ecutive had, indeed, the right to initiate a treaty, but that by initiating a treaty the President could not transfer from Congress to himself the power to declare war, — that is to say, the power to determine whether war should be made against a foreign state for any cause. The Texans suffered themselves to be deceived in this respect, as they had been deceived by the assurance that there was in the Senate a two-thirds majority in favor of the scheme. On April 12, 1844, the treaty of annexation was signed, to be sent to the Senate for approval ten days later. It was at this period that Clay found himself obliged to address the American people upon this momentous subject.
We left him at Richmond, in Indiana, where in October, 1842, he discomfited poor Mendenhall. His clever speech found so much applause in the press that he may have thought it sufficient to banish the slavery question from the coming presidential campaign. The following winter, combining business with politics, he visited New Orleans and all the prominent places of the Southwest, and, after taking a rest at Ashland during the summer of 1843, resumed his peregrinations during the winter of 1843-4, then touching all the important points in the Southeast, like a general riding along the line, giving instructions and encouragement to the subordinate commanders, and stirring the rank and file with his inspiring presence. His journeys were again public “progresses” in grand style, with no end of enthusiastic ovations and speech-
