One  curious  uncertainty  as  yet  seemed  to  hover
over  the  political  battlefield.  When,  on  June  6th,
Private  Secretary  Lamont  carried  to  President  Cleve-
land the  telegram  announcing  the  result  at  St.  Louis,
it  is  said  that  he  found  him  in  his  library,  examining
some  text-books  designed  for  use  in  the  schools  for
little  Indians,  upon  the  Western  reservations.  The
President  turned  for  a  moment  from  his  collection
of  school  literature,  glanced  at  the  telegram,  nodded,
turned  back  again,  and  made  no  sign.  He  had  not
heard  any  news  truly,  and  twenty  days  more  went
by  without  any  other  American  hearing  what  he  pro-
posed doing  with  reference  to  the  nomination.  All
the  while  his  own  friends  and  most  of  his  enemies
took  his  acceptance  for  granted,  the  latter  adding,  in
print,  italicized  quotations  of  all  his  public  declara-
tions concerning  the  advisability  of  limiting  United
States  Presidents  each  to  a  single  term  in  office.
The    Republicans,  therefore,  had  nominated    Harri-


G  R  o  r  '/■!  R    ( 7,  E  VELAND.  259

son  and  Morton  without  feeling  sure  that,  after  all,
the  Democratic  ticket  would  be  Cleveland  and  Thur-
man.  They  were  not  longer  kept  in  suspense,  for  it
was  almost  as  if  the  party  in  power  had  waited  for
their  action  before  putting  the  finishing  touch  upon
its  own.  At  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  June
26th^  the  day  following  the  adjournment  of  the  Na-
tional Republican  Convention,  the  committee  ap-
pointed by  the  National  Democratic  Convention  ar-
rived at  the  Executive  Mansion  to  present  to  Pres-
ident Cleveland  the  formal  announcement  of  his
renomination.  The  committee  consisted  of  Hon.
