THE INSURRECTION IN PERNAMBUCO.—LORD COCHRANE's EXPEDITION TO
SUPPRESS IT.—THE SUCCESS OF HIS WORK.—HIS STAY AT MARANHAM.—THE
DISORGANISED STATE OF AFFAIRS IN THAT PROVINCE.—LORD COCHRANE's
EFFORTS TO RESTORE ORDER AND GOOD GOVERNMENT.—THEIR RESULT IN FURTHER
TROUBLE TO HIMSELF.—HIS CRUISE IN THE "PIRANGA," AND RETURN TO
ENGLAND.—THE FRESH INDIGNITIES THERE OFFERED TO HIM.—HIS RETIREMENT
FROM BRAZILIAN SERVICE.—HIS LETTER TO THE EMPEROR PEDRO I.—THE END
OF HIS SOUTH AMERICAN EMPLOYMENTS.
[1824-1825.]
The political turmoils which Lord Cochrane found to be prevalent
in Rio de Janeiro, on his return from Maranham, were, as he had
anticipated, very disastrous to the whole Brazilian empire. The
unpatriotic action of men in power at head-quarters encouraged yet
more unpatriotic action in the outlying and newly-acquired provinces.
Portuguese sympathizers in Pernambuco, in Maranham, and in the
neighbouring districts, following the policy of the Portuguese faction
at the centre of government, and acting even more unworthily,
induced serious trouble; and the trouble was aggravated by the fierce
opposition which was in many cases offered to them. Before the end of
1823 information arrived that an insurrection, having for its object
the establishment in the northern provinces of a government distinct
from both Brazil and Portugal, had broken out in Pernambuco, and
nearly every week brought fresh intelligence of the spread of this
insurrection and of the troubles induced by it. The Emperor Pedro I.
was eager to send thither the squadron under Lord Cochrane, and so to
win back the allegiance of the inhabitants; and for this Lord Cochrane
was no less eager. To the Portuguese partizans, however, whose great
effort was to weaken the resources of the empire, the news of the
insurrection was welcome; and perhaps their strongest inducement to
the long course of injustice detailed in the last chapter was the
knowledge that by so doing they were most successfully preventing the
despatch of an armament strong enough to restore order in the northern
provinces. Herein they prospered. For more than six months the Emperor
was prevented from suppressing the insurrection, which all through
that time was extending and becoming more and more formidable. Not
till July was anything done to satisfy the claims of the seamen for
payment of their prize-money and the arrears of wages due to them,
without which they refused to return to their work and render possible
the equipment and despatch of the squadron; and even then only 200,000
milreis—less than a tenth of the prize-money that was owing—were
granted as an instalment of the payment to be made to them.
With that money, however, Lord Cochrane, using his great personal
influence with the officers and crews, induced them to rejoin the
fleet. The funds were placed in his hands on the 12th of July, 1824,
and equitably disbursed by him during the following three weeks. On
the 2nd of August he set sail in the _Pedro Primiero_ from Rio de
Janeiro, attended by the _Maranham_ and three transports containing
twelve hundred soldiers.
Having landed General Lima and the troops at Alagoas on the 16th,
he arrived off Pernambuco on the 18th. There he found that a strong
republican Government had been set up under the presidentship of
Manoel de Carvalho Pais d'Andrade, whose authority, secret or open,
extended far into the interior and along the adjoining coasts.
"Knowing that it would take some time for the troops to come up," he
said, "I determined to try the effect of a threat of bombardment, and
issued a proclamation remonstrating with the inhabitants on the folly
of permitting themselves to be deceived by men who lacked the ability
to execute their schemes; pointing out, moreover, that persistence in
revolt would involve both the town and its rulers in one common ruin,
for, if forced to the necessity of bombardment, I would reduce the
port and city to insignificance. On the other hand, I assured them
that, if they retraced their steps and rallied round the imperial
throne, thus aiding to protect it from foreign influence, it would be
more gratifying to me to act the part of a mediator, and to restore
Pernambuco to peace, prosperity, and happiness, than to carry out the
work of destruction which would be my only remaining alternative. In
another proclamation I called the attention of the inhabitants to the
distracted state of the Spanish republics on the other side of the
continent, asking whether it would be wise to risk the benefits of
orderly government for social and political confusion, and entreating
them not to compel me to proceed to extremities, as it would become my
duty to destroy their shipping and block up their port, unless, within
eight days, the integrity of the empire were acknowledged."
