deeply with
the supporters of Grant. Conkling's speech, as he stood
almost in the centre of that great assembly on a platform
just above the heads of the convention, was a masterpiece
of splendid oratory. He began:

And when asked what State he hails from,
Our sole reply shall be,
He comes from Appomattox,
And its famous apple-tree.

It was pretty difficult for Garfield to follow this speech
in the tempest of applause which came after it. There was
nothing stimulant or romantic in the plain wisdom of John
Sherman. It was like reading a passage from "Poor Richard's
Almanac" after one of the lofty chapters of the Psalms of
David. Garfield began, quietly:

"I have witnessed the extraordinary scene of this convention
with deep solicitude. Nothing touches my heart more quickly
than a tribute of honor to a great and noble character. But
as I sat in my seat and witnessed this demonstration, this
assemblage seemed to me a human ocean in a tempest. I have
seen the sea lashed into fury and tossed into spray, and its
grandeur moves the soul of the dullest man; but I remember
that it is not the billows, but the calm level of the sea
from which all heights and depths are measured. When the
storm has passed and the hour of calm settles on the ocean,
when the sunlight bathes its peaceful surface, then the astronomer
and surveyor take the level from which they measure all terrestrial
heights and depths.

"Gentlemen of the Convention, your present temper may not
mark the healthful pulse of our people. When your enthusiasm
has passed, when the emotions of the hour have subsided, we
shall find below this storm and passion that calm level of
public opinion from which the thoughts of a mighty people
are to be measured, and by which their final action will be
determined.

"Not here, in this brilliant circle where fifteen thousand
men and women are gathered, is the destiny of the Republic
to be decreed for the next four years--not here, where I see
the enthusiastic faces of seven hundred and fifty-six delegates,
waiting to cast their lot into the urn and determine the choice
of the Republic; but by four millions of Republican firesides,
where the thoughtful voters, with wives and children about
them, with the calm thoughts inspired by love of home and
country, with the history of the past, the hopes of the future,
and reverence for the great men who have adorned and blessed
our nation in days gone by, burning in