Page:Life of Henry Clay (Schurz; v. 2).djvu/254

244 excitement created a louder demand for the voice of the leaders. In his southeastern “progress” Clay arrived at Raleigh, in North Carolina, on April 12, the same day the treaty of annexation was signed by Calhoun and the Texan plenipotentiaries. Clay, who felt that he could remain silent no longer, wrote a public letter to the editor of the “National Intelligencer,” known as his Raleigh letter of April 17, 1844.

Reviewing his connection with the Texas question in the past, he said he had believed and contended that the United States had acquired a title to Texas by the Louisiana purchase. But that title had been formally relinquished to Spain by the treaty of 1819. Texas had been sacrificed for Florida. Having thus “fairly alienated our title to Texas by solemn national compacts,” it was as “perfectly idle and ridiculous, if not dishonorable, to talk of resuming our title to Texas,” as it would be for Spain to talk of resuming her title to Florida, or France to Louisiana. Under the administration of John Quincy Adams he had attempted to repurchase Texas from Mexico, but without success. The extent to which the revolt in Texas had been aided by citizens of the United States had laid us open to the imputation of selfish designs. Our recognition of the independence of Texas had not impaired the rights of Mexico; and if Mexico still persevered in asserting her rights to Texas by force of arms, we should, in acquiring Texas, also acquire the war with Mexico. And he