I AM DISMISSED THE SERVICE BY THE BRAZILIAN GOVERNMENT--WITHOUT ANY
ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF MY SERVICES--INCONSISTENCY OF THIS WITH FORMER
THANKS--THOUGH DISMISSED I AM TRIED AS A DESERTER--AND AM REFUSED ALL
COMPENSATION--REPORT OF RECENT COMMISSION ON THE SUBJECT--FALSE
REPRESENTATIONS--BUT PARTIALLY TRUE CONCLUSIONS--MY ORIGINAL PATENTS
NEVER SET ASIDE--UNTRUE ASSUMPTIONS AS TO MY DISMISSAL--MY CLAIMS
FOUNDED ON THE ORIGINAL PATENTS--LESS THAN HALF THE INTEREST DUE
PAID--OPINIONS OF EMINENT BRAZILIANS THEREON--MY SERVICES TARDILY
ACKNOWLEDGED--NO ACT OF MINE HAD ANNULLED THEM--THE ESTATE CONFERRED,
NOT CONFIRMED--PROMISES ON ACCOUNT OF CHILI UNFULFILLED--THE WHOLE
STILL MY RIGHT.
Having been thus unceremoniously dismissed from the Imperial
service--without doubt, by order of the Brazilian Ministry to their
Envoy in London, I was some months afterwards surprised by the receipt
of a letter from the Imperial Government, dated December 21st, 1825, and
signed "Visconde de Paranagua," informing me that His Imperial Majesty
had ordered all my pay and other claims to be suspended till I should
return to Rio de Janeiro to justify myself and give an account of my
commission--this being now out of my power, as I had been deprived of
command, and the frigate in which I came to England had returned, by
order of the Envoy, to Rio de Janeiro.
Without, however, giving me time to do this, I received another letter
from the same authority, dated Dec. 30, containing my formal dismission
from the service--this shewing that Gameiro had previous instructions
to act in the way narrated in the last chapter.
The following is the official letter dismissing me from the command of
the Navy, and from the post of First Admiral:--
His Majesty the Emperor, informed of that which your Excellency has
set forth in your letter No. 300, dated the 5th of November last, has
been pleased to determine that your Excellency shall fulfil the
orders already several times transmitted to you, and further in
compliance with the order of the 20th inst., a copy of which I
inclose, you are to return to this Court, where it is necessary you
shall give an account of the Commission with which you were
entrusted. His Majesty is much surprised that, after having taken the
frigate _Piranga_ to a foreign port, and having there remained in
despite of the Baron Itabayana, you should have adopted the
extraordinary resolution, not only _to abandon that frigate, but also
to retire from the service of the Emperor_, without having returned
to give an account of your proceedings _previous to your dismissal
from the command of the naval forces, and from the post of First
Admiral_ of the National and Imperial Armada. All which I communicate
for the information and execution of your Excellency.
God preserve your Excellency.
Palace of Rio de Janeiro, Dec. 30th, 1825.
(Signed) VISCONDE DE PARANAGUA.
To the Marquis of Maranhaõ.
From this extraordinary document it is plain that Gameiro had written to
the Imperial Government the same falsehood, as he had used when
endeavouring to seduce Lieut. Shepherd from his duty to me as his
Commander-in-Chief; viz. that I had voluntarily retired from the
service, because the Admiralty Court having condemned me in £.60,000
_damages, I durst not return to Rio de Janeiro!_ though I announced to
him my readiness to sail in the frigate. The Jesuitical nature of the
preceding letter amply proves its object and motive. It does not dismiss
me--but _it calls on me to come and be dismissed_! carefully addressing
me, however, as "Marquis of Maranhaõ," and not as First Admiral, thereby
intimating that I was _already dismissed_! As there can be no mistake
about the meaning of the document, it is not worth while to discuss
it--the reason why it is adduced being to shew that I was not only
dismissed by the Envoy Gameiro, but in a little more than a month
afterwards by the Imperial Government itself; which for thirty years
reiterated in reply to my often pressed claims--that _I dismissed myself
by abandoning the service of my own accord_!
Not a word of acknowledgment was ever given for having a second time
saved the Empire from dismemberment, though this service was entirely
extra-official, it being no part of my contract with the Brazilian
Government to put down revolution, nor to take upon myself the
responsibility and difficult labour of reducing half the Empire to the
allegiance which it had perhaps not without cause repudiated--at the
same time, of necessity, taking the management of the whole upon myself.
