made it reasonably clear from the beginning that the ticket
was doomed to defeat. The progress of the canvass strengthened this
impression; the Democracy was placed everywhere on the defensive; its
own declarations shotted every gun that was aimed against it; and its
orators and organs could neither make effective reply nor divert public
attention from its fatal commitment.

The Democrats however made a strenuous contest and sought to
counterbalance the weakness of their national contest by strong State
tickets. In Indiana Mr. Hendricks was nominated for Governor, and it
was hoped that the influence of his name would secure the advantage
of success in the preliminary October struggle. In Pennsylvania a
vigorous canvass was conducted under the skillful management of William
A. Wallace. But all these efforts were unavailing. The October
elections clearly presaged Republican victory. The Republicans carried
Pennsylvania, in spite of surprising and questionable Democratic gains
in Philadelphia; they held Ohio by a satisfactory majority; and in
Indiana, Conrad Baker was elected Governor over Mr. Hendricks. With
this result in the October States the November battle could not be
doubtful.

The Democratic leaders however did not yet surrender the field. They
made one more energetic effort to snatch the victory which seemed
already in the grasp of their adversaries. But their counsels were
divided. One element proposed to try heroic surgery and cut off the
diseased member. While the echoes of the October verdict were still
resounding, the _New-York World_, the leading Metropolitan organ of the
Democratic party, in a series of inflammatory articles demanded that
General Blair should be withdrawn from the ticket. This disorganizing
demonstration met with little favor in the ranks of the party, and only
served as a confession of weakness without accomplishing any good. A
more significant and better advised movement was that of Governor
Seymour himself. He had thus far borne no public part in the campaign,
but he now took the field in person to rally the broken cohorts of his
party and if possible recover the lost ground. Up to this time General
Blair, through his self-assertion and his bold proclamation of
Democratic designs, had been the central figure of the canvass. It was
now determined that Blair should go to the rear and that Governor
Seymour should go to the front and make a last and desperate effort to
cha