While waiting to see the result of those proclamations Lord Cochrane
received a message from Carvalho, offering him immediate payment of
400,000 milreis if he would abandon the imperial cause and go over to
the republicans. "Frankness is the distinguishing character of free
men," wrote Carvalho, "but your excellency has not found it in your
connection with the Imperial Government. Your not having been rewarded
for the first expedition affords a justifiable inference that you will
get nothing for the second." That audacious proposal, it need hardly
be said, was indignantly resented by Lord Cochrane. "If I shall have
an opportunity of becoming personally known to your excellency," he
wrote, "I can afford you proof that the opinion you have formed of me
has had its origin in the misrepresentations of those in power, whose
purposes I was incapable of serving."
The threats and promises of Lord Cochrane's proclamation did not lead
to the peaceable surrender of Pernambuco, and at the end of the eight
days' waiting-time he proceeded to bombard the town. In that, however,
he was hindered by bad weather, which made it impossible for him to
enter the shallow water without great risk of shipwreck. He was in
urgent need, also, of anchors and other fittings. Therefore, after
a brief show of attack, which frightened the inhabitants, but had no
other effect, he left the smaller vessels to maintain the blockade,
and went on the 4th of September in the flag-ship to Bahia, there to
procure the necessary articles. On his return he found that General
Lima had marched against Pernambuco on the 11th, and, with the
assistance of the blockading vessels, made an easy capture of it.
There was plenty of other work, however, to be done. All the
northern provinces were disaffected, if not in actual revolt, and, in
compliance with the Emperor's directions, Lord Cochrane proceeded to
visit their ports and reduce them to order. Some other ships having
arrived from Rio de Janeiro, he selected the _Piranga_ and two smaller
vessels for service with the flag-ship, leaving the others at the
disposal of General Lima, and sailed from Pernambuco on the 10th of
October.
He reached Cearà on the 18th, and then, by his mere presence,
compelled the insurgents, who had seized the city, to retire, and
enabled the well-disposed inhabitants to organize a vigorous scheme of
self-protection.
A harder task awaited him at Maranham, at which he arrived on the
9th of November. There the utmost confusion prevailed. The Portuguese
faction had the supremacy, and there were special causes of animosity
and misconduct among the members of the opposite party of native
Brazilians.
"In Maranham," said Lord Cochrane, "as in the other northern provinces
of the empire, there had been no amelioration whatever in the
condition of the people, and, without such amelioration, it was absurd
to place reliance on the hyperbolical professions of devotion to
the Emperor which were now abundantly avowed by those who, before my
arrival, had been foremost in promoting and cherishing disturbance.
The condition of the province, and indeed of all the provinces, was
in no way better than they had been under the dominion of Portugal,
though they presented one of the finest fields imaginable for
improvement. All the old colonial imports and duties remained without
alteration; the manifold hindrances to commerce and agriculture still
existed; and arbitrary power was everywhere exercised uncontrolled: so
that, in place of being benefited by emancipation from the Portuguese
yoke, the condition of the great mass of the population was literally
worse than before. To amend this state of things it was necessary
to begin with the officers of Government, of whose corruption and
arbitrary conduct complaints, signed by whole communities, were daily
arriving from every part of the province. To such an extent, indeed,
wad this misrule carried that neither the lives nor the property of
the inhabitants were safe."
This state of things Lord Cochrane set himself zealously to remedy;
and, during his six months' stay at Maranham, he did all that, with
the bad materials at his disposal and in the harassing circumstances
of his position, it was possible for him to do. Unable to break down
the cabals and intrigues, the mutual jealousies and the unworthy
ambitions that had prevailed previous to his arrival, he held them all
in check while he was present and secured the observance of law and
the freedom of all classes of the community.
