Again, however, the prospect of the harassed Plenipotentiary was clouded
: a new edict from the Emperor broke up the new ar- rangement ; and Sir GORDON BREMER himself was sent in a hurry to Calcutta, to consult with Lord AUCKLAND, and to ask for rein- forcements. That must have been a strange if not disastrous juncture, which could justify the Commander- in-Chief in leaving his post to ask in person the advice for which he might have sent, in distant lands.
The British troops had been further thinned by sickness : the troops of the Empire, according to report, were concentrating themselves on Canton : the Commander-in-Chief was absent : va- cillating Plenipotentiary ELLIOT held possession of the narrow district of Canton at the end of March ; and Sir HENRY POT- TINNER, the new Plenipotentiary, who is to set every thing to rights, left England on Tuesday, the 1st of June. In January last, Captain ELLIOT triumphantly announced that all was " settled " !
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