When the vote of Lincoln was announced, there
was a tremendous burst of applause, which the chairman prudently but
with difficulty controlled and silenced.

The third ballot was begun amid a breathless suspense; hundreds of
pencils kept pace with the roll-call, and nervously marked the changes
on their tally-sheets. The Lincoln figures steadily grew. Votes came to
him from all the other candidates--4-1/2 from Seward, 2 from Cameron,
13 from Bates, 18 from Chase, 9 from Dayton, 3 from McLean, 1 from
Clay. Lincoln had gained 50-1/2, Seward had lost 4-1/2. Long before the
official tellers footed up their columns, spectators and delegates
rapidly made the reckoning and knew the result: Lincoln, 231-1/2;
Seward, 180.[10] Counting the scattering votes, 465 ballots had been
cast, and 233 were necessary to a choice; only 1-1/2 votes more were
needed to make a nomination.

A profound stillness suddenly fell upon the wigwam; the men ceased to
talk and the ladies to flutter their fans; one could distinctly hear
the scratching of pencils and the ticking of telegraph instruments on
the reporters' tables. No announcement had been made by the chair;
changes were in order, and it was only a question of seconds who should
speak first. While every one was leaning forward in intense expectancy,
David K. Cartter sprang upon his chair and reported a change of four
Ohio votes from Chase to Lincoln. There was a moment's pause,--a teller
waved his tally-sheet towards the skylight and shouted a name,--and
then the boom of a cannon on the roof of the wigwam announced the
nomination to the crowds in the streets, where shouts and salutes took
up and spread the news. In the convention the Lincoln river now became
an inundation. Amid the wildest hurrahs, delegation after delegation
changed its vote to the victor.

[Illustration: FAC-SIMILE OF LINCOLN'S LETTER OF ACCEPTANCE.]

A graceful custom prevails in orderly American conventions, that the
chairman of the vanquished delegation is first to greet the nominee
with a short address of party fealty and promise of party support. Mr.
Evarts, the spokesman for New York, essayed promptly to perform this
courteous office, but was delayed a while by the enthusiasm and
confusion. The din at length subsided, and the presiding officer
announced that on the third ballot Abraham Lincoln, of Illinois,
received 364 votes, and "is selected as your candidate for President of
the United States." Then Mr. Evarts,