triumphantly elected. The meeting at Decatur called for a convention to
be held at Bloomington on the 29th of May.

About the same thing had been going on in some other free states. On
the very day of the Decatur meeting there was a notable meeting for the
same purpose in Pittsburg. This was attended by E. D. Morgan, governor
of New York, Horace Greeley, O. P. Morton, Zach. Chandler, Joshua R.
Giddings, and other prominent men. They issued the call for the first
national convention of the republican party to be held in Philadelphia
in June.

In May the Illinois convention assembled in Bloomington, and the most
conspicuous person there was Lincoln. It was there that he made the
amazing speech already described. It was the speech which held even the
reporters in such a spell that they could not report it. It is known in
history as the "lost speech," but the fame of it endures to this day.

The democratic convention met in Cincinnati early in June and nominated
James Buchanan to succeed Franklin Pierce. Thus Douglas was for a
second time defeated for the nomination.

The republican convention met a few days later in Philadelphia. At that
time John C. Fremont was at the height of his fame. His character was
romantic, and the record of his adventures was as fascinating as a
novel by Dumas. He had earned the name of "pathfinder" by crossing the
continent. Although unauthorized, he had in California raised a
military company which was of material assistance to the naval forces
of the United States against a Mexican insurrection. He was an ardent
hater of slavery. He was precisely the man, as standard-bearer, to
infuse enthusiasm into the new party and to give it a good start in its