is adherence to the
Free-soil nominations, and tried hard, though in vain, to bring to
their support his former New York associates."--James F. Rhodes,
_History of the United States_, Vol. 1, pp. 264-65.]

Prince John proved himself equal to the occasion. If no longer the
great apostle of the Free-soilers he was now the accepted champion of
the Democracy. He had said what everybody believed who voted for
Pierce and what many people thought who voted for Scott. There is no
doubt his speech created an immense sensation. Greeley ridiculed it,
Weed belittled it, and the Free-soilers denounced it, but it became
the keynote of the campaign, and the Prince, with his rich, brilliant
copiousness that was never redundant, became the picturesque and
popular speaker of every platform. There were other Democratic
orators.[420] Charles O'Conor's speeches were masterpieces of
declamation, and James T. Brady, then thirty-seven years old, but
already famous as one of the foremost criminal lawyers of the time,
discovered the same magnetic eloquence that made him almost
irresistible before a jury. His sentences, rounded and polished,
rolled from his mouth in perfect balance. Van Buren was kaleidoscopic,
becoming by turn humourous, sarcastic, gravely logical, and famously
witty; Brady and O'Conor inclined to severity, easily dropping into
vituperation, and at times exhibiting bitterness. Van Buren's hardest
hits came in the form of sarcasm. It mattered not who heard him, all
went away good-natured and satisfied with the entertainment. There
were moments when laughter drowned his loudest utterances, when
silence made his whispers audible, and when an eloquent epigram
moistened the eye.

[Footnote 420: John A. Dix spoke in the New England and the Middle
States. From October 11 to 29 he made thirteen speeches "in the great
canvass which is upon us."--Morgan Dix, _Memoirs of John A. Dix_, Vol.
1, pp. 269, 271.]

The election proved a Waterloo to the Whigs. Twenty-seven States gave
majorities for Pierce, only four were for Scott. Seymour ran 22,000
votes ahead of Hunt.[421] In the Assembly the Democrats numbered
eighty-five, the Whigs forty-three. Of the thirty-three congressmen,
the Democrats elected twenty-one, the Whigs ten, the Free-soilers and
Land Reformers one each. It was wittily said that the Whig party "died
of an attempt to swallow the fugitive slave law." The election of
Pierce and Seymour surprised none of the Whig leaders. Thu