of the Portuguese government for him to reside at Macao. As stated, all foreigners were prohibited from remaining at Canton, none could reside at Macao without the express permission of the Portuguese government, and it was necessary that it should be secured for the consul upon the application of the Secretary of State. It does not appear that the permit was ever received, but he continued his residence on sufferance.[1]
Edward Carrington was consular agent in 1804, and for several years his chief occupation seems to have been to put forth ineffectual efforts to obtain the release of sailors taken from American ships in the ports of Macao and Canton by British warships and impressed into the naval service, a state of affairs, he remarks, "so humiliating to every friend of his country." It appears that the far-away waters of China were no more exempt than those of the Atlantic from the high-handed violence and disregard of maritime rights by Great Britain which brought on the war of 1812.[2] And the effects of this war were likewise felt on the coast of China. The American trade was nearly suspended, only an average of six vessels arriving annually during the war. The consul reports the exchange of prisoners in the port of Macao between an American "private armed vessel" and a British warship, and at another time of the release by the commander of the Doris, and the receipt given by the consul, of the
