George Henry Rose, whom Canning selected as special envoy to settle the “Chesapeake” affair, and who sailed in the “Statira” frigate two days before Monroe, knew officially as little as Monroe himself of the coming order; but this ignorance was due to Canning’s settled plan of keeping the “Chesapeake” affair independent of every other dispute. Canning could have had no deep motive in withholding official knowledge of the order from Monroe, Pinkney, and Rose; he could not have foreseen when or how the winds would blow; yet, by mere accident, one day’s delay added greatly to the coming embarrassments of the American government. The departure of vessels depended on a favorable wind, and for some weeks before November 14 westerly winds prevailed. About that day the weather changed, and all the ships bound to America sailed nearly together. The “Statira” and “Augustus,” carrying Rose and Monroe, started from Portsmouth for Norfolk; the “Revenge” set sail from Cherbourg, with despatches from Armstrong; the “Brutus,” with London newspapers of November 12, departed from Liverpool for New York; and the “Edward,” with London newspapers and letters to November 10, left Liverpool for Boston. All were clear of land by November 14, when the “Gazette” published the Order in Council; but for weeks afterward no other vessels crossed the Atlantic. After the “Revenge” sailed for Europe in July, on her errand of redress for the “Chesapeake” outrage, the Americans waited more and more patiently for her return. The excitement which blazed in midsummer from one end of the country to the other began to subside when men learned that Admiral Berkeley’s orders had been issued without the authority or knowledge of his government, and would probably be disavowed. The news that came from Europe tended to chill the fever for war. The Peace of Tilsit, the Tory reaction in England, the bombardment of Copenhagen, the execution of the Berlin Decree in Holland, the threatened retaliation by Great Britain were events calculated to raise more than a doubt of the benefits which war could bring. In any case, the risks of commerce had become too great for legitimate trade; and every one felt that the further pursuit of neutral profits could end only in bringing America into the arms of one or the other of the Powers which were avowedly disputing pre-eminence in wrong.