Page:Joseph Story, Commentaries on the Constitution of the United States (1st ed, 1833, vol III).djvu/376

 368 advantage of the accidental absence of a few members; and certainly the motive to punctuality in attendance will be greatly increased by making such ratification to depend upon the numbers present.

§ 1515. The Federalist has taken notice of the difference between the treaty-making power in England, and that in America in the following terms: The president is to have power, with the advice and consent of the senate, to make treaties, provided two thirds of the members present concur. The king of Great Britain is the sole and absolute representative of the nation, in all foreign transactions. He can, of his own accord, make treaties of peace, commerce, alliance, and of every other description. It has been insinuated, that his authority, in this respect, is not conclusive; and that his conventions with foreign powers are subject to the revision, and stand in need of the ratification of parliament. But, I believe, this doctrine was never heard of, till it was broached upon the present occasion. Every jurist of that kingdom, and every other man acquainted with its constitution, knows, as an established fact, that the prerogative of making treaties exists in the crown in its utmost plenitude; and that the compacts entered into by the royal authority have the most complete legal validity and perfection,