thirty years he had not in political affairs let his
heart outweigh his judgment." Governor Edwin D. Morgan and Henry J.
Raymond were his lieutenants, William M. Evarts, his floor manager,
and a score of men whose names were soon to become famous acted as his
assistants. The brilliant rhetoric of George William Curtis, when
insisting upon an indorsement of the Declaration of Independence, gave
the opposition a taste of their mettle.

[Footnote 539: "Mr. Seward seemed to be certain of receiving the
nomination at Chicago. He felt that it belonged to him. His flatterers
had encouraged him in the error that he was the sole creator of the
Republican party."--H.B. Stanton, _Random Recollections_, p. 214. "I
hear of so many fickle and timid friends as almost to make me sorry
that I have ever attempted to organise a party to save my country."
Letter of W.H. Seward to his wife, May 2, 1860.--F.W. Seward, _Life of
W.H. Seward_, Vol. 2, p. 448.]

Seward, confident of the nomination, had sailed for Europe in May,
1859, in a happy frame of mind. The only serious opposition had come
from the _Tribune_ and from the Keystone State; but on the eve of his
departure Simon Cameron assured him of Pennsylvania, and Greeley,
apparently reconciled, had dined with him at the Astor House. "The sky
is bright, and the waters are calm," was the farewell to his
wife.[540] After his return there came an occasional shadow. "I hear
of so many fickle and timid friends," he wrote;[541] yet he had
confidence in Greeley, who, while calling with Weed, exhibited such
friendly interest that Seward afterward resented the suggestion of his
disloyalty.[542] On reaching Auburn to await the action of the
convention, his confidence of success found expression in the belief
that he would not again return to Congress during that session. As the
work of the convention progressed his friends became more sanguine.
The solid delegations of New York, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota,
California, and Kansas, supplemented by the expected votes of New
England and other States on a second roll call, made the nomination
certain. Edward Bates had Missouri, Delaware, and Oregon, but their
votes barely equalled one-half of New York's; Lincoln was positively
sure of only Illinois, and several of its delegates preferred Seward;
Chase had failed to secure the united support of Ohio, and Dayton in
New Jersey was without hope. Cameron held Pennsylvania in reversion
for the New York Se