136 POLITICAL LIFE-VI 



them, Mr. Conkling by Mr. Roberts. I delayed my speech 

 somewhat. The general course of it had been thought out 

 beforehand, but the phraseology and sequence of argument 

 were left to the occasion. I felt deeply the importance 

 of nominating Mr. Conkling, and when the moment came 

 threw my heart into it. I was in full health and vigor, and 

 soon felt that a very large part of the audience was with 

 me. Presently I used the argument that the great State 

 of New York, which had been so long silent in the highest 

 councils of the Nation, demanded a voice. Instantly the 

 vast majority of all present, in the galleries, in the lobbies, 

 and on the floor, rose in quick response to the sentiment 

 and cheered with all their might. There had been no such 

 outburst in the whole course of the evening. Evidently 

 this was the responsive chord, and having gone on with 

 the main line of my argument, I at last closed with the 

 same declaration in different form ; that our great Com- 

 monwealth, the most important in the whole sisterhood 

 of States, which had been so long silent in the Senate, 

 wished to be heard, and that, therefore, I seconded the 

 nomination of Mr. Conkling. Immediately the whole 

 house rose to this sentiment again and again, with even 

 greater evidence of approval than before ; the voting be- 

 gan and Mr. Conkling was finally nominated, if my mem- 

 ory is correct, by a majority of three. 



The moment the vote was declared the whole assembly 

 broke loose; the pressure being removed, there came a 

 general effervescence of good feeling, and I suddenly 

 found myself raised on the shoulders of stalwart men who 

 stood near, and rapidly carried over the heads of the 

 crowd, through many passages and corridors, my main 

 anxiety being to protect my head so that my brains might 

 not be knocked out against stairways and doorways; 

 but presently, when fairly dazed and bewildered, I was 

 borne into a room in the old Congress Hall Hotel, and 

 deposited safely in the presence of a gentleman standing 

 with his back to the fire, who at once extended his hand 

 to me most cordially, and to whom I said, "God bless 



