IMPERIAL APPROVAL--CONTINUED ENMITY OF THE ADMINISTRATION--JUNTA REFUSES
TO PAY THE SQUADRON'S CLAIM--I PERSEVERE IN THE DEMAND--JUNTA AGREES TO
PAY THE AMOUNT IN BILLS--THIS REFUSED--ARRIVAL OF A NEW PRESIDENT--BUT
WITHOUT AUTHORITY FOR THE ASSUMPTION--INTRIGUES TO ESTABLISH HIM IN
OFFICE--I ORDER HIM TO QUIT THE PROVINCE--AND SEND HIM TO PARA--LETTER
TO THE PRESIDENT OF CEARA--INTERNATIONAL ANIMOSITIES--THE SQUADRON LEFT
TO PROVIDE FOR ITSELF--ABUSE OF AUTHORITY--EXPLANATIONS TO MINISTER OF
MARINE--OF TRANSACTIONS AT MARANHAM--LETTER TO CARVALHO E
MELLO--ANTICIPATING MINISTERIAL DISPLEASURE--THE JUNTA REIMBURSES PART
OF ITS DEBT.
On the 16th of January I had at length the satisfaction to receive,
through the Minister of Marine, the Emperor's approval of the course
pursued in the pacification of the Northern provinces, and his
confirmation of the changes that had been made in their administration.
Still not a word of instruction was vouchsafed for my future guidance.
The subjoined is the letter conveying His Imperial Majesty's approval of
my acts and judgment:--
His Imperial Majesty commands the Secretary of State of the
Marine to apprise the First Admiral, Commander-in-Chief of the
naval forces of this Empire, that His Majesty received his despatches
by the schooner _Maria de Gloria_, by which His Majesty was informed
of his proceedings, and approves of his determination to proceed to
the Northern provinces, where the fire of rebellion has been lighted,
with a view to establish therein the order and obedience due to the
said august sovereign, a duty which he has so wisely and judiciously
undertaken, and in which course he must continue, notwithstanding
the previous instructions sent to him, bearing date the 4th of October
last, which instructions are hereby annulled until he shall attain
the highly important objects proposed in the before-mentioned provinces,
viz., till they submit themselves to the authorities lately
appointed, and enjoy the benefits of the paternal Government of His
Imperial Majesty.
Palace of Rio Janeiro, Dec. 2, 1824.
(Signed) FRANCISCA VILLELA BARBOSA.
To this letter--annulling my recall after the fall of Pernambuco--I
returned the following reply:--
No. 289.
MOST EXCELLENT SIR,
Since I had the honour of addressing your Excellency
in my letter, No. 288, I have not had any further intelligence
from Parà; I therefore conclude that the officers and seamen whom
I detached there, will be sufficient to aid the President in maintaining
good order.
Here, nothing particular has happened, beyond the collecting
of a few runaway soldiers and vagabonds in the woods. A party
detached in pursuit of them, dispersed them all, and brought in
several prisoners yesterday.
I have received your Excellency's communication by the schooner
_Maria de Gloria_, and _feel highly gratified that His Imperial Majesty
has been pleased to approve of the course which I have pursued for the
termination of dissensions in the Northern provinces. Since the
gracious communication of His Imperial Majesty, I feel less weight of
responsibility in the course which circumstances have compelled me to
follow, with a view to restore order in the province of Maranham._
I hope soon to inform your Excellency that the task which His
Imperial Majesty has been further pleased to confide to me, of
causing the newly-appointed authorities to be acknowledged, is
accomplished; but I beg respectfully again to add my opinion that
these Northern provinces will not long continue in a state of
tranquillity, unless the provincial forces are shifted to other
quarters of the empire. In fact, if attention be not paid to this, I
consider that these provinces will shortly be entirely lost, both to
the empire of Brazil and to Portugal.
(Signed) COCHRANE AND MARANHAÕ.
Jan. 21, 1834.
The continued absence of even the slightest instructions for my
guidance--coupled with the Imperial approval of all I had done upon my
own responsibility, naturally implied that it was considered better to
leave me entirely unfettered by orders, which, if given at all, must be
issued in ignorance of the actual state of things which required
renovation. In this light I should have regarded the omission to direct
my conduct, but for the warnings privately received, to be careful what
I was about, for that, despite any apparent public approval of my
proceedings, my enemies in the administration were on the watch for some
act which might be construed to my disadvantage, and thus become the
pretext for blame which should outweigh the praise accorded. The
opportunity I felt had already been afforded by the suspension of Bruce
from the presidency, notwithstanding that this--as has been seen--was
fully justified by circumstances, and was not resorted to without
deliberate consideration, and the deepest conviction of its necessity.