Thereby, however, he brought upon himself much fresh hatred. The
governor of the province, being devoted to the Portuguese party and a
chief cause of the existing troubles, had to be suspended and sent to
Rio de Janeiro; and though the suspension occurred after orders had
been despatched by the Emperor for his recall, it afforded an excuse
to the governor and his friends in office for denunciation of Lord
Cochrane's conduct, alleged to be greatly in excess of his powers and
in contempt of the constituted authority. In fact, the same bad policy
that had embarrassed him before, while he was in Rio de Janeiro,
continued to embarrass him yet more during his service in Maranham.
That that service was very helpful to the best interests of Brazil
no one attempted to deny. The French and English consuls, speaking
on behalf of all their countrymen resident in the northern provinces,
overstepped the line of strict neutrality, and entreated him to
persevere in the measures by which he was making it possible for
commerce to prosper and the rules of civilized life to be observed.
The Emperor sent to thank him for his work. "His Majesty," wrote the
secretary on the 2nd of December, "approves of the First Admiral's
determination to establish order and obedience in the northern
provinces, a duty which he has so wisely and judiciously undertaken,
and in which he must continue until the provinces submit themselves
to the authorities lately appointed, and enjoy the benefits of the
paternal government of his Imperial Majesty."
The Emperor, however, was at this time almost powerless. The leaders
of the Portuguese faction reigned, and by them Lord Cochrane continued
to be treated with every possible indignity and insult. Not daring
openly to dismiss him or even to accept the resignation which he
frequently offered, they determined to wear out his patience, and, if
possible, to drive him to some act on which they could fasten as
an excuse for degrading him. They partly succeeded, though the only
wonder is that Lord Cochrane should have been, for so long a time, as
patient as he proved. His temper is well shown in the numerous
letters which he addressed to Pedro I. and the Government during these
harassing months. "The condescension," he wrote, "with which your
Imperial Majesty has been pleased to permit me to approach your royal
person, on matters regarding the public service, and even on those
more particularly relating to myself, emboldens me to adopt the only
means in my power, at this distance, of craving that your Majesty will
be graciously pleased to judge of my conduct in the imperial service
by the result of my endeavours to promote your Majesty's interests,
and not by the false reports spread by those who, for reasons best
known to themselves, desire to alienate your Majesty's mind from me,
and thus to bring about my removal from your Majesty's service. I
trust that your Imperial Majesty will please to believe me to be
sensible that the honours which you have so graciously bestowed upon
me it is my duty not to tarnish, and that your Majesty will further
believe that, highly as I prize those honours, I hold the maintenance
of my reputation in my native country in equal estimation. I
respectfully crave permission to add that, perceiving it is impossible
to continue in the service of your Imperial Majesty without at
all times subjecting my professional character, under the present
management of the Marine Department, to great risks, I trust your
Majesty will be graciously pleased to grant me leave to retire
from your imperial service, in which it appears to me I have now
accomplished all that can be expected from me, the authority of your
Imperial Majesty being established throughout the whole extent of
Brazil."
That request was not granted, or in any way answered; and the
statement that the whole of Brazil was finally subjected to the
Emperor's authority proved to be not quite correct. Fresh turmoils
arose in Parà, and Lord Cochrane had to send thither a small force,
by which order was restored. He himself found ample employment in
restraining the factions that could not be suppressed at Maranham.
That was the state of things in the early months of 1825, until
unlooked-for circumstances arose, by which Lord Cochrane's Brazilian
employment was brought to a termination in a way that he had not
anticipated. "The anxiety occasioned by the constant harassing which
I had undergone, unalleviated by any acknowledgment on the part of the
Imperial Government of the services which had a second time saved the
empire from intestine war, anarchy, and revolution," he said, "began
to make serious inroads on my health; whilst that of the officers and
men, in consequence of the great heat and pestilential exhalations of
the climate, and of the double duty which they had to perform afloat
and ashore, was even less satisfactory. As I saw no advantage in
longer contending with factious intrigues at Maranham, unsupported and
neglected as I was by the Administration at Rio de Janeiro, I resolved
upon a short run into a more bracing northerly atmosphere, which would
answer the double purpose of restoring our health and of giving us a
clear offing for our subsequent voyage to the capital.
