could not diminish but rather it intensified his interest in a contest
which he chose to regard not simply as a struggle for a glittering (p. 168)
prize but as a judgment upon the services which he had been for a
lifetime rendering to his countrymen.

How profoundly his whole nature was moved by the position in which he
stood is evident, often almost painfully, in the Diary. Any attempt to
conceal his feeling would be idle, and he makes no such attempt. He
repeats all the rumors which come to his ears; he tells the stories
about Crawford's illness; he records his own temptations; he tries
hard to nerve himself to bear defeat philosophically by constantly
predicting it; indeed, he photographs his whole existence for many
weeks; and however eagerly any person may aspire to the Presidency of
the United States there is little in the picture to make one long for
the preliminary position of candidate for that honor. It is too much
like the stake and the flames through which the martyr passed to
eternal beatitude, with the difference as against the candidate that
he has by no means the martyr's certainty of reward.

In those days of slow communication it was not until December, 1824,
that it became everywhere known that there had been no election of a
president by the people. When the Electoral College met the result of
their ballots was as follows:--

General Jackson led with 99 votes. (p. 169)
Adams followed with 84 "
Crawford had 41 "
Clay had 37 "
---
Total 261 votes.

Mr. Calhoun was elected Vice-President by the handsome number of 182
votes.

This condition of the election had been quite generally anticipated;
yet Mr. Adams's friends were not without some feeling of
disappointment. They had expected for him a fair support at the South,
whereas he in fact received seventy-seven out of his eighty-four votes
from New York and New England; Maryland gave him three, Louisiana gave
him two, Delaware and Illinois gave him one each.

When the electoral body was known to be reduced within the narrow
limits of the House of Representatives, intrigue was rather stimulated
than diminished by the definiteness which became possible for it. Mr.
Clay, who could not come before the House, found himself transmuted
from a candidate to a President-maker; for it was admitted by all that
his great persona