This fact, added to the pressure upon him from every other slave-holding State, precipitated him into the blunder which probably cost him his election.

A few weeks after the nomination of Mr.Polk, on the first day of July, 1844, Mr.Clay, while resting quietly at Ashland, wrote to Stephen Miller of Tuscaloosa what has since been known as his Alabama letter.

It was written to relieve the Southern Whigs, without anticipation of its effect upon the fortunes of Northern Whigs.

Mr.Clay was surrounded by men of the South only, breathed their atmosphere, heard their arguments; and, unmindful of the unrepresented Northern sentiment, he took the fatal step.

He declared, that, "far from having any personal objection to the annexation of Texas," he "would be glad to see it annexed, without dishonor, without war, with the common consent of the Union, and upon just and fair terms." This letter received the popular designation of Mr.Clay's political "death-warrant," from the disastrous effect it produced on his prospects in certain free States where before its appearance he had been considered irresistibly strong.
TRIUMPH OF POLK OVER CLAY.
The immediate and palpable effect of the Alabama letter in the North was an increase of power and numbers to the Abolitionists.
To Mr.Clay this was its most destructive result.