otherRepublicansmoreconspicuousthanLincoln——SewardinNewYork，SumnerinMassachusetts，ChaseinOhio——butallthesehadinveterateenemies。Despitetheirimportancewoulditbesafetonominatethem？Wouldnotthepartybecompelledtotakesomerelativelyminorfigure，someessentiallynewman？Inaword，whatweknowasa“darkhorse。“Believingthatthiswouldhappen，theybuilthopefullyontheirfaithinLincoln。
Towardtheendoftheyearhewasatlastpersuadedtotakehiscandidacyseriously。ThelocalcampaignforhisnominationhadgonesofarthatafailuretogofurtherwouldhavethelookofbeingdiscardedasthelocalRepublicanleader。Thisargumentdecidedhim。Beforetheyear’sendhehadagreedtobecomeacandidatebeforetheconvention。Inhisownwords，“Iamnotinapositionwhereitwouldhurtmuchformetonotbenominatedonthenationalticket；butIamwhereitwouldhurtsomeformetonotgettheIllinoisdelegates。“[4]
ItwasshortlyafterthismomentousdecisionthathewenttoNewYorkbyinvitationandmadehismostcelebrated，thoughnotinanyrespecthisgreatest，oration。[5]AlargeaudiencefilledCooperUnion，February27，1860。WilliamCullenBryantpresided。DavidDudleyFieldescortedLincolntotheplatform。
HoraceGreeleywasintheaudience。Again，theperformancewaspurelyliterary。Noformulationofnewpolicies，noappealforanynewdeparture。Itwasamasterlyrestatementofhisposition；oftheessenceofthedebateswithDouglas。ItcleansedtheRepublicanplatformofallaccidentalaccretions，asifaship’shullwerebeingscrapedofbarnaclespreparatorytoavoyage；itgavetheunderlyingissuessuchinflexibledefinitionthattheycouldnotbejuggledwith。Againheshowedapoweroflucidstatementnotpossessedbyanyofhisrivals。AnincidentofthespeechwashisunsparingcondemnationofJohnBrownwhoseraidanddeathwereoneverytongue。“Youchargethatwestirupinsurrectionsamongyourslaves，“saidhe，apostrophizingtheslave-holders。“Wedenyit，andwhatisyourproof？’Harper’sFerry；JohnBrown!’JohnBrownwasnoRepublican；andyouhavefailedtoimplicateasingleRepublicaninthisHarper’sFerryenterprise……
“JohnBrown’seffortwaspeculiar。Itwasnotaslaveinsurrection。Itwasanattemptbywhitementogetuparevoltamongslaves，inwhichtheslavesrefusedtoparticipate。Infact，itwassoabsurdthattheslaveswithalltheirignorancesawplainlyenoughthatitcouldnotsucceed。Thataffairinitsphilosophycorrespondswiththemanyattemptsrelatedinhistoryattheassassinationofkingsandemperors。Anenthusiastbroodsovertheoppressionofthepeopleuntilhefancieshimselfcommissionedbyheaventoliberatethem。Heventurestheattemptwhichendsinlittleelsethanhisownexecution。Orsini’sattemptonLouisNapoleon，andJohnBrown’sattemptatHarper’sFerrywere，intheirphilosophy，preciselythesame。TheeagernesstocastblameonoldEnglandintheonecaseandonNewEnglandintheother，doesnotdisprovethesamenessofthetwothings。“