of the highest importance. For him to take
part in the campaign, therefore, was imperative, and he selected
Albany as the place and October 13 as the day to begin. Other
engagements followed at Buffalo, Utica, New York, and elsewhere.[1484]

[Footnote 1483: Appleton's _Cyclopaedia_, 1875, p. 743.]

[Footnote 1484: See remarks of Forster of Westchester, a delegate to
the Republican State convention of March 22, 1876.--New York
_Tribune_, March 23, 1876.]

Attracted by the critical situation and an intense curiosity great
audiences greeted him, and hundreds of friends cheered an address,
which, as usual, contained from his point of view the whole Republican
case. He recited the Democratic party's history during the war;
described reformers as selfish, hypocritical, and pure, placing
Republicans in the last category; claimed that the canal frauds
originated under Democratic rule and were connived at by Democratic
State officials; and proved that Republicans had administered the
canals and the State's finances more economically than the Democrats.
He also admitted reform to be the principal issue, thanked Tilden for
the little he had accomplished, severely castigated Bigelow for
accepting place on the canal commission as a Republican and on the
State ticket as a Democrat, and drew attention to Kelly as a bad man
and to the extravagance of Democratic rule in New York City.
Throughout it all his treatment was characteristically bold,
brilliant, and aggressive. "The bright blade of his eloquence with its
keen satiric edge flashed defiantly before the eyes of the applauding
audience,"[1485] and every period exhibited his profound sense of the
duty of maintaining the ascendency of a party which to him promised
best for the public.

[Footnote 1485: The _Nation_, October 28.]

With wisdom and sound argument Conkling had opposed inflation, and
after the passage of the bill on April 14, 1874, he had encouraged the
President's veto. He had likewise advocated with no less fervour and
sagacity the resumption of specie payment, which became a law on
January 14, 1875. This service justly entitled him to the highest
praise. Nevertheless, in his speech at Albany he failed to show that
Republican success in 1875 would not mean a continuation of those
things which helped a Republican defeat in 1874. Hostility to a third
term and sympathy with a generous Southern policy were the conspicuous
features of the Saratoga platform, and upon th