134 Kenneth S. Latourette, 



Preparations for the expedition were at once made. It was 

 determined to make as ample and impressive a showing as pos 

 sible. Gushing, the head, even if chosen for political reasons, 

 was a man of unquestioned ability, and as a relative of the John 

 Perkins Gushing who had been engaged in the Canton trade 126 

 may have had a previous personal knowledge and interest in the 

 empire. The congressional appropriation was ample and Webster 

 promised more funds if needed. 127 A squadron composed of the 

 frigate &quot;Brandywine,&quot; the sloop-of-war &quot;St. Louis/ and the 

 steam frigate &quot;Missouri,&quot; under Commodore Parker, was com 

 missioned to carry the party, and in addition to Gushing and to 

 Fletcher Webster, the Secretary, a number of young men were 

 encouraged to go at their own expense to add the dignity of 

 numbers. 128 As was wise in a work of which the home govern 

 ment could know so little, Gushing was given the fullest of 

 powers. He had two commissions, one appointing him commis 

 sioner, in which capacity he was authorized to treat with the 

 governors of provinces and cities, or with other local authorities 

 of China, and the other appointing him envoy extraordinary and 

 minister plenipotentiary, which he was to use in case he reached 

 the Emperor s court at Peking. He was given full power to 

 sign a treaty, and in his letter of instructions he was directed to 

 obtain the entry of American ships into the ports opened to Great 

 Britain on the same terms as those enjoyed by that power. 

 While assuring the Chinese of the peaceful nature of the expedi- 



the Senate would probably have rejected, and as he was appointed after 

 that body had adjourned, and sent off before they could meet to act on 

 the nomination, Benton thought that the law had again been violated. 

 The President had a right to appoint during an interim of the Senate 

 only to a vacancy in an unexpired term. (Benton, Thirty Years View, 

 2:514.) Benton, however, was prejudiced, too much so to be fair. The 

 administration s first choice had undoubtedly been Everett, he had been 

 confirmed by the Senate, and his refusal to accept left the office vacant 

 Technically, it was an unexpired term to be filled by appointment, and if 

 the pressing opportunity were to be seized a man had to be secured, and 

 the mission sail before Congress could meet again. 



28 They were third cousins. Lemuel Gushing, Genealogy of the Gushing 

 Family. Montreal, 1877, pp. 46, 37, 70, 74, 24. Rev. Caleb Gushing was the 

 great-great-grandfather of them both. 



127 Webster to Everett, Mar. 10, 1834; Curtis, Life of Webster, 2: 178. 



128 Webster to Gushing, May 8, 1843, Sen. Doc. 138, 28 Cong., 2 Sess. 



