and he was strenuously fought
by an element of his own party under the inspiration of Colonel Forney,
who, while professedly supporting Grant, threw all the force of the
Philadelphia _Press_ into the warfare against Hartranft. This violent
opposition encouraged the partisans of Mr. Greeley with the hope that
they might secure the _prestige_ of victory over the Republicans in
Pennsylvania, whose October verdicts had always proved an unerring
index to Presidential elections. But they were doomed to
disappointment. The people saw that the charges against General
Hartranft were not only unfounded but malicious, and he was chosen
Governor by more than 35,000 majority. Ohio gave a Republican majority
on the same day of more than 14,000; and though Mr. Hendricks carried
Indiana by 1,148, this narrow margin for the strongest Democrat in the
State was accepted as confirming the sure indications in the other
States.

The defeat of Mr. Greeley and the re-election of General Grant were
now, in the popular belief, assured. The result was the most decisive,
in the popular vote, of any Presidential election since the unopposed
choice of Monroe in 1820; and on the electoral vote the only contests
so one-sided were in the election of Pierce in 1852, and the second
election of Lincoln in 1864, when the States in rebellion did not
participate. The majorities were unprecedented. General Grant carried
Pennsylvania by 137,548, New York by 53,455, Illinois by 57,006, Iowa
by 60,370, Massachusetts by 74,212, Michigan by 60,100, Ohio by 37,501,
and Indiana by 22,515. Several of the Southern States presented
figures of similar proportion. In South Carolina the Republican
majority was 49,587, in Mississippi 34,887, and in North Carolina
24,675. Mr. Greeley carried no Northern state, and only six Southern
States,--Georgia, Kentucky, Maryland, Missouri, Tennessee, and Texas.
But these great majorities were not normal, and did not indicate the
real strength of parties. The truth is, that after the October
elections Mr. Greeley's canvass was utterly hopeless; and thousands
of Democrats sought to humiliate their leaders for the folly of the
nomination by absenting themselves from the polls. The Democratic
experiment of taking a Republican candidate had left the Republican
party unbroken; while the Democratic party, if not broken, was at least
discontented and disheartened,--given over within its own ranks to
recrimination and revenge.