at time taken deep root in his State. Mr.
Wheeler had achieved reputation in Congress as a discreet legislator
and a practical man of affairs, and was cordially received by the
different factions which at that time divided the Republican party of
New York.

The Democratic National convention assembled at St. Louis two weeks
after the nomination of Hayes and Wheeler. The party leaders and
managers came together with more hope of success than they had dared
to entertain at any period since the beginning of the civil war.
The Democratic victories of 1874 had encouraged them with a confidence
which the partial re-action of 1875 had not diminished. They were
recovering possession of the South; they were profiting from political
discontent in the North which they strove in every way to develop; they
were gaining in assurance just in proportion as the war feeling was
dying out; and they were reaping the usual advantage of the opposition
party in a period of financial depression. Learning wisdom from the
blundering course of 1868 and the disastrous experiment of 1872, they
were now to uplift the banner of pure Democracy under Democracy's most
skillful leadership.

Interest in the movement was deepened by the organized and irresistible
force with which Mr. Samuel J. Tilden had assumed leadership and was
advancing to the Presidential nomination. Mr. Tilden was in some
respects the most striking figure in the Democratic party since
Andrew Jackson. Though more than threescore, he had been a conspicuous
party chief only three or four years. He had moved forward to
unchallenged personal supremacy with a vigor and rapidity which in the
political life of the United States have seldom been equaled. His
sudden elevation was not the result of accidental circumstances of
which he was the fortunate beneficiary. He was the conscious and
masterful creator of his position. The sceptre of power in the
Democratic party did not drop into his hands; he seized it, and wielded
it at his own will. He moulded the conditions which suited his
designs, and when the hour was come he assumed the command as of divine
right.

But though he thus blazed forth with unexpected brilliancy, his whole
life had in fact been a school of preparation. His public career in
official position had it is true been limited. He served in the
Legislature of 1846 and in the Constitutional Conventions of 1846 and
1867. In both he bestowed especial attention upo