Still, any opposition to the suspension of Bruce could only be factious,
for, on the 2nd of December, the Minister of Marine had in anticipation
forwarded to me a list of new presidents and generals-at-arms, every
person in authority throughout the whole extent of the Northern coast
being changed--with the exception of the president of Parà; so that
there was every reason to anticipate that even the strong measures
which I had been compelled to adopt with regard to Bruce would meet the
views of His Imperial Majesty.
On the 31st of January, the interim President apprised me that the Junta
refused to liquidate any part of the claim made in behalf of the
squadron. Upon this refusal, I wrote to the Junta that, such being their
decision, I would hold them personally responsible that no bills, debts,
nor claims of any kind beyond the current expenses of government should
be paid, till this prior claim--in honour and justice due to the
officers and seamen, who had generously advanced their prize money to
meet state exigencies--should be liquidated; adding, that the seamen
_relied on me for justice_, and if my warning were not attended to, I
should be compelled to take such steps as the necessity of upholding the
interests of the crown and the efficiency of the naval service appeared
to demand.
In taking this step, I frankly admit that it was the only way to obtain
from the Government of Maranham even a compromise for the amount owing
by the province to the captors. I had every confidence in His Imperial
Majesty that as far as lay in _his_ power justice would be done, as
evinced by the acknowledgments given in his own handwriting in
opposition to the measures of his ministers, on whom, or the prize
tribunal, no reliance could be placed; the former having done all in
_their_ power to thwart my efforts in His Majesty's service, whilst the
tribunal, acting by the sanction or in conformity to the known wishes
of the ministry, had delayed adjudication, with the evident intention
of _evading it altogether_, except in cases which gave a colour for
condemning me in damages, in which respect--apparently their only
object--they were prompt enough.
I therefore determined that as a specific portion of the prize property
taken at Maranham in 1823, had, at its own request, been given up to the
provisional Government, upon the express understanding of repayment
--without which it could not have been thus surrendered--the Junta
should be made to preserve their own good faith, as well as mine, to the
squadron, which, relying on my promises, had been influenced temporarily
to devote to the exigencies of the State that which by imperial decree,
as well as according to the laws of all nations, was their undoubted
right.
My orders to the Junta of Fazenda not to pay any claims--with the
exception of the ordinary expenses of Government--till those of the
squadron had been satisfied, were, however, almost superogatory; for, on
a visit of inspection to the arsenal on the 2nd of February, it appeared
that they had established a system of not paying any debts, even those
incurred for the provisions of the squadron, the contract prices being
set down at _treble the market price!_ This overcharge was accounted for
by the merchants on the ground of dilatory payments, which could only be
obtained at all from the Junta by fees to those whose duty it was to
pass the accounts! To counteract this, I requested the interim President
to forbid any further purchases on the part of the provincial
Government, as, in future, I would make them myself, and, what was more
to the purpose, pay for them.
By limiting the demand of repayment to one-fourth only of the amount
captured from the Portuguese Government, I was not pressing at all
severely upon the resources of the province, which is one of the richest
in Brazil; nor should I have put them to any inconvenience had I
demanded repayment of the whole, _as I justly might have done_.
On the 8th of February, the Junta of Fazenda sent me a verbal
communication to the effect that they would give the sum agreed upon in
commutation of prize money due to the captors--_in five bills, payable
in five months_. As I knew that, in case of my departure, these would
not be worth the paper upon which they were written, I refused the
offer, adding that, after the course pursued by the prize tribunal at
Rio de Janeiro the seamen had no faith in promises.
Finding that the Junta shewed every disposition to evade the demand, I
requested a personal interview with that body, intimating that I
expected all the members to be present. At this interview, I told the
Junta that all the documents necessary in support of the claim had been
laid before them, these being too precise to admit of dispute--that they
had no right in law, justice, or precedent, to withhold the portion of
the prize property left at Maranham, by the request of the provisional
government, no funds of their own being then available to meet the
exigencies which had arisen--and therefore they were in honour bound to
restore it.
