would have sent a commissioner to Canton for that purpose; that he had been instructed to go to Peking and deliver the President's letter to the emperor; and if the governor did not think it prudent for him to go to Tientsin in a warship, he was ready to proceed to the capital overland.
The governor, in response to this proposition, said the way was long overland, the crossing of the rivers was inconvenient, and he desired to save the American envoy the great trouble and weariness the journey would occasion him; that he would notify the august emperor of the envoy's arrival, and memorialize the throne for the appointment of a commissioner; and that in the mean time he should "tranquillize himself " at Macao, as otherwise his movements might eventuate in the loss of the invaluable blessing of peace.
There seemed nothing else for Mr. Cushing to do but accept the situation, nevertheless he found enough to occupy the months consumed in learning the emperor's will. The commander of the flagship, the Brandywine, thought to take a sail up the river to Canton, but he was stopped at Whampoa, and ordered to return to the anchorage at Macao. Mr. Cushing protested that it was only a friendly visit, but he was told that the British governor of Hongkong after the peace, in making a visit to Canton, left his ship at the mouth of the river and came up in a small boat; that the commander of the Brandywine must do likewise, and by a return of his ship to Macao he would obey the fixed laws of the land, and exhibit the courteous friendliness subsisting between the two nations.
