Mr.Ashmun of Massachusetts replied with great bitterness, and the charges were referred to a committee.

It appeared, on investigation, that Mr.Webster had been extremely careless in his accounts, and had delayed in making them up and in rendering vouchers, faults to which he was naturally prone; but it also appeared that the money had been properly spent, that the accounts had ultimately been made up, and that there was no evidence of improper use.

The committee's report was laid upon the table, the charges came to nothing, and Mr.Ingersoll was left in a very unpleasant position with regard to the manner in which he had obtained his information from the State Department.

The affair is of interest now merely as showing how deeply rooted was Mr.Webster's habitual carelessness in money matters, even when it was liable to expose him to very grave imputations, and what a very dangerous man he was to arouse and put on the defensive.
Mr.Webster was absent when the intrigue and scheming of Mr.Polk culminated in war with Mexico, and so his vote was not given either for or against it.

He opposed the volunteer system as a mongrel contrivance, and resisted it as he had the conscription bill in the war of 1812, as unconstitutional.