Volume II Part 20 (2/2)
At this Mr. Seward smiled. 'My dear Wood,' said he, 'your zeal sometimes gets a little the better of your judgment.'”--Thurlow Weed Barnes, _Life of Thurlow Weed_, Vol. 2, p. 269.]
But opponents had been industriously at work. They found that Republicans of Know-Nothing antecedents, especially in Pennsylvania, still disliked Seward's opposition to their Order, and that conservative Republicans recoiled from his doctrine of the higher law and the irrepressible conflict. Upon this broad foundation of unrest, the opposition adroitly builded, poisoning the minds of unsettled delegates with stories of his political methods and too close a.s.sociation with Thurlow Weed. No one questioned Seward's personal integrity; but the distrust of the political boss existed then as much as now, and his methods were no less objectionable. ”The misconstruction put on his phrase 'the irrepressible conflict between freedom and slavery' has, I think, damaged him a good deal,” wrote William Cullen Bryant, ”and in this city there is one thing which has damaged him still more. I mean the project of Thurlow Weed to give charters for a set of city railways, for which those who receive them are to furnish a fund of from four to six hundred thousand dollars, to be expended for the Republican cause in the next presidential election.”[543] Such a scheme would be rebuked even in this day of trust and corporation giving. People resented the transfer to Was.h.i.+ngton of the peculiar state of things at Albany, and when James S. Pike wrote of Seward's close connection with men who schemed for public grants, it recalled his belief in the adage that ”Money makes the mare go.” Allusion to Seward's ”bad a.s.sociates,” as Bryant called them, and to the connection between ”Seward stock” and ”New York street railroads” had become frequent in the correspondence of leading men, and now, when delegates could talk face to face in the confidence of the party council chamber, these accusations made a profound impression. The presence of Tom Hyer and his rough marchers did not tend to eliminate these moral objections. ”If you do not nominate Seward, where will you get your money?” was their stock argument.[544]
[Footnote 543: Parke G.o.dwin, _Life of William Cullen Bryant_, Vol. 2, p. 127.]
[Footnote 544: Horace Greeley, New York _Tribune_, May 22, 1860.]
Horace Greeley, sitting as a delegate from Oregon, stayed with the friends of Bates and Lincoln at the Tremont Hotel. The announcement startled the New Yorkers. He had visited Weed at Albany on his way to Chicago, leaving the impression that he would support Seward,[545] but once in the convention city his disaffection became quickly known. Of all the members of the convention none attracted more attention, or had greater influence with the New England and Western delegates. His peculiar head and dress quickly identified him as he pa.s.sed through the hotel corridors from delegation to delegation, and whenever he stopped to speak, an eager crowd of listeners heard his reasons why Seward could not carry the doubtful States. He marshalled all the facts and forgot no accusing rumour. His remarkable letter of 1854, dissolving the firm of Weed, Seward, and Greeley, had not then been published, leaving him in the position of a patriot and prophet who opposed the Senator because he sincerely believed him a weak candidate. ”If we have ever demurred to his nomination,” he said in the _Tribune_ of April 23, in reply to the _Times'_ charge of hostility, ”it has been on the ground of his too near approximation in principle and sentiment to our standard to be a safe candidate just yet. We joyfully believe that the country is acquiring a just and adequate conception of the malign influence exerted by the slave power upon its character, its reputation, its treatment of its neighbour, and all its great moral and material interests. In a few years more we believe it will be ready to elect as its President a man who not only sees but proclaims the whole truth in this respect--in short, such a man as Governor Seward. We have certainly doubted its being yet so far advanced in its political education as to be ready to choose for President one who looks the slave oligarchy square in the eye and says, 'Know me as your enemy.'”
[Footnote 545: ”At this time there was friendly intercourse between Mr. Greeley and Mr. Weed, nor did anybody suppose that Mr. Greeley was not on good terms with Governor Seward. He had, indeed, in 1854, written to Mr. Seward a remarkable letter, 'dissolving the firm of Seward, Weed & Greeley,' but Mr. Weed had never seen such a letter, nor did Mr. Greeley appear to remember its existence. Mr. Weed and Mr.
Greeley met frequently in New York, not with all of the old cordiality, perhaps, but still they had by no means quarrelled. Mr.
Greeley wrote often to Mr. Weed, in the old way, and he and his family were visitors at Mr. Weed's house. Indeed--though that seems impossible--Mr. Greeley stopped at Mr. Weed's house, in Albany, on his way West, before the Chicago convention, and made a friendly visit of a day or so, leaving the impression that he was going to support Mr.
Seward when he reached Chicago.”--Thurlow Weed Barnes, _Life of Thurlow Weed_, Vol. 2, p. 268.]
Greeley favoured Bates of Missouri, but was ready to support anybody to beat Seward. Bryant, disliking what he called the ”pliant politics”
of the New York Senator, had been disposed to favour Chase until the Cooper Inst.i.tute speech. Lincoln left a similar trail of friends through New England. The Illinoisan's t.i.tle of ”Honest Old Abe,”
given, him by his neighbours, contrasted favourably with the whispered reports of ”bad a.s.sociates” and the ”New York City railroad scheme.”
Gradually, even the radical element in the unpledged delegations began questioning the advisability of the New Yorker's selection, and when, on the night preceding the nomination, Andrew Curtin of Pennsylvania and Henry S. Lane[546] of Indiana, candidates for governor in their respective States, whose defeat in October would probably bring defeat in November, declared that Seward's selection would cost them their election, the opposition occupied good vantage ground. David Davis, the Illinois manager for Lincoln, against the positive instructions of his princ.i.p.al, strengthened these declarations by promising to locate Simon Cameron and Caleb B. Smith in the Cabinet.