This had been done at the pressing personal request of His Imperial
Majesty, in face of the decree of the Court of Admiralty _that no prizes
should be made within a certain distance of the shore_; so that no
benefit, public or private--arising from the operations of war--could
result from blockade; yet I had a right to expect even greater thanks
and a more liberal amount of compensation in case of success, than from
the first expedition. Not a word of acknowledgment nor a shilling of
remuneration for that service has ever been awarded to this day; though
such treatment stands out in glaring inconsistency with the Imperial
thanks and honours--the thanks of the Administration--and the vote of
the General Assembly, for expelling on the first expedition enemies not
half so formidable as were the revolutionary factions with which I had
to contend in the Northern provinces.
Neither in Brazil nor in England had I done anything to forfeit my right
to the fulfilment of the explicit stipulations set forth in the Imperial
patents of March 26th, and November 25th, 1823. His Imperial Majesty had
all along marked his approbation of my zealous exertions for the
interests of the empire--designating them "_altos e extraordinarios
servicios_."--and desired that I should have the most ample
remuneration; having, in addition to every honour in his power to
confer, granted me an estate, which grant was by the Portuguese faction
strenuously and successfully opposed, and not this only, but every other
recompence proposed by His Majesty as a remuneration for my services.
The object being to subvert whatever had been effected by my exertions,
though, but for these the inevitable consequence would have been the
establishment of insignificant local governments in perpetual turmoil
and revolution, in place of an entire empire in the enjoyment of
uninterrupted repose. Had I connived at the views of the Anti-Imperial
faction--even by avoiding the performance of extra-official services--I
might, without dereliction of my duty as an officer, have amply shared
in their favours; but for my adherence to the Emperor against their
machinations, that influence was successfully used to deprive me even of
the ordinary reward of my labours in the cause of independence.
As soon as the compulsory deprivation of my command, by the Envoy
Gameiro, became known in Rio de Janeiro--where, doubtless, it was
expected--a great outcry was raised against me, _as though my non-return
had been my own act_. The press was set in motion, and every effort was
used to traduce me in the eyes of the Brazilian people, from whom the
truth of the matter was carefully withheld; the whole, eventually,
terminating with a mock trial in my absence, when it had been placed out
of my power to defend myself. At this trial I was accused of
contumacy--stigmatised as a deserter, though, as has just been seen,
formally dismissed by the government, in confirmation of my dismissal by
the Envoy in England--and not only this, but I was declared by the
creatures of the administration in the National Assembly, to merit
punishment as a deserter! Such was my reward for first consolidating and
afterwards preserving the Empire of Brazil.
Never dreaming of the advantage which might thus be taken by the
Administration of the act of their envoy--on the 10th of February, 1826,
I drew a bill upon the Brazilian Government for the remainder of my pay
up to the period of my dismissal by Itabayana. This was refused and
protested, as was also another afterwards drawn.
This course clearly indicated the intention of the Administration not to
pay me anything, now that they had dismissed me from the service. To
have returned then to prosecute my claims against such judges, would
have been an act of folly, if not of insanity; my only alternative being
to memorialize the Emperor, which for many successive years I did
without effect--the execution of the Imperial will unhappily depending
on the decision of his ministers, who, little more than five years
afterwards, partly forced, and partly disgusted His Majesty into an
abdication in favour of his infant son, Don Pedro de Alcantara, now
Emperor of Brazil; committing the guardianship of his family to José
Bonifacio de Andrada, who, like myself, had been forced into exile from
the hatred of the very men who had so bitterly persecuted me, but had
been permitted to return to Brazil from which he never ought to have
been exiled.
For more than twenty years did I unceasingly memorialize successive
Brazilian governments, but without effect. At length the Administration
which had so bitterly visited its hatred on me passed away, and it
became evident to His present Imperial Majesty, and the Brazilian
people, that I had been most shamefully treated. Nearly at the same time
I had fortunately succeeded in convincing the British Government that
the obloquy for so many years heaped upon me was unmerited; and Lord
Clarendon warmly espoused my cause, as did the Hon. Mr. Scarlett, the
British Minister at Rio de Janeiro; these excellent personages taking
the trouble to investigate the matter, a boon which I had in vain
solicited from any of their predecessors; though, had the favour
previously been granted, it would have had the effect of explaining my
conduct in Brazil as satisfactorily as, I trust, this volume has done to
the reader.