I was induced to adopt this step, not only on account of the evasive
conduct experienced at the hands of the administration at Rio de
Janeiro, but because I knew that negotiations were actually pending for
the restitution of all the Portuguese property captured, as a basis of
the projected peace between Portugal and Brazil; in other words, that
the squadron--whose exertions had added to the Empire a territory larger
than the whole empire as it existed previous to the complete expulsion
of the Portuguese--was to be altogether sacrificed to a settlement
which its own termination of the war had brought about. So barefaced a
proceeding towards those whose services had been engaged on the express
stipulation of a right to all captures is, perhaps, unparalleled in the
history of nations; and, as both officers and men looked to me for
protection, I determined to persevere in demanding from the Government
of Maranham--at least a compromise of the sums which the captors had, in
1823, lent to its pressing exigencies.
No small amount of obloquy has been attached to me with regard to this
act of justice, the only one the squadron was ever likely to obtain; but
the transaction involved my own good faith with both officers and men,
who had lent the money solely on my assurance that the Government at Rio
de Janeiro could not do otherwise than refund the amount--so important
was it at the time, that the pressing difficulties of the province
should be promptly met. A man must have a singularly constituted mind,
who, in my position, would have acted otherwise. To this subject it will
be necessary to recur.
On the 7th of February, I was surprised by an intimation from Pedro
José da Costa Barros, of his intention to assume the presidency of
Maranham, founding his pretensions upon a letter addressed to Bruce,
whom I had suspended. At first--believing that he possessed the
requisite authority--I invited him to take possession of the office, but
finding that he had no patent to shew for the appointment, I considered
it my duty to His Majesty not to admit such pretensions till their
validity was established, and therefore told Barros that he must await
the official communications from Rio de Janeiro, before I could
acknowledge him as president--for that tranquillity being now restored,
I would not have the minds of the people again unsettled on the mere
presumption of his appointment.
In this arrangement Barros appeared to acquiesce, but being a well-known
partisan of the Portuguese faction, he was soon surrounded by the
adherents of that party in Maranham. On the 10th of March, a series of
allegations was forwarded to me by the party of Barros against the
interim President, but as they were of the most insignificant nature,
and unsupported by proof, I refused to pay attention to them. They were
shortly afterwards followed by a letter from Barros to the same purport,
but without any specific accusation against Lobo, whom he nevertheless
represented as about to fly from Maranham in order to evade the
punishment due to his crimes! Upon this I addressed to him the following
letter demanding specific charges against the interim President:--
Maranham, 10th March, 1825.
SIR,
I have received your Excellency's letter, in which the interim
President, Manuel Pellas da Silva Lobo, is charged with an intention
of departing from Maranham in a sudden and clandestine manner, and
in which your Excellency calls on me to adopt measures for the
prevention of his flight. I must, however, represent to your
Excellency that, since I have been in this province, so many reports
have been made to me with the greatest confidence, impeaching the
character and motives of individuals--all of which have proved
unfounded--that I feel it impossible to act with any propriety on
your Excellency's intimation--without being furnished with proof of
the truth of the allegation.
Your Excellency, I am persuaded, is too honourable to propagate so
serious a charge without believing it to be well founded, and I
cannot doubt that you will have the candour to admit that I am
entitled to be made acquainted with the grounds on which your
Excellency's belief rests, before proceeding to any measure of
severity against the party accused.
I have further to request that your Excellency will be pleased to
say _for what crime, or crimes_, the President interino is supposed
to be about to abandon--not only this province--but to flee from his
native country?
(Signed) COCHRANE AND MARANHAÕ.
To PEDRO JOSÉ DE COSTA BARROS.
The charges against Lobo, I well knew to have been fabricated for the
purpose of getting me to place him in arrest, and instal Barros in the
presidency. This plot failing, I learned, on the following day, that
arrangements had been made for the forcible seizure of the interim
President's person without any specific cause for dissatisfaction with
his government, which was in all respects just and excellent. Finding
the spirit of intrigue thus again manifested for the neutralisation of
all my efforts to restore order and prosperity to the province--to the
discomfiture of the intriguants--I again, on the 11th of March, declared
martial law. Such was the terror inspired by this act in the minds of
those who had fomented renewed disorder, that, anticipating summary
retribution from me, they prepared for the flight of which they had
accused an innocent man. On learning this, I despatched a vessel with a
competent officer to cruise at the mouth of the port, under orders
neither to let ships nor passengers leave without passports
counter-signed by myself.
