pay the losses sustained.1 The precedent then established has been followed in similar cases.2

The conduct and correspondence of Secretary Webster respecting the New Orleans riot won for him much praise in diplomatic circles. Lord Palmerston, British Secretary for Foreign Affairs, in a dispatch to his representative in Washington, wrote: "It is highly creditable to the good faith and sense of justice of the United States government, and the President has more rightly consulted the true dignity of the country, by so handsome a communication, than if the acknowledgment of wrong and the expression of regret had been made in more niggardly terms." 3

Another matter having relation to our foreign intercourse, and which attracted great interest throughout America and Europe, had its origin in the Hungarian revolt of 1848, when the democratic uprising threatened so many thrones in the Old World. President Taylor dispatched a secret agent to Europe to study the situation, with a view to the recognition of the independence of Hungary if the facts justified it; but before this agent reached Hungary, Russia had come to the aid of Austria and put down the rebellion, and Kossuth and the other Hungarian patriots had found refuge in Turkey. No action was therefore taken by our government, but the documents relating to the subject were sent to Congress by the President, accompa

1 H. Ex. Doc. 113, 32d Cong. 1st Sess.; 10 Stat. at Large, 89.

2 Chinese, H. Ex. Doc. 102. 49th Cong. 1st Sess.; Italians, For. Rel. 1891, p. 727.

8 2 Curtis's Webster, 556.

nying his annual message of December, 1849, in which he said, in explanation of the agent's mission: "I thought it my duty, in accordance with the general sentiment of the American people, to stand prepared, upon the contingency of the establishment by her of a permanent government, to be the first to welcome Hungary into the family of nations.' Whereupon the Austrian chargé in Washington, Mr. Hülsemann, sent a note to Secretary Clayton, protesting against the action of our government as an unjustifiable interference in the affairs of an independent and friendly nation.

The correspondence was in progress at the dissolution of the Cabinet on Taylor's death, and after Webster became Secretary of State the chargé renewed his protest in more positive language. Mr. Webster's reply, couched in equally positive and scarcely more courteous terms, was a lengthy review of the principles which govern the United States in recognizing governments founded on revolution and popular will, vindicated its action in the case under review, and contained a glowing statement of the growth and destiny of the young republic of the New World. It created much enthusiasm among the American people, but it did not escape criticism. A historian characterizes it as "hardly more than a stump speech under diplomatic guise." 3 In a private letter Mr. Webster makes this explanation of its temper: "If you say that my Hülsemann letter is boastful and rough, I shall own the soft impeachment. My excuse is twofold. First, I thought

15 Richardson's Messages, 12. 2 6 Webster's Works, 488-506.

8 1 Rhodes's U. S. 206.

it well enough to speak out and tell the people of Europe who and what we are, and awaken them to a just sense of the unparalleled growth of this country. Second, I wished to write a paper which would touch the national pride." 1

Probably no paper emanating from the State Department ever met with a more widespread popular approval in America. It appeared soon after our successful war with Mexico and the resultant territorial expansion, and it was in vindication of the nation's sympathy for the cause of republicanism in Europe as represented in the popular hero Kossuth, soon to visit the United States as the guest of the nation. He was, in accordance with a resolution of Congress, brought from his refuge in Turkey on an American man-of-war, praised by the President in his annual message, was presented by the Secretary of State to the President, received by both Houses of Congress with much ceremony, and his progress through the country was marked by the most enthusiastic demonstrations.

3

The effect of all these attentions led Kossuth into a serious misapprehension of the proper functions and sphere of influence of our government, and for a time it seemed as if our own people might, through their enthusiasm for this patriot and orator, be likewise led astray. He sought to enlist our government and its citizens in measures for renewed efforts towards Hungarian independence through political and financial aid.

1 2 Curtis's Webster, 537.

29 Stat. at Large, 647. 8 Dec. 2, 1851, 5 Richardson's Messages, 119. 410 Stat. at Large, 145.

But the sober second thought brought our public men and our people back to a sense of the true destiny of the republic, and in this way they were greatly aided

Kossuth's own indiscreet conduct. It soon became apparent that in all this Hungarian business we had departed from the policy marked out by Washington to abstain from intermeddling in the political affairs of Europe, and that our action was inconsistent with the Monroe Doctrine, whereby we sought to exclude European nations from extending their political influence on the American hemisphere.

He became

The Hungarian question terminated unfortunately for the Austrian chargé, Mr. Hülsemann. quite indignant at the honors bestowed upon Kossuth by the government and its citizens, and he addressed a note to Secretary Webster, protesting against these acts and particularly a speech of the Secretary of State at a banquet given in Washington to Kossuth. To this note Mr. Webster made no reply. Obtaining no satisfaction in that quarter, he called personally on the President, and laid his protest before him. This was followed by a notice from the Secretary of State that the government would hold no further intercourse with him, and that he must confine himself to written communications addressed to the Department of State. In answer to this notice he addressed a communication to Secretary Webster, April 20, 1852, stating that his government would not allow him "to remain here any longer, to continue an official intercourse with the principal promoters of the much to be lamented Kossuth episode." Mr. Webster, in reporting Mr. Hülsemann's

departure to the American representative at Vienna, states that he was not well informed as to his duty and privileges, as his rank was that of secretary of legation and ad interim chargé; that as such he had no right to personally appeal to the President against newspaper criticisms and the unofficial remarks of the Secretary of State, or to converse with the President on matters of business; and that no foreign government can take just offense at anything an officer of this government may say in his private capacity.1

The foregoing events made Webster's second term as Secretary of State as famous as his first, but to them is to be added another even more important in its influence on the world. The enterprising American mariner, in navigating the Pacific Ocean in search of new fields for American commerce, had encountered the islands of the Japanese Empire, with its ports closed to foreigners. All their efforts to establish trade or intercourse of any kind had failed, and in case of stress of weather vessels driven on to its coasts had been seized and its sailors maltreated. This unsatisfactory state of affairs had been brought to the attention of the government, and various efforts to remedy it had been unsuccessful. In 1832, an agent of the Department of State had been dispatched in a naval vessel to the Pacific Ocean, and he was instructed to obtain "information respecting Japan and the means of opening a communication with it;" but nothing came of this mission. In 1845, Commodore Biddle was directed to visit Japan and ascertain if its ports were accessible. 1 S. Ex. Doc. No. 92, 32d Cong. 1st Sess.