The result of this was a commission, appointed by the Brazilian
Government, to inquire into the case of the squadron generally. The
following is an extract from their report, so far as regards myself:--
LORD COCHRANE.
The first in rank and title assuredly is Lord Cochrane, Earl of
Dundonald, and Marquis of Maranhaõ, First Admiral and Commander-in-Chief
of the National Armada during the War of Independence.
The fame of the services rendered by Lord Cochrane in Chili, as
Commander-in-Chief of the squadron of that republic induced the
Imperial Government to invite him to accept a similar command in
Brazil, so long as the War of Independence should last, with the
promise of the same advantages which he there enjoyed.
Accepting the invitation, he was appointed by the decree of the
21st of March, 1823, with the pay of 11.520 milreis, being the same
as he had in Chili, conferring upon him, by communication of the
same date, the command of the squadron which was being equipped
in the port of this city; and by decree of the 23rd of February,
1824, the command-in-chief of the naval forces of the Empire during
the War of Independence.
It was afterwards decreed, on the 27th of July, 1824, that he
should enjoy the said pay in full, so long as he continued in the
service of the Empire; and _in case of his not desiring to continue
therein_ after the War of Independence, one half of the said pay as
a pension, which, in the event of his decease, should revert to Lady
Cochrane.
Lastly, by a _portaria_ of the 20th of December, 1825, it was
decreed that all his muniments and rights should be suspended, and
he was dismissed by a decree of the 10th April, 1827.
Justice demands that we shall acknowledge (says the Commission)
that the services of Lord Cochrane in the command of the squadron,
put an end to the war more speedily than had been expected; but if
his services were great, it is impossible to conceal that unqualified
and arbitrary acts of the most audacious daring were committed by
him and by the ships under his command, occasioning to the National
Treasury enormous losses, particularly by the heavy indemnification
of an infinite number of bad prizes, which it was obliged to satisfy;
and truth demands that we should declare that if the pretended
claims are suspended, the fault was entirely his own, from having
disobeyed the repeated orders of the Imperial Government, which
commanded his return to this Court to give account of his commission,
aggravated by the crime of having withdrawn himself from the
Empire for England with the frigate _Piranga_, and there remaining
with that frigate, notwithstanding the reiterated orders of the
Imperial Government, for more than two years, pretending that he
had not received the said orders, which at last were ordered to be
communicated to him through the Brazilian Minister resident in
London.
All this is amply proved by different official documents, some of
which documents are from the claimant himself, this justifying the
suspension of the payment of his claims, no less than the crime of
his obstinate disobedience; and, indeed more by the indispensable
obligation by which he was bound to give accounts of the sums
which he received on account of prizes to distribute to the squadron
under his command, which distribution he himself acknowledged in
his letter of the 5th of November, 1825, wherein he says, "I shall
forward to the Imperial Government an account of the money
received from His Imperial Majesty for distribution to the seamen,
as well as other sums to the account of the captors."
Having traced this outline relative to the services and excesses of
Lord Cochrane, the Commission now proceeds to discuss his claims.
First,--His annual pay is 11.520 milreis, which was owing to him
from the 1st of August to the 10th of November 1825, when he left
the service of the Empire. The claimant founds his demand on the
decree of the 21st of March 1823, added to and confirmed on the
27th of July, 1824.
