a minister to that country, and consulted John Quincy Adams as to his willingness to go, telling him that Mr. Cushing and other members of the Committee on Foreign Affairs had suggested his name. Mr. Adams replied that if his name was to be considered he could not support the motion in the House for an appropriation, and that he regarded action at that time as premature.[1]
On the assembling of Congress after receipt of the news of the treaty of peace with Great Britain, the President, December 30, 1842, sent a special message to that body, giving information as to the terms of the treaty, and recommending that an appropriation be made to enable the executive to dispatch a special mission to that country to negotiate a treaty of commerce. The message, which was written by Daniel Webster, then Secretary of State, is an able statement of the importance of such a mission and of the relation of the United States to the Orient. While the subject was pending in Congress the selection of a proper person to send at the head of the mission was much considered. The President in his message had said that in view of the importance of the object, "a citizen of much intelligence and weight of character should be employed," and to secure the services of such an individual a compensation should be made corresponding with the magnitude and importance of the mission.
Congress soon made the necessary appropriation, and Mr. Webster, who was uncomfortable in the cabinet of
- ↑ H. Doc. 170, 26th Cong. 1st Sess.; 10 Memoirs of J. Q. Adams, 188; 10 Ib. 444.