"Accordingly," the narrative proceeds, "I shifted my flag into the
_Piranga_, despatched the _Pedro Primiero_ to Rio, and, leaving
Captain Manson, of the _Cacique_, in charge of the naval department
at Maranham, put to sea on the 18th of May. On the 21st we crossed
the Equator, and, meeting with a succession of easterly winds, were
carried to the northward of the Azores, passing St. Michael's on the
11th of June. It had been my intention to sail into the latitude of
the Azores, and then to return to Rio de Janeiro. But, strong gales
coming on, we made the unpleasant discovery that the frigate's
main-topmast was sprung, and, when putting her about, the main and
main-topsail yards were discovered to be unserviceable. For the
condition of the ship's spars I had depended on others, not deeming
it necessary to take upon myself such investigation. It was, however,
possible that we might have patched these up, had not the running
rigging been as rotten as the masts, and we had no spare cordage on
board. A still worse disaster was that the salt provisions shipped at
Maranham were reported bad, mercantile ingenuity having resorted to
the device of placing good meat at the top and bottom of the barrels,
whilst the middle, being composed of unsound articles, had tainted
the whole, thereby rendering it not only unpalatable but positively
dangerous to health. The good provisions on board being little more
than sufficient for a week's subsistence, a direct return to Rio de
Janeiro was out of the question."
It was therefore absolutely necessary to seek some nearer harbour; but
Lord Cochrane was considerably embarrassed in his choice of a
port. Portugal was an enemy's country, and Spain, by reason of his
achievements in Chili and Peru, was no less hostile to him. France had
not yet recognised the independence of Brazil, and therefore a stay on
any part of its coast might lead to difficulties. England afforded the
only safe halting-place, though there Lord Cochrane was uncertain as
to the way in which, in consequence of the Foreign Enlistment Act,
he might be received. To England, however, he resolved to go; and,
sighting its coast on the 25th of June, he anchored at Spithead on
the following day. Salutes were exchanged with a British ship lying
in harbour, and in the afternoon he landed at Portsmouth, to be
enthusiastically welcomed by nearly all classes of his countrymen,
whose admiration for his personal character and his excellence as a
naval officer was heightened by the renown of his exploits in South
America during an absence of six years and a half.
His subsequent relations with Brazil can be briefly told. His
unavoidable return to England afforded just the excuse which his
enemies in Brazil had been seeking for ousting him from his command.
They and the Chevalier Manoel Rodriguez Gameiro Pessoa, the Brazilian
Envoy in London, who altogether sympathised with them, chose to regard
this occurrence as an act of desertion. Lord Cochrane lost no time in
reporting his arrival and requesting to be provided with the necessary
means for refitting the _Piranga_ and preparing for a speedy return to
Rio de Janeiro. To expedite matters, he even advanced 2000£ out of
his own property—which was never repaid to him—for this purpose. His
repeated applications for instructions were either unheeded or only
answered with insult. He was ordered to return to Brazil at once,
towards which no assistance was given to him; and at the same time
his officers and crew were ordered to repudiate his authority and to
return without him.
Lord Cochrane had no room to doubt that by going back to Brazil he
should only expose himself to yet worse treatment than that from which
he had been suffering during nearly two years; but at the same time
he was resolved to do nothing at variance with his duty to the Emperor
from whom he had received his commission, and nothing invalidating his
claims to the recompense which was clearly due to him. At length he
was relieved from some of his perplexities, after they had lasted more
than three months. On the 3rd of November, 1825, peace was declared
between Brazil and Portugal; and thereby his relations with his
employers were materially altered. The work which he had pledged
himself to do was completed, and he was justified in resigning his
command, or at any rate in declining to resume it until the causes of
his recent troubles were removed.
