50 Kenneth S. Latourette, 



Carrington, the consul, could only remonstrate with the British 

 officers and protest to the Chinese authorities. In December, 

 1804, his demand on the commander of the &quot;Caroline&quot; for the 

 release of some seamen was met with a cool request that it be 

 made through the lords of the admiralty. 102 In October, 1805, 

 he and the other American merchants attempted to petition the 

 provincial governor to stop the impressments, claiming that they 

 were violations of neutrality. 103 Carrington felt sure, however, 

 that the petition would be of no avail, 104 and so it proved, for the 

 hong merchants, knowing that they would be held responsible 

 for the correction of the evils, refused to transmit the com 

 plaint. 105 Cut off from any assistance from home and from any 

 hope of interference by the Chinese, Carrington again turned to 

 the British commanders, and attempted to accomplish by corre 

 spondence what he had no power to attain by force. In 1806 he 

 carried on an exchange of notes with the commander of the 

 &quot;Phaeton,&quot; in the course of which the latter announced his inten 

 tion of preventing any American ship from sailing without first 

 overhauling it, and finally threatened to prohibit them all from 

 setting to sea. 106 The patience of the Americans became strained 

 to the breaking point by this and similar incidents, and the consul 

 wrote the Secretary of State in April, 1807: &quot;If these outrages 

 are continued, I am extremely apprehensive they will be attended 

 with serious consequences, as it is the determination of the cap 

 tains of the American vessels to repel by force any attempt in 

 the future to impress their seamen when within this empire.&quot; 107 

 The clash came in August, 1807. On the third the American 

 schooner &quot;Topaz&quot; of Baltimore, William Nicol, master, 

 anchored in Macao Roads after a voyage of contraband trade 



U. S. Frigate Essex, 1799-1800. Histl. Cols, of Essex Instit, Vol. 10, 

 part 3, pp. 34 et sqq. 



102 Letter of Carrington to Sec. of State, Consular Letters, Canton,. I. 



103 Consular Letters, Canton, I. 



104 Ibid., and Carrington to Madison, Nov. 25, 1805. Ex. Doc. 71, 2 Sess;, 

 26 Cong., p. 3. 



10d Ibid., p. 4, and Carrington to Sec. of State, Nov., 1806, Consular 

 Letters, Canton, I. 



100 Consular Letters, Canton, I, and Delano, Voyages, p. 530. 

 10T Ex. Doc. 71, 2 Sess., 26 Cong., p. 5. 



