“the new Secretary of State, Mr. Webster, who is much embarrassed by his new functions, came to make his arrangements with Mr. Fox.  This done, we were ranged along the wall in order of seniority, and after too long a delay for a country where the chief magistrate has no right to keep people waiting, the old General came in, followed by all the members of his Cabinet, who walked in single file, and so kept behind him.  He then advanced toward Mr. Fox, whom Mr. Webster presented to him.  Mr. Fox read to him his address.  Then the President took out his spectacles and read his reply.  Then, after having shaken hands with the English minister, he walked from one end of our line to the other, Mr. Webster presenting each of us by name, and he shaking hands with each one without saying a word.  This ceremony finished he returned to the room whence he had come, and reappeared with Mrs. Harrison—­the widow of his eldest son—­upon his arm, whom he presented to the diplomatic corps en masse.  Mr. Webster, who followed, then presented to us Mrs. Finley, the mother of this Mrs. Harrison, in the following terms:  ’Gentlemen, I introduce to you Mrs. Finley, the lady who attends Mrs. Harrison;’ and observe that this good lady who attends the others—­takes care of them—­is blind.  Then all at once, a crowd of people rushed into the room.  They were the wives, sisters, daughters, cousins, and lady friends of the President and of all his ministers, who were presented to us, and vice versa, in the midst of an inconceivable confusion.”

Fond, however, as Mr. Webster was of society, and punctilious as he was in matters of etiquette and propriety, M. de Bacourt to the contrary notwithstanding, he had far more important duties to perform than those of playing host and receiving foreign ministers.  Our relations with England when he entered the cabinet were such as to make war seem almost inevitable.  The northeastern boundary, undetermined by the treaty of 1783, had been the subject of continual and fruitless negotiation ever since that time, and was still unsettled and more complicated than ever.  It was agreed that there should be a new survey and a new arbitration, but no agreement could be reached as to who should arbitrate or what questions should be submitted to the arbitrators, and the temporary arrangements for the possession of the territory in dispute were unsatisfactory and precarious.  Much more exciting and perilous than this old difficulty was a new one and its consequences growing out of the Canadian rebellion in 1837.  Certain of the rebels fled to the United States, and there, in conjunction with American citizens, prepared to make incursions into Canada.  For this purpose they fitted out an American steamboat, the Caroline.  An expedition from Canada crossed the Niagara River to the American shore, set fire to the Caroline, and let her drift over the Falls.  In the fray which occurred, an American named Durfree was killed.