It was indeed against the logic of the situation that a Democratic Convention could at that time select a distinguished Union general, of conservative record and cautious mind, for a Presidential candidate.

General Hancock's name was in fact used only while the actual contestants of the Convention were fencing for advantageous position in the final contest.
The outlook for Mr.Hendricks was considered flattering by his immediate supporters, but to the skilled political observer it was evident that the figures of the eighteenth ballot gave no assurance to the friends of any candidate.

After the adjournment of the Convention, and throughout the night that followed, calculation and speculation took every shape.

The delegations from New York and Ohio absorbed the interest of the politicians and the public.

The two delegations were playing at cross-purposes--each trying to defeat the designs of the other, and each finding its most available candidate in the State of the other.