The convention met in Baltimore on the 27th of May, South Carolina being the only State not represented. The first important movement made in the body after its organization was the readoption of the two-thirds rule, which all understood meant the defeat of Van Buren, notwithstanding that a majority of the delegates would vote for him. The sincere and earnest friends of Van Buren battled earnestly against the adoption of the rule, but it finally prevailed by a vote of 148 to 118, and a large majority of the votes in favor of the rule were cast by Southern delegates. It was claimed by his friends, and I doubt not with reason, that had the delegates in the convention voted as they had been instructed to vote, Van Buren would have received within a very few votes of the necessary two-thirds to make a nomination on the 1st ballot. The convention was anything but harmonious, and stormy debates were common from the beginning to the end of the proceedings of the convention. Finally the convention reached the ballot for President, and Van Buren received on the 1st ballot 146 votes to 120 for all others, giving him a clear majority of 26 of the whole convention, but under the two-thirds rule it required 178 to nominate him. The following table shows the nine ballots in detail, the last resulting in the nomination of James K. Polk, of Tennessee: ═════════════════════╤══════╤═════╤═════╤══════╤══════╤══════╤══════╤══════╤═════ │ 1st. │ 2d. │ 3d. │ 4th. │ 5th. │ 6th. │ 7th. │ 8th. │ 9th. ─────────────────────┼──────┼─────┼─────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼──────┼───── M. Van Buren, N. Y. │ 146 │ 127 │ 121 │ 111 │ 103 │ 101 │ 99 │ 104 │ 2 L. Cass, Mich. │ 83 │ 94 │ 92 │ 105 │ 107 │ 116 │ 123 │ 114 │ 29 R. M. Johnson, Ky. │ 24 │ 33 │ 38 │ 32 │ 29 │ 23 │ 21 │ ―― │ ―― J. Buchanan, Pa. │ 4 │ 9 │ 11 │ 17 │ 26 │ 25 │ 22 │ 2 │ ―― L. Woodbury, N. H. │ 2 │ 1 │ 2 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― Com. Stewart, Pa. │ 1 │ 1 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― J. C. Calhoun, S. C. │ 6 │ 1 │ 2 │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 2 │ ―― J. K. Polk, Tenn. │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ ―― │ 44 │ 233 ═════════════════════╧══════╧═════╧═════╧══════╧══════╧══════╧══════╧══════╧═════