Journal_, July 31, 1861.]

[Footnote 834: "This estimate was afterward verified as correct."--New
York _Tribune_, September 22, 1862.]

For twenty years Wadsworth had not been a stranger to the people of
New York. His vigorous defence of Silas Wright gave him a warm place
in the hearts of Barnburners, and his name, after the formation of the
Republican party, became a household word among members of that young
organisation. Besides, his neighbours had exploited his character for
generosity. The story of the tenant who got a receipt for rent and one
hundred dollars in money because the accidental killing of his oxen in
the midst of harvest had diminished his earning capacity, seemed to be
only one of many similar acts. In 1847 his farm had furnished a
thousand bushels of corn to starving Ireland. Moreover, he had endowed
institutions of learning, founded school libraries, and turned the
houses of tenants into homes of college students. But the Radicals'
real reason for making him their candidate was his "recognition of the
truth that slavery is the implacable enemy of our National life, and
that the Union can only be saved by grappling directly and boldly with
its deadly foe."[835]

[Footnote 835: New York _Tribune_, September 22, 1862.]

Prompted by this motive his supporters used all the methods known to
managing politicians to secure a majority of the delegates. Lincoln's
emancipation proclamation, published on September 23, five days after
the battle of Antietam, greatly strengthened them. They hailed the
event as their victory. It gave substance, too, to the Wadsworth
platform that "the Union must crush out slavery, or slavery will
destroy the Union." Reinforced by such an unexpected ally, it was well
understood before the day of the convention that in spite of the
appeals of Weed and Raymond, and of the wishes of Seward and the
President, the choice of the Radicals would be nominated. Wadsworth
was not averse. He had an itching for public life. In 1856 his
stubborn play for governor and his later contest for a seat in the
United States Senate had characterised him as an office-seeker. But
whether running for office himself, or helping some one else, he was
a fighter whom an opponent had reason to fear.

The Republican Union convention, as it was called, assembled at
Syracuse on September 25. Henry J. Raymond became its president, and
with characteristic directness made a vigorous reply to Seymour,
declaring t