

"When I reflect that whenever you find sovereign power, every reverent heart on this earth bows before it, and when I remember that here for a hundred years we have denied the sovereignty ofany man, and in place of it we have asserted the sovereignty of all in place of one, I see before me so vast a concourse it is easy for me to imagine that were the rest of the American people gathered here to-night, every man would stand uncovered, all in unsandalled feet in presence of the majesty of the only sovereign power in this Government under Almighty God.

"And therefore to this great audience I pay the respectful homage that in part belongs to the sovereignty of the people. I thank you for this great and glorious demonstration. I am not, for one moment, misled into believing that it refers to so poor a thing as any one of our number. I know it means your reverence for your Government, your reverence for its laws, your reverence for its institutions, and your compliment to one who is placed for a moment in relations to you of peculiar importance. For all these reasons I thank you.

"I cannot at this time utter a word on the subject of general politics. I would not mar the cordiality of this welcome, to which to some extent all are gathered, by any reference except to the present moment and its significance; but I wish to say that a large portion of this assemblage to-night are my comrades, late of the war for the Union. For them I can speak with entire propriety, and can say that these very streets heardthe measured tread of your disciplined feet, years ago, when the imperilled Republic needed your hands and your hearts to save it, and you came back with your numbers decimated; but those you left behind were immortal and glorified heroes forever; and those you brought back came, carrying under tattered banners and in bronzed hands the ark of the covenant of your Republic in safety out of the bloody baptism of the war, and you brought it in safety to be saved forever by your valor and the wisdom of your brethren who were at home, and by this you were again added to the great civil army of the Republic.

"I greet you, comrades and fellow-soldiers, and the great body of distinguished citizens who are gathered here to-night, who are the strong stay and support of the business, of the prosperity, of the peace, of the civic ardor and glory of the Republic, and I thank you for your welcome to-night.

"It was said in a welcome to one who came to England to be a part of her glory—and all the nation spoke when it was said,—

"'Normans and Saxons and Danes are we,But all of us Danes in our welcome of thee.'

"And we say to-night of all nations, of all the people, soldiers, and civilians, there is one name that welds us all into one. It is the name of American citizen, under the union and under theglory of the flag that led us to victory and peace. For this magnificent welcome I thank you with all my heart."

A singular incident occurred in Washington, upon the day of Garfield's nomination at Chicago. Almost at the very moment the ballot was cast, a large bald eagle circled around the Park, and finally swooped down and rested upon the little house on the corner of I and Thirteenth Streets.

It was seen by Mr. George W. Rose, Garfield's private stenographer, who occupied the house during his absence, and he says that "before the eagle rose from its strange perch a dozen people had noticed and commented upon it."

Another curious coincident is worthy of notice. On that memorable Tuesday morning as Garfield entered the Exposition building, where the convention was assembled, a slip of paper was thrust into his hand by a tract distributor.

He put it mechanically into his pocket without reading, and was not a little astonished that evening when it dropped out and he found upon it these words:—

"This is the stone which was set at naught of you builders, which is become the head of the corner; neither is there salvation in any other."

FOOTNOTES:[B]See page 478.

[B]See page 478.

News of the Nomination Received with Delight.—Mr. Robeson speaks for the Democrats in the House of Representatives.—Ratification Meeting at Williams College.—Governor Long's Opinion.—Hotly-contested Campaign.—Garfield Receives the Majority of Votes.—Is Elected President on the Second of November, 1880.—Extract from Letter of an Old Pupil.—Review of Garfield's Congressional Life.—His own Feelings in Regard to the Election.

The news of the nomination at Chicago was received with unfeigned delight throughout the country. In the House of Representatives at Washington, Mr. Robeson, by request, spoke for the Democrats as well as the Republicans, in terms of the highest commendation of the new nominee; and three hearty cheers were given for him by both parties.

A ratification meeting was immediately held at Williams College, and the excited students sang as a chorus to "Marching through Georgia:"

"Hurrah! hurrah! we'll shout for General G.!Hurrah! hurrah! a Williams man was he,And so we'll sing the chorus from old Williams to the sea,And we'll cast a vote for Garfield!"

Governor Long, of Massachusetts, when asked his opinion of the nomination, said,—

"I feel an especial pride and satisfaction in the nomination of Garfield, as I have both desired and publicly urged it from the first.

"I regard General Garfield as a representative Republican, a sound statesman, a thorough scholar, and with that good record as a soldier which never yet has failed to be a claim upon the hearts of the American people. I regard it as felicitous in General Garfield that, like so many of his predecessors, he sprang from the humbler walks of life, and, by his own efforts, has made his own way to eminence, and is not identified as the special representative of wealth or any great controlling interests.

"As a representative from the old Joshua Giddings district, he has stood from the first as an exponent of equal rights, and he has been an advocate of honest money in the days when it cost something to face the 'Ohio idee.' Add to this his high personal character, his purity and integrity, and yet his entire approachableness, and you have an ideal candidate who commends himself to every good element in the party and welds it firmly together again, and whose nomination is his election."

The press were remarkably unanimous in their praise of Garfield. Even the Southern papers seemed pleased with the nomination, and the New OrleansTimessaid,—

"Garfield is a very fair representative of the better element of the Republican party, superior to most of his competitors at Chicago in mental force, and equal to them in other essential attributes."