The second decree says,--"I deem fit, by the advice of my
Council of State, to determine that the said Marquis of Maranhaõ
shall receive, so long as he is in the service of the Empire, the
pay of his patent (11.520 milreis), and in case of his not choosing
to continue therein after the termination of the present war, the
half of the said pay, as a pension, the same being extended, in
case of his death, to Lady Cochrane." The said enactment being
so positive that at the sight thereof, the Commission declares, that
_it cannot do otherwise than confirm the right of the claimant to the
prompt payment of the pension due to him._
In this report there are many inaccuracies. It is stated that when in
Chili I accepted "the Brazilian command during the war of Independence"
only.--"_Viesse occupar igual commando no Brazil emquanto durasse Guerra
da Independencia._" This is contrary to fact, as will be seen in the
first chapter of this volume, where both the invitation to accept the
command, and my conditional acceptance thereof are given. To repeat the
actual words of the invitation, _"Abandonnez-nous, Milord, à la
reconnaissance Brésilienne--a la munificence du Prince--à la probité
sans tache de l'actuel Gouvernement--on vous fera justice"_ &c. &c. It
was neither "princely munificence"--"ministerial probity"--nor "common
justice," to dismiss me from the service without my professional and
stipulated emoluments, or even the arrears of my pay, the very moment
tranquillity had been established as a consequence of my exertions, and
so far the Commission decided; though they ought to have added, as was
well known, that my command in Chili had been without limitation of
time, and therefore my Brazilian command, as expressed in the Imperial
patents, was not accepted under other conditions. The above opinion,
expressed by the Commission, could only have been given to justify the
spurious decree of Barbosa, in virtue of which, though set aside by His
Imperial Majesty, I was dismissed by Gameiro, that decree--under the
hypocritical pretence of conferring upon me a boon--limiting my services
to the war, _after the war had been terminated by my exertions;_ the
object being to get rid of me, and thus to avoid condemning the prizes
captured by the squadron. Nevertheless, the promises held out to me in
Chili, were most honourably admitted by His Imperial Majesty and his
first Ministry--and were moreover twice confirmed by Imperial patent,
counter-signed by the Ministers, and registered in the National
Archives. These patents _have never been set aside by any act of mine,_
yet to this day their solemn stipulations remain unfulfilled.
The Commission complains that the Treasury was caused to sustain
"enormous losses by the indemnification of an infinite number of bad
prizes, which it was obliged to satisfy." I deny that there was _one bad
prize,_ all, without exception, being captured in violation of blockade,
or having Portuguese registers, crews, and owners. But even if they had
been bad--His Majesty's stipulation, in his own handwriting (see page
118), provided that they should be paid by the state. The fact was, as
proved in these pages beyond contradiction, that they were given back
by the Portuguese members of the Prize Tribunal to their own friends and
relations--this alone constituting the illegality of the captures.
Some--as in the case of the _Pombinho_'s cargo--were given up to persons
who had not the shadow of a claim upon them. The squadron never received
a shilling on their account.
Again, the Commission declares that I was dismissed the service on the
10th of April, 1827; whereas I have given the letter of Gameiro,
dismissing me, on the 7th of November, 1825, and the _portaria_ of the
Imperial Government, dismissing me, on the 30th of December, in the same
year! This renewed dismissal was only a repetition of the former
unjustifiable dismissals, adding nothing to their force, and in no way
alleviating their injustice.
The imputation of "the crime of obstinate disobedience" has been so
fully refuted in this volume, that it is unnecessary to offer another
word of explanation.
Finally, the Commission decided that the "Imperial act of July 27, 1824,
_is so positive that, at the sight thereof, the Commission declares it
cannot do otherwise than confirm the right of the claimant to the prompt
payment of the pension due to him._" But if the Commissioners had
examined this act of His Imperial Majesty more closely, together with
the explanatory letter of Barbosa, accompanying it, they would have seen
that the decree of July 27th, 1824, was not only additive to the
Imperial patents, but admitted _to be confirmatory of them_, by Barbosa
himself, notwithstanding his own spurious decree, nullified by His
Imperial Majesty, but afterwards unjustifiably acted upon. (See page
150.)
If I have any claim at all for the numerous and important services which
I rendered to Brazil, it is founded _on the original patents_ granted to
me by His Imperial Majesty, without limitation as to time, which I
solemnly declare was not even mentioned--much less stipulated--as the
patents themselves prove. The decree awarding me half pay as a pension,
"in case _I did not choose_ to continue in the service," has no
reference to me. I never left the service, but--as even admitted by
Gameiro, in his negotiations with Lieutenant Shepherd--was most
unjustifiably, and by wilful falsehood, _turned out of it_, in order to
rid the administration of my claims on a hundred and twenty ships, and a
vast amount of valuable property captured in lawful warfare, under the
express directions of His Imperial Majesty.
Why also is no compensation awarded to me for my extra-official services
in putting down revolution in the Northern provinces--an act, or series
of acts--in my estimation, of far greater importance and difficulty than
the expulsion of the Portuguese fleet and army? Every historian of
Brazil has spoken in high praise of my execution of this almost
impracticable task--but coupled with the infamous lie derived from the
Government that, for my own personal benefit, I robbed the Treasury at
Maranham of 106,000 dollars; though in the concluding chapter _I will
print in full the receipt of every officer under my command for his
share of the money returned by the Junta_, the original receipts being
now in my possession for the inspection of the Brazilian Government, or
of any commission or persons it may choose to appoint for that purpose.
