68
Letter from B. J. Bettelheim.
Fi:n.
vied with each other, who should be first to show me sympathy. "Seven boxes for you, Sir!" was the salutation given me before I had even set foot on the gallant ship. "Seven boxes," said I ; " well, there will certainly be one man with thein." The kind greeters knew not what I referred to; I meant a missionary brother, for whom I would have given seven boxes of my own, even for a simple European ser- vant. But if there was no man who came to remain with me, there was Capt. Glynn and his excellent corps of officers to do for us, as much as they possibly could while here; and though it became appa- rent, even the next morning, that little Yedo has as good means as big Yedo to have little intercourse with an American man of war, and all hope of any melioration of our position by the kind offices of a friendly ship was of course cut off, still the single fact that Captain Glynn bought provisions in the market and paid for them, and had them carried home by natives, notwithstanding the hostile position government assumed against his ship, has done you, and consequently us, more good than Commodore Biddle did with his three-decker in having a look at the capital of Japan.
These, however, are matters foreign to me as a missionary, but I can not omit to beg you to make my heartfelt acknowledgments both to Commander Glynn and his officers for the many presents and contri- butions made us in a variety of ways, most considerate on their part; among these, Dr. Burt's forgetting a fine Manila hat and a new fa- shioned coat, was not the least charming specimen of the method with which gift upon gift was put upon us. I wish I could walk half as much as the shoes and boots Captain Glynn gave me would serve; but there is an end to my excursions, unless a man comes to my help, who can stay at my house, or at least in Napa, while I am absent at a dis- tance. Since my
Chinese servant left in the Mariner, I can not stir from home. I am the more thankful to your countrymen, for I could in no way requite, or even gratify them, by procuring any native articles for them, a service which I could formerly always do for ships in port ; for the Preble I could not get even a single potato, and I am there- fore quite in debt to her generous officers.
I ain now near the conclusion of this paper, and wish only to add a copy of one more dispatch, which will leave no one in doubt respect- ing the lying duplicity of this government, and in which, besides a plain mention of the case of the Preble, will be found a variety of topics entered into, quite unusual in Lewchewan official papers; you will thus be the more fully able to advise us on the further steps to be taken, if any are found advisable, for this mission.