The campaign of 1884 was one of the most remarkable ever fought by the Republican Party. An unusual feature was that for the first time in its history a strong wing of the Republican Party openly refused to support the nominee. These Independent Republicans became known as "Mugwumps," an Indian name meaning a great or wise person. It was first applied derisively, but afterwards accepted by the Independents as a party name. They were not strong in numbers, but as the campaign drew near its close and it was seen that the election would be very close, the seriousness of the Republican revolt was felt. The entire campaign was marked with great personal bitterness, and charges of corruption and dishonesty were made against both candidates; against Mr. Blaine because of his alleged connection with the Little Rock Railroad matter in 1876. This accusation was brought to the people by the publication of the Mulligan letters September 16, 1884, but the charge was without foundation. The defection of the Mugwumps and the bitter personal attacks had the effect of making Mr. Blaine's friends more enthusiastic in their work for him, and he probably would have won the contest had it not been for the unfortunate utterance of Dr. Burchard in New York City, six days before the election, at a reception by Mr. Blaine to a delegation of clergymen, in which the Democratic Party was referred to as one whose antecedents have been "Rum, Romanism and Rebellion." This remark was dishonestly attributed to Mr. Blaine, and unquestionably lost thousands of votes, because the accusation could not be refuted satisfactorily in the few days remaining before the election. New York, with its thirty-six electoral votes, was lost by the narrow margin of 1149 popular votes, and the election went to the Democrats. A Democratic House was also elected. The electoral vote gave Cleveland and Hendricks 219 and Blaine and Logan 182. The popular vote was: Cleveland 4,874,986, Blaine 4,851,981, Butler 175,370, St. John 150,369.