THE RISING SPIRIT OF UNREST 17 



the radical reconstruction measures and the fact 

 that he had signed Jefferson Da vis's bail-bond 

 made the "crow" more palatable to the Southern 

 Democrats. In the campaign Greeley's brilliant 

 speeches were listened to with great respect. His 

 tour was a personal triumph; but the very voters 

 who hung eagerly on his speeches felt him to be too 

 impulsive and opinionated to be trusted with presi- 

 dential powers. They knew the worst which might 

 be expected of Grant; they could not guess the ruin 

 which Greeley's dynamic powers might bring on 

 the country if he used them unwisely. In the end 

 many of the original leaders of the Liberal move- 

 ment supported Grant as the lesser of two evils. 

 The Liberal defection from the Republican ranks 

 was more than offset by the refusal of Democrats 

 to vote for Greeley, and Grant was triumphantly 

 reflected. 



The Liberal Republican party was undoubtedly 

 weakened by the unfortunate selection of its can- 

 didate, but it scarcely could have been victorious 

 with another candidate. The movement was dis- 

 tinctly one of leaders rather than of the masses, and 

 the things for which it stood most specifically 

 the removal of political disabilities in the South and 

 civil service reform awakened little enthusiasm 