Were these services nothing, just as half the Empire had declared itself
Republican? Was my refusal to accept a bribe of 400,000 dollars from the
revolutionary president of Pernambuco the act of a man who would
afterwards conduct himself as has been falsely imputed to me? The
Brazilian Government cannot refuse to inspect or authorise the
inspection of the originals of documents contained in this narrative,
and if they consent, I have no fear but that the national honour will
yet do me justice.
It is not justice to have awarded to me the above-named pension
merely--even on the assumption of the Commissioners that I did leave the
service of my own accord--for that sum is _less than one half the simple
interest_ of the amount of which for thirty years I was, even by their
own admission, unjustly deprived. This may be a cheap way of liquidating
obligations, but it is not consistent with the honour of a nation thus
to delay its pecuniary obligations, and then _pay the principal with
less than half the interest_! I feel certain that when making an
award--which they admit could not be avoided--the Commissioners
inadvertently lost sight of this obvious truth.
Let me refer the Brazilian Government to the officially recorded
opinions of honourable men on the Commission, or "_Seccoes_," when
commenting upon this very inadequate reward about to be given after the
lapse of thirty years of unmerited obloquy, which would have sunk any
man unsupported by the consciousness of rectitude to a premature grave.
Senor Alvez Bhanco E Hollanda declared that "as a commemoration
of the benefits which Brazil had derived from Lord
Cochrane, there was no other conclusion than that _he ought to be
paid the whole sum which he claimed, for which the 'Assemblea
Geral' should ask a credit_."
Senor Hollanda Cavalcante, in taking into account the requisition
of Lord Cochrane, was "altogether of the opinion expressed
by Senor Alvez Branco--that his Lordship as well as others
should have the whole amount claimed."
Viscount Olinda, in the Council of State, gave his opinion that
"Lord Cochrane shall be paid the various demands he has made.
He repeated his opinion that this course alone was consistent
with the dignity of the Government, or the services of the Admiral.
He (Viscount Olinda) well remembered the great services of Lord
Cochrane, and these ought not to be depreciated by paltry imputed
omissions. It appeared to him little conformable to the dignity
of Brazil, to enter, at this distance of time, into questions of
money with one to whom they owed so much."
Viscount Parana "was of opinion that _no responsibility for
captures rested on the officers who had made them, they acting
under the orders of the Government, which took the responsibility
on itself_. Justice demanded this view of the matter, and even
the acquittal of many of the prizes might be attributed to _a
change of Ministerial policy_."
Senor Aranjo Vicuna. "There is no necessity for continuing the
suspension of Lord Cochrane's pay. It ought to be paid as remuneration
for important services, the benefits whereof were not diminished
by any subsequent conduct on the part of His Lordship."
"It was the opinion of the Council that Lord Cochrane's pension
ought to be paid, notwithstanding any question as to the limitation
of prizes, or any defects in the prize accounts."--_Correio
Mercantil_, Aug. 29, 1854.
Yet notwithstanding these expressions of opinion, less than half the
interest of even the limited sum admitted to be due to me was awarded.
The Commissioners admit in the preceding Report that _my speedy
annexation of the Portuguese provinces was unexpected_, and this alone
should have made them pause ere they awarded me less than half the
interest of my own money, withheld for 30 years--themselves retaining
the principal--the amount received, being, in reality, insufficient to
liquidate the engagements which I had of necessity incurred during the
thirty years of neglect to satisfy my claims--now admitted to be beyond
dispute. Their admission involves the fact that the "_unexpected_"
expulsion of the Portuguese fleet and army _saved Brazil millions of
dollars in military and naval expeditions_ against an organised European
power, which only required time to set at complete defiance any efforts
which Brazil herself was in a condition to make. It was, in fact, a
question of "_speedy_" annexation, or no annexation at all, and it was
this consideration which impelled me to the extraordinary measures
adopted for the intimidation of the enemy, in the absence of means for
their forcible expulsion. But is it generous to reward a service of such
admitted importance, by giving me less than half the interest of a
sum--acknowledged as a right which could no longer be withheld?
