gise for what he had done by seeming to strengthen the ticket
with open enemies of the chief candidate."[1648]

[Footnote 1648: New York _Sun_, September 8.

The following candidates were nominated: Governor, Alonzo B. Cornell,
New York; Lieutenant-Governor, George G. Hoskins, Wyoming; Secretary
of State, Joseph B. Carr, Rensselaer; Comptroller, James W. Wadsworth,
Livingston; Attorney-General, Hamilton Ward, Allegany; Treasurer,
Nathan D. Wendell, Albany; Engineer, Howard Soule, Onondaga.]

The aftermath multiplied reasons for the coalition's downfall. Some
thought the defeat of Cornell in 1876 deceived the opposition as to
his strength; others, that a single candidate should have opposed him;
others, again, that the work of securing delegates did not begin early
enough. But all agreed that the action of George B. Sloan of Oswego
seriously weakened them. Since 1874 Sloan had been prominently
identified with the unfettered wing of the party. Indeed, his activity
along lines of reform had placed him at the head and front of
everything that made for civic betterment. In character he resembled
Robertson. His high qualities and flexibility of mind gave him
unrivalled distinction. He possessed a charm which suffused his
personality as a smile softens and irradiates a face, and although it
was a winsome rather than a commanding personality, it lacked neither
firmness nor power. Moreover, he was a resourceful business man, keen,
active, and honest--characteristics which he carried with him into
public life. His great popularity made him speaker of the Assembly in
the third year of his service (1877), and his ability to work
tactfully and effectively had suggested his name to the coalition as a
compromise candidate for governor. He had never leaned to the side of
the machine. In fact, his failure to win the speakership in the
preceding January was due to the opposition of Cornell backed by John
F. Smyth, and his hopes of future State preferment centred in the
defeat of these aggressive men. Yet at the critical moment, when
success seemed within the grasp of his old-time friends, he voted for
Cornell. For this his former associates never wholly forgave him. Nor
was his motive ever fully understood. Various reasons found
currency--admiration of Conkling, a desire to harmonise his party at
home by the nomination of John C. Churchill for State comptroller, and
weariness of opposing an apparently invincible organisation. But
what