Having received a letter from José Feliz de Azevedo e Sa, the President
of Cearà, warning me of the intentions of Barros, who had come from that
province, I was confirmed in my determination that the good which had
been effected at Maranham should not be neutralised by one who had no
authority to shew for his interference. Accordingly, I wrote to Barros
the following order to quit the province forthwith, until His Majesty's
intentions with regard to him should be made known:--
March 11th,1825.
SIR,
Your Excellency having acquainted me that the
President interino intended to fly from justice, at the same time
calling upon me to take precautionary measures to prevent his
escape, without setting forth any crime of which he had been guilty;
and further, with regard to my letter requesting that you would
make known the nature of the delinquency which impelled the said
President interino to fly from the province, you have not considered
it necessary to give the slightest explanation.
Now, as I have ample reason to believe the whole allegation to be
a fabrication--as I know that your Excellency--instead of waiting,
as is your duty, for communications from His Imperial Majesty
--has, by your countenance, suffered to be stirred up a spirit of
dissension and party, and as I understand the laws which I have been
compelled to call into operation to prevent greater evils.
I have to acquaint your Excellency that I have provided a convenient
conveyance for your Excellency and suite, in order that you
may reside in the neighbouring province of Parà, until the arrival of
orders from His Imperial Majesty; and that my barge will be at
the service of your Excellency and suite at any hour to-morrow,
between sunrise and sunset, in order to proceed to the anchorage of
the _Pedro 1'ro_, where you will find the _Cacique_ ready for your
reception.
(Signed) COCHRANE AND MARANHAÕ.
To PEDRO JOSÉ DE COSTA BARROS.
Barros strongly remonstrated against this proceeding; but knowing that
the machinations of his party had been the direct cause of renewed
disorders, I resolved not to give way; telling him that he had only
himself to blame, by not having abstained from meddling with public
affairs till the arrival of competent authority from His Imperial
Majesty. Accordingly, I insisted on his immediately embarking on board
the _Cacique_, in charge of Captain Manson, for conveyance to Parà, to
the President of which province I addressed the following letter:--
Maranham, 13th March,1825.
MOST EXCELLENT SIR,
Since I had the honour of writing to your
Excellency, Pedro José de Costa Barros, who arrived from Cearà
with the intention to take upon himself the office of President
here--has unfortunately been the occasion of stirring up old
animosities, which I had hoped experience might have taught him
the advantage of leaving dormant. Had Barros been provided
with proper authority under the sign manual of His Imperial
Majesty, the difficulties that have occurred since his arrival might
have been prevented; though I am extremely apprehensive that if
ever he shall be invested with such authority, still greater evils will
befal the province. The Portuguese party are in favour of Barros,
and have expressed their sentiments unequivocally, and this your
Excellency knows is sufficient to raise up the native Brazilians
against him.
The Portuguese and some others had combined to place Barros
in the Presidency by force, which intention I happily frustrated by
arriving in Maranham with a considerable reinforcement from the
_Pedro Primiero_, at midnight--when the attempt was to have
occurred. To put a stop to proceedings so injurious to the interests
of His Imperial Majesty and the public, I have felt it necessary to
remove Barros from Maranham until his commission shall arrive,
or until His Majesty's pleasure respecting the appointment of
Manoel Telles da Silva Lobo, shall be known. Barros therefore
proceeds in the _Cacique_ (which is the bearer of this) to Parà--where
having no pretensions, he will have no partisans, and will be
inoffensive.
I have not time, nor would it be of any utility to occupy your
Excellency with a minute detail of the affairs of this province,
whilst your Excellency has so much to do in that under your
immediate superintendence: I am convinced that in all I have
done, I have acted in conformity with the true interests of His
Majesty and his people, and am in no degree under any apprehension
that the malevolent aspersions of self-interested or
disappointed individuals will have the least influence on any candid
mind, when a real statement of facts shall be laid before the
public.
I shall be gratified if your Excellency attains the satisfaction
of preserving the province of Parà free from those party dissensions,
the danger and inconvenience of which are best known to those who
are obliged to be on the watch to counteract them.
(Signed) COCHRANE AND MARANHAÕ.
To José Feliz de Azevedo e Sa, the President of Cearà, I addressed the
subjoined letter of thanks for the warning he had given me respecting
Barros:--
Maranham, March 16th, 1825.