Is it not ungenerous to exclude me from my share of the prize-money
taken in the first expedition, though a prize tribunal is at this moment
sitting in Rio de Janeiro to consider the claims of officers and men,
nine-tenths of whom are dead? Is it not ungenerous to have engaged me in
the extra-professional service of putting down revolution and anarchy in
the Northern provinces, and when the mission was successfully
accomplished, to have dismissed me from the Imperial service without one
expression of acknowledgment or the slightest reward?
But to put generosity out of the question--is it wise so to do? That,
says Burke--"can never be politically right which is morally wrong."
Brazil, doubtless, expects other nations to keep faith with her, and it
is not wise on her part to afford a precedent for breaking national
faith. The _Amazon_ is a rich prize, and may one day be contested. What
reply would Brazil give to a power which might attempt to seize it,
under the argument that she broke faith with those _who gave her the
title to this, the most magnificent river on the face of the earth_, and
that therefore it was not necessary to preserve faith with her? It would
puzzle Brazilian diplomatists to answer such a question.
From what has been adduced in this volume, it must be clear to all who
have perused it with ordinary attention that Brazil is to this day in
honour bound to fulfil the original stipulations solemnly entered into
with me, and twice guaranteed under the Imperial sign manual, with all
the official ratifications and formalities usual amongst civilized
states. This _I claim individually_; and further--_conjointly with the
squadron_--my share of the prize-money conceded to the captors by
Imperial decree, without which customary incentive neither myself, nor
any other foreign officer or seaman, would have been likely to enter the
service. My _individual claim_, viz. the pay stipulated in the Imperial
patents, was agreed upon without limitation as to time, as is clear from
the expression that I should receive it whether "afloat or ashore,"
"_tanto em terra como no mar_," _i.e._ whether "actively engaged or
not"--whether "in war or peace." I have committed no act whereby this
right could be cancelled, but was fraudulently driven from the Imperial
service, as the shortest way of getting rid of me and my claims
together. These are no assertions of mine, but are the _only possible
deductions_ from documents which have one meaning, and that
incontestible.
I claim, moreover, the estate awarded to me by His Imperial Majesty,
with the double purpose of conferring a mark of national approbation of
my services, and of supporting the high dignities to which--with the
full concurrence of the Brazilian people and legislature--I was raised
as a reward for those services, the magnitude and importance of which
were on all hands admitted. To have withheld that estate, after the
reasons assigned by His Imperial Majesty for conferring it, was a
national error which Brazil should not have committed, and which it
should, even now, be careful to efface; for by approving the dignities
conferred, and withholding the means of supporting them, it has
pronounced its highest honours to be worthless, empty sounding titles,
lightly esteemed by the givers, and of no value to the recipient. Had
this estate cost anything to the Brazilian nation, a miserable economy
might have been pleaded as a reason for withholding it; but even this
excuse is wanting. Any territorial grant to myself could only have been
an imperceptible fraction of the vast regions, which, together with an
annual revenue of many millions of dollars--my own exertions, _without
cost to the Empire_, had added to its dominions "_unexpectedly_" as the
Commission appointed to investigate my claim felt bound to admit. If
Brazil value its national honour, that blot upon it should not be
suffered to remain.
With regard to the sum owing to me by Chili, for which, in the event of
its non-payment, both His Imperial Majesty Don Pedro I. and his Minister
José Bonifacio de Andrada made the Brazilian nation responsible. The
discussion in the National Assembly testifies to the validity of the
claim, which therefore rests upon the generosity no less than the good
faith of Brazil, for whose interests, in accordance with the most
flattering promises, I was induced to quit Chili. To this day, Chili has
not fulfilled her obligations to me; the miserable pittance of £.6000,
which--by some process I do not now care to inquire into, she has fixed
upon as ample remuneration for one who consolidated her liberties and
those of Peru, supporting her navy at its own expense during the
operation--constituted no part of my admitted claim for the capture of
Valdivia and other previous services, involving no dispute. Payment of
this sum (67,000 dollars) was promised at the earliest possible period
by the then Supreme Director of the Republic--but to this day the
promise has never been redeemed by succeeding Chilian Governments. With
regard to this claim, founded on the concessions of His late Imperial
Majesty and his Minister, I am content, as before said, to leave the
matter to the generosity of the Brazilian nation. The other, and more
important claims, I demand as a right which has never been cancelled,
and which a strict sense of national honour ought not longer to evade.
If it be evaded, the documentary history of the whole matter is now
before the world--and let the world judge between us. I have no fears as
to its decision.