He advised me to write to the Minister asking for mercy. This I agreed to do, and asked for pen, ink and paper. These Tang told Cole to bring me.
I asked, however, that Chinese ink and paper should be supplied me, as I could not write to the Chinese Minister in English.
To this Tang replied: "Oh, English is best, for the Minister is but a figure-head; everything is in Macartney's hands, and you had better write to him."
When I asked what I should write, he said:
"You must deny that you had anything to do with the Canton plot, declare that you were wrongly accused by the mandarins, and that you came to the Legation to ask for redress."
I wrote to his dictation a long letter to this effect in Tang's presence.
Having addressed the folded paper to