The next morning, however, the anti-Seward forces entered the convention without having concentrated upon a candidate. Lincoln had won Indiana, but Pennsylvania and Ohio were divided; New Jersey stood for Dayton; Bates still controlled Missouri, Delaware, and Oregon.
[Footnote 546: ”I was with my husband in Chicago, and may tell you now, as most of the actors have joined the 'silent majority,' what no living person knows, that Thurlow Weed, in his anxiety for the success of Seward, took Mr. Lane out one evening and pleaded with him to lead the Indiana delegation over to Seward, saying they would send enough money from New York to insure his election for governor, and carry the State later for the New York candidate.” Letter of Mrs. Henry S. Lane, September 16, 1891.--Alex. K. McClure, _Lincoln and Men of War Times_, p. 25, _note_.]
William M. Evarts presented Seward's name amidst loud applause. But at the mention of Lincoln's the vigour of the cheers surprised the delegates. The Illinois managers had cunningly filled the desirable seats with their shouters, excluding Tom Hyer and his marchers, who arrived too late, so that, although the applause for Seward was ”frantic, shrill, and wild,” says one correspondent, the cheers for Lincoln were ”louder and more terrible.”[547] Whether this had the influence ascribed to it at the time by Henry J. Raymond and others has been seriously questioned, but it undoubtedly aided in fixing the wavering delegates, and in encouraging the friends of other candidates to rally about the Lincoln standard.
[Footnote 547: M. Halstead, _National Political Conventions of 1860_, p. 145.]
The first roll call proved a disappointment to Seward. Though the pledged States were in line, New England fell short, Pennsylvania showed indifference, and Virginia created a profound surprise.
Nevertheless, the confidence of the Seward forces remained unshaken.
Of the 465 votes, Seward had 173-1/2, Lincoln 102, Cameron 50-1/2, Chase 49, and Bates 48, with 42 for seven others; necessary to a choice, 233. On the second ballot Seward gained four votes from New Jersey, two each from Texas and Kentucky, and one each from Ma.s.sachusetts, Pennsylvania, and Nebraska--making a total of 184-1/2.
Lincoln moved up to 133. The action of Ohio in giving fourteen votes to Lincoln had been no less disappointing to the Seward managers than the transfer of Vermont's vote to the same column; but, before they could recover from this shock, Cameron was withdrawn and 48 votes from Pennsylvania carried Lincoln's total to 181.
The announcement of this change brought the convention to its feet amid scenes of wild excitement. Seward's forces endeavoured to avert the danger, but the arguments of a week were bearing fruit. As the third roll call proceeded, the scattering votes turned to Lincoln.
Seward lost four from Rhode Island and half a vote from Pennsylvania, giving him 180, Lincoln 231-1/2, Chase 24-1/2, Bates 22, and 7 for three others. At this moment, an Ohio delegate authorised a change of four votes from Chase to Lincoln, and instantly one hundred guns, fired from the top of an adjoining building, announced the nomination of ”Honest Old Abe.” In a short speech of rare felicity and great strength, William M. Evarts moved to make the nomination unanimous.
The New York delegation, stunned by the result, declined the honour of naming a candidate for Vice President; and, on rea.s.sembling in the afternoon, the convention nominated Hannibal Hamlin of Maine. As Evarts was leaving the wigwam he remarked, with characteristic humour: ”Well, Curtis, at least we have saved the Declaration of Independence!”
Three days after the nomination Greeley wrote James S. Pike: ”Ma.s.sachusetts was right in Weed's hands, contrary to all reasonable expectation. It was all we could do to hold Vermont by the most desperate exertions; and I at some times despaired of it. The rest of New England was pretty sound, but part of New Jersey was somehow inclined to sin against the light and knowledge. If you had seen the Pennsylvania delegation, and known how much money Weed had in hand, you would not have believed we could do so well as we did. Give Curtin thanks for that. Ohio looked very bad, yet turned out well, and Virginia had been regularly sold out; but the seller could not deliver. We had to rain red-hot bolts on them, however, to keep the majority from going for Seward, who got eight votes here as it was.
Indiana was our right bower, and Missouri above praise. It was a fearful week, such as I hope and trust I shall never see repeated.”[548] That Greeley received credit for all he did is evidenced by a letter from John D. Defrees, then a leading politician of Indiana, addressed to Schuyler Colfax. ”Greeley slaughtered Seward and saved the party,” he wrote. ”He deserves the praises of all men and gets them now. Wherever he goes he is greeted with cheers.”[549]
[Footnote 548: James S. Pike, _First Blows of the Civil War_, p. 519.]
[Footnote 549: Hollister, _Life of Colfax_, p. 148.]
The profound sorrow of Seward's friends resembled the distress of Henry Clay's supporters in 1840. It was not chagrin; it was not the selfish fear that considers the loss of office or spoils; it was not discouragement or despair. Apprehensions for the future of the party and the country there may have been, but their grief found its fountain-head in the feeling that ”his fidelity to the country, the Const.i.tution and the laws,” as Evarts put it; ”his fidelity to the party, and the principle that the majority govern; his interest in the advancement of our party to victory, that our country may rise to its true glory,”[550] had led to his sacrifice solely for a.s.sumed availability. The belief obtained that a large majority of the delegates preferred him, and that had the convention met elsewhere he would probably have been successful. In his _Life of Lincoln_, Alex.
K. McClure of Pennsylvania, an anti-Seward delegate, says that ”of the two hundred and thirty-one men who voted for Lincoln on the third and last ballot, not less than one hundred of them voted reluctantly against the candidate of their choice.”[551]
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