MOST EXCELLENT SIR,
I have to offer your Excellency many thanks for
your kind letter, informing me, by anticipation, of the character of
an individual whose principles and plans I was not long in discovering.
Scarcely had he placed his foot on the soil of Maranham,
when he was surrounded by all the Portuguese of the city, who
expressed their joy at his arrival in no equivocal manner. To give
you a history of his intrigues would require pages. Suffice it to say,
that--after having attempted to thrust himself into the Government
within forty-eight hours after his arrival,--without having any lawful
commission from His Imperial Majesty--and being defeated in that
object--he placed himself at the head of a faction, brought charges
against the President interino, and on the night of the 10th formed
a plan to seize his person! This, however, I defeated, and as his
charges against Lobo were entirely false and malicious, I have sent
him off to Parà, there to await the determination of His Imperial
Majesty.
The intrigues here are so numerous, and there are so many
interests to reconcile, that the harmony now restored will probably
cease with the departure of the force under my command. But
it is obvious that the squadron cannot remain here for ever to watch
over private broils and feuds of so contemptible a nature. The only
thing of which I am seriously afraid, is the influence and number of
the Portuguese settled here, should they find a president desirous of
promoting their views and supposed interests.
(Signed) COCHRANE AND MARANHAÕ.
There was great difficulty to act for the best in this matter: but
whether Barros were appointed to the presidency or not, the course taken
was the only one even temporarily to ensure public tranquillity. If
appointed, it was evident, from his acts, that he had been selected by
the administration to put in execution their anti-Brazilian projects;
whilst the Portuguese party in Maranham unequivocally expressed their
intention to revive the old animosities between themselves and the
native Brazilians; thus causing a renewal of disorder which I was
determined not to permit, in favour of one who had no patent to shew for
his assumption of authority.
This monstrous state of affairs--fostered by the Imperial
administration--was a natural consequence of their Portuguese
predilections, and could not have existed, except from want of union
amongst the Brazilians themselves, who, unskilled in political
organization, were compelled to submit to a foreign faction, unable to
carry out its own views, and only powerful in thwarting those of the
patriots. Their policy was the more reprehensible, for even the
government of the mother country conceded that Brazil was too extensive
and powerful to be again reduced to a state of colonial dependence, and
therefore confined its aims to the Northern provinces, the Portuguese
party in the administration seconding the intentions of the parent
state; both, however, shutting their eyes to the fact, that, if these
were separated from Brazil, they would become disorganized in a vain
attempt to imitate the constitution of the United States--by whose more
enlightened citizens they were greatly influenced--and, as a
consequence, would be lost both to the parent state and the Empire. As
it was, all I had effected for their annexation and tranquillization was
regarded with perfect hatred by the Portuguese residents in the
provinces as well as by the administration, who did everything in their
power to thwart my measures for the union and consolidation of the
Empire.
During the whole of this period, I repeat that I had received no
communication from Rio de Janeiro, with the exception of the letter
before mentioned, with the rubrick of His Imperial Majesty, thanking me
for the course I had pursued. Though no instructions were sent for my
guidance, nor any fault found with my acts, yet, from private sources, I
was advised that my success in restoring order to the Northern provinces
had greatly embittered the administration against me, as having
destroyed the hopes of Portugal--expressed through Palmella--of
profiting by disorder. I was also left to provide for the pay and
maintenance of the squadron, one vessel only with supplies having been
forwarded since our departure from Rio de Janeiro, in the preceding
August!
Notwithstanding this marked neglect, I took care to keep the
administration well advised of all my proceedings, and the causes
thereof, the following being extracts from my letters to the Minister of
Marine, respecting the events just narrated:--
No. 290.
Maranham, March 16th, 1825.
I beg to acquaint your Excellency, for the satisfaction of the
Imperial government, that I have caused the provinces which required
military assistance, to furnish pay and provisions for the ships
immediately under my command; and further, that I have required the
government of Maranham to pay, as a recompence to the officers and
seamen, _one-fourth part_ of the amount of money and bills, and
_one-fifth part_ of the value of the military stores surrendered by
the Portuguese authorities on the 28th of July, 1823. Thus the
Imperial government at Rio de Janeiro will be relieved from
considerable disbursement, and the officers and
seamen--notwithstanding the great additional trouble to which they
have been put--will be satisfied, so far as regards their claim to
the value of their captures in compensation for their services at
Maranham.
