he fixed his eyes on America, where he hoped to find weight to
help him balance the autocrats of the Old World. He wished to see
the new American republics free, and he believed that in freedom
of trade England would obtain from them all that she needed.
Alarmed at the impending European intervention to restore the
rule of Spain or of her monarchical assignees in America, he
sought an understanding with the United States. He proposed to
Richard Rush, the United States minister in London, that the two
countries declare concurrently that the independence of Spanish
America, was a fact, that the recognition of the new governments
was a matter of time and circumstance, that neither country
desired any portion of Spain's former dominions, but that neither
would look with indifference upon the transfer of any portion of
them to another power.

On October 9, 1823, this proposal reached Washington. The answer
would be framed by able and most experienced statesmen. The
President, James Monroe, had been almost continuously in public
service since 1782. He had been minister to France, Spain, and
England, and had been Secretary of State. In his earlier missions
he had often shown an unwise impetuosity and an independent
judgment which was not always well balanced. He had, however,
grown in wisdom. He inspired respect by his sterling qualities of
character, and he was an admirable presiding officer. William H.
Crawford, his Secretary of the Treasury, John C. Calhoun, his
Secretary of War, William Wirt, his Attorney-General, and even
John McLean, his Postmaster-General, not then a member of the
Cabinet, were all men who were considered as of presidential
caliber.