204 POLITICAL LIFE-X 



us here during our whole stay, and I am glad that they are 

 not to see the work that is to be done here to-day. It was 

 a curious exhibition of sentiment, a revelation of the deep 

 poetic feeling which was so essential an element in Curtis s 

 noble character. 



The various candidates were presented by prominent 

 speakers, and most of the speeches were thoroughly good ; 

 but unquestionably the best, from an oratorical point of 

 view, was made on the nomination of Mr. Edmunds by 

 Governor Long of Massachusetts. Both as to matter and 

 manner it was perfection ; was felt to be so by the conven 

 tion; and was sincerely applauded even by the majority 

 of those who intended to vote for Mr. Elaine. 



There was one revelation here, as there had been at 

 many conventions previously, which could not fail to pro 

 duce a discouraging impression upon every thoughtful 

 American. The number of delegates and substitutes sent 

 to the convention amounted in all to a few hundreds, but 

 these were almost entirely lost in the immense crowd of 

 spectators, numbering, it was said, from twelve to fifteen 

 thousand. In the only conventions which I had ever before 

 seen, including those at Baltimore and Philadelphia and 

 various State conventions of New York, the delegates had 

 formed the majority of those in the hall; but in this great 

 &quot;wigwam&quot; there were times in which the most important 

 part was played by the spectators. At some moments this 

 overwhelming mob, which encircled the seats of the dele 

 gates on the floor and rose above them on all sides in the 

 galleries, endeavored to sweep the convention in the direc 

 tion of its own whims and fancies. From time to time 

 the convention ceased entirely to be a deliberative body. 

 As the names of certain favorite candidates were called, or 

 as certain popular allusions were made in speeches, this 

 mob really took possession of the convention and became 

 almost frantic. I saw many women jumping up and down, 

 dishevelled and hysterical, and some men acting in much 

 the same way. It was absolutely unworthy of a conven 

 tion of any party, a disgrace to decency, and a blot upon 