I cannot refrain from drawing the attention of the Imperial
government to the abuses which exist in every department of the
provincial government, where, notwithstanding the great revenue
derived from various sources, the Junta of Fazenda possess so little
credit, that their bills have actually been sold at 30 per cent.
discount, and I am credibly informed that no money can, at any time,
be received from the treasury without a heavy per centage being given
to the inferior officers; but how such per centages are afterwards
disposed of, is to me unknown.
The price at which provisions were being purchased by the
Intendente for the use of the squadron being exorbitant, I instituted
a minute inquiry, the result of which was the discovery of
a fraudulent system which I abolished by purchasing our own
provisions. American salt beef, for which the Provincial Government
charged 25 milreis the barrel, I have purchased for 12 milreis--pork
charged 32 milreis, I buy for 15-1/2 milreis. Bread is charged
10 milreis the quintal, whilst the English sloop-of-war _Jaseur_ is
purchasing it at 5 milreis, for bills on England. Indeed, the abuses
here of all kinds are too numerous to be detailed by letter, and to
endeavour to put a stop to them, unless under the express authority
and protection of the Imperial Government, would be a thankless
task.
* * * * *
No. 291.
Maranham, March 17th, 1825.
The difficulties with which I have had to contend in this
province have been greatly increased by the arrival of Pedro José
de Costa Barros on the 5th of last month--when intrigue within
intrigue was set on foot by different parties, and which--if Barros
were placed in power--I clearly foresaw would end in anarchy and
bloodshed--and probably in the destruction of all the Portuguese
part of the community, whose unequivocal reception of a partisan
President excited at once the jealousy and distrust of the
Brazilians.
Under these circumstances, I felt that the only course to be
adopted, for the prevention of serious evils, was to defer the
introduction of Barros into authority, and to leave Lobo as President
interino, until further directions from the Imperial Government.
This additional degree of responsibility I took upon myself with the
less reluctance, as Barros had no other authority to assume the
Government than a letter to Bruce, whom I had previously been
compelled to suspend from office and send to Rio--to whom, therefore,
such letter could not be delivered. Besides which, having
appointed Lobo to be President interino, until His Majesty's
pleasure should be known, I could not consistently consent to his
removal from office until His Majesty was acquainted with his
appointment, and had expressed his pleasure thereon.
* * * * *
No. 292.
Maranham, March 18th, 1825.
As I observe by the Lisbon newspapers that most of the vessels
acquitted by the Court of Admiralty have arrived at Lisbon, I beg to
call your Excellency's attention to the fact that I have received no
reply to my letter addressed to your Excellency on the 1st of
August last, requesting to know whether, in addition to the loss
of the property, _which ought to have been condemned_, I was personally
liable to the enormous costs and damages decreed against me by
that tribunal.
* * * * *
No. 293.
Maranham, March 18, 1825.
In my letter, No. 291, I acquainted your Excellency
of the course pursued with regard to Pedro José de Costa Barros,
who, under the mistaken counsels of a faction here, would have
again involved this province in scenes of bloodshed and confusion.
It is neither my duty nor inclination to become a tool in the hands
of any faction, whose views are contrary to the true interests of
His Imperial Majesty, and, were they countenanced and protected,
would infallibly involve all Brazil in civil war and anarchy.
I contented myself, however, with continuing the usual precautions,
which were sufficient to prevent disasters till His Majesty's
pleasure, with regard to recent occurrences in this province, should
become known, of which I have been in daily expectation for some
time past; but Barros--after agreeing to await the expected
instructions--considered that he had gained over a sufficient party
to overthrow the government by violent means, and addressed to me
the letter A, which was considered by him a sufficient pretext to
warrant the imprisonment of the President interino, during my
temporary absence on board the flagship, whence, it was supposed,
I should not be able to arrive in time to prevent the execution of
that violent measure; and I regret to add, that, in this plot--so
prejudicial to His Majesty's interests, and so disgraceful to the
parties concerned--persons whose duty it was to have at once combatted
such unjustifiable proceedings took an underhand but active
part. The letters of Barros, A and B, will sufficiently shew the
violence of his prejudices, his credulity, and precipitancy in acting
upon false information and reports, as well as his total ignorance of
law and justice, in requiring the seizure of an individual without
specifying either crime or accuser.
