Page 435 - Merchants and Mandarins China Trade Era

421.

the next major issue of foreign policy would be Texas. Conse­

quently, the Secretary searched for a graceful egress from the

Cabinet. An appointment to the Court of St. James seemed to

be the answer, assuming that Everett would accept the mission to

China. On March 4 John Quincy Adams remarked in his diary that

Everett's nomination "is the back door by which Webster skil­

fully secures to himself a safe retreat from the Tyler Cabinet.

If Everett declines the China mission, Webster can take it him­

50
self.'' But Webster did not want to go to China either.
Although in May Webster finally decided merely to resign,

the appointment to China was still vacant. Tyler turned to his

staunch supporter in Congress, Caleb Cushing of Massachusetts,

as an alternative to Everett. Cushing, whom his biographer

described as "a tall, robust figure, with bright restless eyes,

a resolute jaw, a dignified bearing, and handsome features," had

been a lawyer and teacher previous to his career in Congress.

Until his break with the Whigs over Tyler's vetoes of Whig

financial policies, Cushing had been extremely popular with his

colleagues in the House. Next to those of Webster, his speeches

drew the largest galleries in Congress. Webster had so trusted

him as to request Cushing's appointment as Chairman of the House

Committee on Foreign Affairs in 1842, much to the frustration of

Adams. Only when Cushing refused to soften his speeches against

England during the Webster-Ashburton negotiations did Webster

SOAdams, Memoirs, XI, 335. See also Claude M. Fuess,
Daniel Webster (2 vols.; Boston, 1930), II, 126-28, and Claude
�Fuess, The Life of Caleb Cushing (2 vols.; New York, 1923),
I,408-11. The latter biography, based on Cushing's private
papers, is the only one on Cushing in print. It lacks proper
documentation though.