When the Democratic candidate for President was announced, and the strong names of Hancock and English were pitted against those of Garfield and Arthur, a close contest was anticipated. And the hot campaign that followed will long be remembered in the annals of our country.

Some of the states that had been securely counted upon by the Republicans, went over to the Democrats; but, when the final returns were given on the second day of November, 1880, it was found that Garfield had carried twenty of the thirty-eight states, receiving two hundred and fourteen of the electoral votes, while Hancock had but one hundred and fifty-five.

One of Garfield's old pupils, upon hearing the news, wrote to a friend in New York as follows:—

"We of 'old Portage County,' where his ability was first recognized, and from which no delegate to any convention where his name has been presented ever voted against him, knowing him well and trusting him fully, rejoice with exceeding joy in the results of Tuesday's election.... We believe no manlier man ever headed a ticket for the office. He is as pure as Washington, as brave asJackson, as humane as Lincoln, and as grand and able as Daniel Webster. He is broad enough for the whole country, and sectionalism will find no sympathy in him."

The editor of a leading Boston paper wrote the following fine review of Garfield's congressional life:—

"The election of General Garfield to the office of President is, in some sense, a departure from the custom of the country. He is the first man who has had long and thorough experience in the legislative branch of the government, holding for many years the position of a leader of a party both while in power and while out of power, and, consequently, thoroughly familiar with all the business of the nation, who has been raised to the Presidential office. It had almost come to be thought that no man could go directly from Congress to the Presidency.

"It is not unreasonable to expect that the administration of General Garfield will be marked by some peculiar features dependent upon these conditions. For eighteen years he has been a member of the House of Representatives, all the time a conspicuously active member, and a large part of the time a recognized leader. He has served on all the more important committees, and been chairman of several. He has been a close and eager student of the theory and the practice of ourform of government, at once a philosophical statesman, a shrewd, practical politician, and an accomplished debater of legislative measures. His character, his accomplishments, his position, his tastes, have favored and compelled him to form personal acquaintance with all classes of influential men, so that probably there is not in the country another who has so extensive a circle of acquaintances among men who are potent in forming and directing public opinion.

"Every great interest of American life knows that he has sounded it, and apprehends and appreciates its capacity. In church, and college, and market, and among the plain people who toil in shops and fields, he is regarded as a friend who has regarded their necessities and spoken and labored in their cause.

"There is not a policy of administration which he has not analyzed; there is not a department of the public service with the scope and work of which he is not acquainted. He will come to his office better equipped for intelligent conduct of national affairs than any man who has preceded him for two generations at least, and the best part of his equipment is his broad, hopeful faith in freedom, equal rights, and impartial justice as the safe conditions of progress."

In the midst of all this spontaneous burst of enthusiasm, Garfield himself writes to a friend,—

"I believe all my friends are more gratified with the personal part of my triumph than I am, and, although I am proud of the noble support I have received, and the vindication it gives me against my assailants, yet there is a tone of sadness running through this triumph which I can hardly explain."

At Mentor.—The Journey to Washington.—Inauguration Day.—Immense Concourse of People.—The Address.—Sworn into Office.—Touching Scene.—Grand Display.—Inauguration Ball.—Announcement of the Members of the Cabinet.—Two Great Problems.—How they were Solved.—Disgraceful Rupture in the Senate.—Prerogative of the Executive Office vindicated.

The few months that elapsed between the election and the inauguration were spent by Garfield in the quiet home at Mentor.

One day an intimate friend of the family asked Mrs. Garfield if she were not looking forward with pleasant anticipations to her life in the White House.

"No," she answered, simply and sincerely, "I can only hope it will not be altogether unhappy."

The words occasioned surprise at the time—afterwards they seemed like a sad prophecy.

Inauguration day drew near, and the journey from Mentor to Washington was one continual series of ovations. Then that memorable fourth of March at the capital. "Who that beheld the inspiring spectacle," exclaims one writer, "can ever see it grow pale in memory!"

Before noon thousands of people had gatheredin front of the Capitol, and when the doors of the rotunda were thrown open, the police were obliged to push away the crowd that had assembled on the steps.

Pennsylvania Avenue, between the Treasury and the Capitol grounds, was one great sea of heads, and loud cheers arose from every side as the long procession escorting the President-elect passed on to the Capitol. The buildings along the whole route were beautifully decorated, and handkerchiefs fluttered from every window.

General Sherman, at the head of the Cleveland troops, led the way, and the Columbia Commandery of Knights Templars formed an important part of the escort.

Upon reaching the Capitol, Garfield took his seat on the platform, with President Hayes on his right hand, and Chief-Justice Waite on his left. Just behind him sat Mr. Wheeler, and Vice-President Arthur. The mother of the President-elect, his wife and little girl, were also on the platform, and Mrs. Hayes and her daughter were seated just beside them.

The Inaugural Address,[C]which occupied half an hour in its delivery, was frequently applauded by the vast audience. The clear, ringing tones of the speaker gave added force to every sentence; and his wonderful magnetism held the whole crowd spell-bound.

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