The aggressive attitude of Senator Charles Sumner, of Massachusetts, Chairman of the Committee on Foreign Relations of the Senate, had produced a strained atmosphere, which the Secretary of State had to combat in his dealings with the English Minister, Sir Edward Thornton, as well as in the case of the Premier of Canada. Frequent conferences opened a way for a plan of adjustment, and the letters stipulating for a Joint High Commission were planned and drawn up. Very soon, the Canadian Premier left for England, carrying with him a full and complete concept of the American stand on the difficulty. The plan of the Joint Commission was adopted; and shortly after Sir John Rose returned to England, Earl de Grey, Sir Stafford Northcote, Professor Montague Bernard of Oxford, and the Premier of Canada, Sir John MacDonald, arrived to comprise, with Sir Edward Thornton, the British group, while the American contingent consisted of the Secretary of State, General Schenck (newly appointed Minister to England), Justice Nelson of the Supreme Court, ex-Attorney General E. R. Hoar, and his successor, General George H. Williams. The Commission, familiarly called “High Joints,” assembled in the spring of 1871. They took a furnished house in Franklin Square and gave a series of dinner parties and evening entertainments. Many return courtesies of officials and prominent civic bodies followed, including a banquet by the Freemasons of Washington, some of whom were members of Congress, in honour of Earl de Gray, at the time Grand Master of Masons in England, and Lord Tenterden, also prominent in this fraternity. Monsieur de Catacazy, Minister Plenipotentiary of the Emperor of Russia to the United States, opposed this treaty, endeavouring to prejudice Senators and Representatives against it. He carried his opposition to it far enough for Secretary of State Fish to request his recall. His attitude in this matter was not the only reason for his lack of popularity. His private life had long been a matter of gossip. His wife was an attractive lady around whom much scandal centred during his Washington residence. The story was that she had eloped from her husband fifteen years previously with Monsieur de Catacazy, then Secretary of the Legation. The Russian Emperor, learning that his representative was _persona non grata_, instructed his Minister of Foreign Affairs to ask, in his name, that President Grant tolerate Monsieur de Catacazy’s service until the impending visit of his third son, Grand Duke Alexis, was completed. To this General Grant assented.