I enclose to your Excellency all the correspondence which has
taken place between Barros and myself, together with the proclamation
which I felt it my duty to issue for the maintenance of order;
for the legal department here now profess to consider that, although
the constitution has been granted and accepted, they have no
authority to put it in practice--hence, between the ancient and new
laws, justice is at a stand.
(Signed) COCHRANE AND MARANHAÕ.
To these and all my previous communications no reply was returned either
in the way of approval or otherwise. There was, however, one member of
the administration, Luiz José Carvalho e Mello, who had ever been my
friend, being himself a man of patriotic and enlightened views, but
without the influence to counteract the designs of his Portuguese
colleagues. As I knew from private sources, that this silence had its
objects, I addressed to Carvalho e Mello the following letter:--
Maranham, March 22nd, 1825.
MOST EXCELLENT SIR,
By the arrival of my despatches transmitted by the _George_ and other
ships, your Excellency will have been successively informed of such
public transactions and occurrences as seemed to me worthy of the
attention of the Imperial Government. But notwithstanding that three
months and upwards have now elapsed since the date of my first
communications, I have the misfortune (for so I must call it) to be
left without any precise or applicable instructions from Rio de
Janeiro. The responsibility, therefore, rests entirely on my
shoulders, and I feel this the more--being aware that not only shall
I meet with no support from the majority of the Ministry itself--but
that the most powerful faction in Rio de Janeiro will represent every
thing I have done--or may do--in the blackest colours.
I console myself, however, with the knowledge that I possess the
means of exposing the falsehood of every allegation that can be
brought against me. I have acted towards His Imperial Majesty
and the Brazilian nation, in the same manner as I should have
done for my native Sovereign and country; and I must say--that,
had I freed the shores of England from a superior hostile force, and
rescued half the country from the dominion of an enemy--the
British Government would not have left me to seek the fruit of my
labours, and those of the officers and seamen who served with me,
in the manner in which I have been compelled to seek them in
Brazil; and would never have subjected me to the necessity of
having recourse to measures capable of being so perversely represented
as to obscure for a time that credit to which I am entitled
for the successful conduct of the naval war. I am, however,
resolved never to be deterred, by fear of consequences, from using
every endeavour within my power to obtain justice for all who have
continued to perform their duty in the Imperial service. And
I have the less hesitation in persevering in this resolution--because
it cannot be denied that I have strictly limited the claims of the
naval service to such rewards as would have been admitted to
be due, under similar circumstances, in the navy of England.
I have used the freedom to say thus much to your Excellency as
my friend--because I am well aware that the old cry of the Portuguese
faction in Rio will be set up against me the moment they
hear that I have caused the Junta of Fazenda of this province to pay
a part of the amount of the money and bills taken on the surrender
of the Portuguese authorities at Maranham. This, of course, though
only one-fourth of the amount due, _will be represented as an outrageous
robbery_; but I again say, that it is not from the Portuguese
faction at Rio, that I expect either credit or justice. Their object is
sufficiently evident, namely--_the expulsion of every foreign officer
from the service, by means of privation and insult, in order that they
may fill the ships with their Portuguese countrymen and dependents_;
a result which I should lament to witness, because fraught with mischief
to His Imperial Majesty and Brazil.
I feel myself much shaken in health by the great heat of the climate,
and the anxiety occasioned by the peculiar circumstances in which I
have been placed; all of which I might have saved myself under the
plea of want of instructions, but for my desire to promote the real
interests of His Imperial Majesty, by once more accomplishing that
which His Majesty, in his instructions to me of the 31st of July
last, was graciously pleased to describe as "_of no less importance
than the integrity and independence of the Empire_."
I am, with great respect,
Your Excellency's devoted friend,
and obedient servant,
COCHRANE AND MARANHAÕ.
On the 16th of March, the Junta--finding that I would not listen to any
farther evasion--paid 30 contos (£.6000) in bills, and 3 contos (£.600)
in silver, as the first instalment of the 106,000 dollars (£.21,200) for
which the restoration of 425,000 dollars (£.85,000) had been commuted.
The disbursement of this sum amongst the officers and men entitled to
it, is fully narrated in the concluding chapter, containing a full
statement of the disbursement of this and other monies charged against
me, which statement is accompanied by vouchers fortunately retained in
my possession, these placing the proper disbursement of the money
amongst its rightful owners beyond doubt or question.