to the health of his men after their long and sickly voyage; that as they, the mandarins, had informed themselves of his wants, and were eye-witnesses of the force and strength of his ship, they might be satisfied it was not for want of power to supply himself that he desired the permission of the Government to purchase what provisions he stood in need of; that they must be convinced that the Centurion alone was capable of destroying the whole navigation of the port of Canton, or of any other port in China, without running the least risk from all the force the Chinese could collect; that it was true this was not the manner of proceeding between nations in friendship with each other, but it was likewise true that it was not customary for any nation to permit the ships of their friends to starve and sink in their ports, when those friends had money to supply their wants and only desired liberty to lay it out; that they must confess he and his people had hitherto behaved with great modesty and reserve, but that as his wants were each day increasing, hunger would at last prove too strong for any restraint, and necessity was acknowledged in all countries to be superior to every other law, and therefore it could not be expected that his crew would long continue to starve in the midst of that plenty to which their eyes were every day witnesses. To this the Commodore added (though perhaps with a less serious air) that if by the delay of supplying him with fresh provisions his men should be reduced to the necessity of turning cannibals, and preying upon their own species, it was easy to be foreseen that, independent of their friendship to their comrades, they would in point of luxury prefer the plump, well-fed Chinese to their own emaciated shipmates. The first mandarin acquiesced in the justness of this reasoning, and told the Commodore that he should that night proceed for Canton; that on his arrival a council of mandarins would be summoned, of which he himself was a member, and that all that was demanded would be amply and speedily granted. And with regard to the Commodore's complaint of the custom-house of Macao, he undertook to rectify that immediately by his own authority; for, desiring a list to be given him of the quantity of provision necessary for the expense of the ship for a day, he wrote a permit under it, and delivered it to one of his attendants, directing him to see that quantity sent on board early every morning; and this order from that time forward was punctually complied with. A DINNER PARTY.