UNITED STATES. 



749 



On taking the twenty-second ballot, when 

 the State of Ohio was called, General McCook 

 rose and said : ' 



I rise at the unanimous request and demand of the 

 delegation from Ohio and with the assent and ap- 

 proval of every public man in that State, including 

 the Hon. George H. Pendleton ; to again put into 

 nomination against his inclination, ^but no longer 

 against his honor, the name of Horatio Seymour, of 

 New York. (Great and continued cheering, many of 

 the delegates rising and standing on the seats and 

 waving their hats in a most enthusiastic and frantic 

 manner.) Let us vote, Mr. Chairman and gentlemen 

 of the convention, for that man whom the presidency 

 has sought and who has not sought the presidency. 

 I believe in my heart that it is the solution of the 

 problem which has been taxing the mind of the 

 democratic and conservative men of this nation for 

 the last six months. I believe it will be a solu- 

 tion which will drive from power the vandals who 

 now possess the capital of tne nation. I believe it 

 will receive unanimous assent and approval from the 

 great belt of States from the Atlantic New York, 

 New Jersey j and Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Mich- 

 igan, Illinois, Missouri, and west of the Pacific 

 Ocean. I say he has not sought the presidency, and 

 I ask, not demand, but ask that the convention shall 

 demand of him that, burying his own inclinations 

 and the well-known desires of his heart, he shall 

 yield to what we believe to be almost the unanimous 

 wish and desire of the delegates of this convention. 



A report of the proceedings at this time is as 

 follows: "The wildest enthusiasm prevailed 

 throughout the building as the Ohio delegate 

 closed his remarks, casting the vote of his State 

 for Mr. Seymour. All business was for a time 

 suspended, and cheer after cheer arose from 

 the body of the hall, caught up and echoed and 

 reechoed by the crowded gallery. Delegates 

 rose in their seats, stood upon the benches, and 

 waved hats, fans, and handkerchiefs. This 

 demonstration also was imitated by the gal- 

 leries, the whole mass of spectators standing 

 up and joining in the enthusiasm which greeted 

 Mr. McCook's nomination of Horatio Seymour. 

 The noise and uproar, occasioned by this dem- 

 onstration, only ceased when the object of it 

 came forward to the rostrum and signified, by 

 a wave of his hand and a silent appeal, that he 

 desired to be heard." Order being thus re- 

 stored, Mr. Seymour said : 



Gentlemen of the convention, the motion just 

 made by the gentleman from Ohio excites in my 

 mind the most mingled emotions, so that I have no 

 terms in which to express my gratitude for the mag- 

 nanimity of his State and the generosity of the con- 

 vention. I have no terms in which to tell of my 

 regret that my name has been brought before this 

 convention a second time. God knows that my life 

 and all that is mine I would give for the good of my 

 country, which I believe to be identical with its 

 greatness. I do not stand here as a man proud in 

 his position or obstinate in his purposes ; but this is 

 a question of duty and honor, and I must stand upon 

 my own convictions against the world. "When I said 

 here, at an early day, that honor forbade my accept- 

 ance of that nomination, I meant it. When, in the 

 course of my intercourse with those of my own 

 delegation and friends, I said that I could not be a 

 candidate, I meant it. Permit me to say that now, 

 after all that has taken place, I could not be nomina- 

 ted without placing myself and the great Democratic 

 party of the nation in a false position ; but more than 

 that, we have had to-day an exhibition from a distin- 



guished citizen of Ohio that has touched my heart as 

 it has touched yours. I thank God and I congratu- 

 late this country that there is in the great State of 

 Ohio whose magnificent position gives it so great a 

 control over the action of the country a young man 

 rising fast into fame, whose future is all-glorious, 

 who has told the world that he can trample under 

 foot every other consideration than that of his duty, 

 and when he expressed to his delegation, expressed 

 in the most direct terms that he was willing I should 

 be nominated when he stood in such a position, 

 when he entered upon such an honorable pathway, I 

 should feel myself a dishonored man if I could not 

 tread in a feeble way the honorable pathway he has 

 marked out. Gentlemen of the convention, I thank 

 you, and may God bless you for your kindness to 

 me, but your candidate I cannot be. 



The delegates from Ohio insisted on their 

 nomination ; those from New York acceded to 

 it, and the entire vote of the convention, 317 

 votes, was cast for Horatio Seymour, of New 

 York. Frank P. Blair of Missouri was nomi- 

 nated for vice-president. 



There is one event, connected with this 

 convention, so singular the single event of 

 the kind in American politics as to claim 

 special notice. It will be seen that, on several 

 ballotings, votes were cast for Chief-Justice 

 Chase. Except for a short time when the 

 Democratic party, in Ohio, took ground on 

 the slavery question substantially the same 

 as his own, Mr. Chase had been for many 

 years prominent in leadership of opposing 

 organizations. The Democratic party, as is 

 well known from its history, is usually very 

 tenacious in requiring a record of unswerv- 

 ing party allegiance from those whom they 

 select as candidates. Yet these votes for Mr. 

 Chase, when cast, not only did not excite 

 any unfavorable comment in the convention, 

 but, on the contrary, drew from the audience 

 enthusiastic demonstrations of applause and 

 approval. The few votes thus cast are no in- 

 dication of the real strength of Mr. Chase in 

 the convention. A very large proportion - of 

 the delegates were ready to cast their ballots 

 for him, awaiting with anxiety to see his 

 name formally presented, first, by some one 

 of the Northern Democratic States. The 

 movement in favor of Mr. Chase's nomination 

 had been going on for some months, growing 

 rapidly in strength, until, at the time of the 

 meeting of the convention, the sentiment of 

 the party in New York City and Brooklyn had 

 become almost unanimous in his favor. Upon 

 a test vote in the delegation of the State of 

 New York, all the delegates from New York 

 City save one, and all the Brooklyn delegates 

 save one, voted for the selection of Mr. Chase 

 as New York's candidate. The mov.ement did 

 not originate with Mr. Chase or with his per- 

 sonal friends in either party ; it developed it- 

 self strongly in the ranks of the Democratic 

 party shortly after the impeachment trial. 

 Under the pressure of this popular sentiment 

 it became the duty of party leaders to seek Mr. 

 Chase and ascertain how far an agreement in 

 political sentiment existed between him and 



