party," which Conkling's
organ characterised as a "mistake," the common danger proved a
sufficient magnet to unite the two factions on a platform declaring
that national pledges should be redeemed in letter and spirit, that
there should be no postponement of resumption, and that permanent
prosperity could rest alone on the fixed monetary standard of the
commercial world.

To further exclude just cause of offence Conkling, in accepting the
chairmanship of the convention, broke his long silence upon the
currency question, and without sarcasm or innuendo honoured the
President by closely following the latter's clear, compact, and
convincing speeches on hard money. George William Curtis led in the
frequent applause. Speaking of convention harmony the _Times_ declared
that during the address "there seemed to be something in the air which
made children of strong men. Many of the delegates were affected to
tears."[1607] Curtis also stirred genuine enthusiasm. He had not been
captious as to the form of the platform. To him it sufficed if the
convention keyed its resolutions to the President's note for sound
money, which had become the Administration's chief work, and although
the spectacle of Curtis applauding and supplementing Conkling's speech
seemed as marvellous as it was unexpected, it did not appear out of
place. Indeed, the environment at Saratoga differed so radically from
conditions at Rochester that it required a vivid fancy to picture
these men as the hot combatants of the year before. The brilliant,
closely packed Rochester audience, the glare of a hundred gas jets,
and an atmosphere surcharged with intense hostility, had given place
to gray daylight, a sullen sky, and a morning assemblage tempered into
harmony by threatened danger. The absence of the picturesque greatly
disappointed the audience. The labour of reading a speech from printed
proofs marred Conkling's oratory, and Curtis' effort to compliment the
President without arousing resentment spoiled the rhetorical finish
that usually made his speeches enjoyable. But the prudence of the
speakers and the cordial reception of the platform proved thoroughly
acceptable to the delegates, who nominated George F. Danforth for the
Court of Appeals and then separated with the feeling that the State
might be redeemed.[1608]

[Footnote 1607: New York _Times_ (correspondence), September 27.]

[Footnote 1608: A single roll-call resulted as follows: George F.
Danforth, M