This he did in a letter addressed to the Emperor Pedro I., from
London, on the 10th of November. "The gracious condescension which I
experienced from your Imperial Majesty, from the first moment of my
arrival in the Brazils, the honorary distinctions which I received
from your Majesty, and the attention with which you were pleased to
listen to all my personal representations relating to the promotion
of the naval power of your empire," he wrote, "have impressed upon
my mind a high sense of the honour which your Majesty conferred, and
forbid my entertaining any other sentiments than those of attachment
to your Majesty and devotion to your true interests. But, whilst I
express these my unfeigned sentiments towards your Imperial Majesty,
it is with infinite pain and regret that I recall to my recollection
the conduct that has been pursued towards the naval service, and to
myself personally, since the members of the Brazilian administration
of José Bonifacio de Andrade were superseded by persons devoted to
the views and interests of Portugal,—views and interests which are
directly opposed to the adoption of that line of conduct which can
alone promote and secure the true interests and glory of your Imperial
Majesty, founded on the tranquillity and happiness of the Brazilian
people. Without imputing to such ministers as Severiano, Gomez, and
Barboza disaffection to the person of your Imperial Majesty, it is
sufficient to know that they are men bigoted to the unenlightened
opinions of their ancestors of four centuries ago, that they are men
who, from their limited intercourse with the world, from the paucity
of the literature of their native language, and from their want of
all rational instruction in the service of government and political
economy, have no conception of governing Brazil by any other than the
same wretched and crooked policy to which the nation had been so long
subjected in its condition as a colony. Nothing further need be said,
while we acquit them of treason, to convict them of unfitness to be
the counsellors of your Imperial Majesty.
"None but such ministers as these could have endeavoured to impress
upon the mind of your Imperial Majesty that the refugee Portuguese
from the provinces and many thousands from Europe, collected in Rio
de Janeiro, were the only true friends and supporters of the imperial
crown of Brazil. None but such ministers would have endeavoured to
impress your Imperial Majesty with a belief that the Brazilian people
were inimical to your person and the imperial crown, merely because
they were hostile to the system pursued by those ministers. None but
such ministers would have placed in important offices of trust the
natives of a nation with which your Imperial Majesty was at war. None
but such ministers would have endeavoured to induce your Imperial
Majesty to believe that officers who had abandoned their King and
native country for their own private interests could be depended on as
faithful servants to a hostile Government and a foreign land. None but
such ministers could have induced your Imperial Majesty to place
in the command of your fortresses, regiments, and ships of war such
individuals as these. None but such ministers would have attempted to
excite in the breast of your Imperial Majesty suspicions with respect
to the fidelity of myself and of those other officers who, by the most
zealous exertions, had proved our devotion to the best interests
of your Imperial Majesty and your Brazilian people. None but such
ministers would have endeavoured by insults and acts of the grossest
injustice, to drive us from the service of your Imperial Majesty and
to place Portuguese officers in our stead. And, above all, none but
such ministers could have suggested to your Imperial Majesty that
extraordinary proceeding which was projected to take place on the
night of the 3rd of June, 1824, a proceeding which, had it not been
averted by a timely discovery and prompt interposition on my part,
would have tarnished for ever the glory of your Imperial Majesty, and
which, if it had failed to prove fatal to myself and officers, must
inevitably have driven us from your imperial service. When placed
in competition with this plot of these ministers and the false
insinuations by which they induced your Imperial Majesty to listen to
their insidious counsel, all their previous intrigues, and those of
the whole Portuguese faction, to ruin the naval power of Brazil, sink
into insignificance. But for the advancement of Portuguese interests
there was nothing too treacherous or malignant for such ministers and
such men as these to insinuate to your Imperial Majesty, especially
when they had discovered that it was not possible by their unjust
conduct to provoke me to abandon the service of Brazil so long as my
exertions could be useful to secure its independence, which I believed
to be alike the object of your Imperial Majesty and the interest of
the Brazilian people.
"If the counsels of such persons should prove fatal to the interests
of your Imperial Majesty, no one will regret the event more sincerely
than myself. My only consolation will be the knowledge that your
Imperial Majesty cannot but be conscious that I, individually, have
discharged my duty, both in a military and in a private capacity,
towards your Majesty, whose true interest, I may venture to add, I
have held in greater regard than my own; for, had I connived at the
views of the Portuguese faction, even without dereliction of my duty
as an officer, I might have shared amply in the honours and emoluments
which such influence has enabled these persons to obtain, instead of
being deprived, by their means, of even the ordinary rewards of my
labours in the cause of independence which your Imperial Majesty had
engaged me to maintain,—which cause I neither have abandoned nor will
abandon, if ever it should be in my power successfully to renew my
exertions for the true interests of your Imperial Majesty and those of
the Brazilian people.
"Meanwhile my office as Commander-in-Chief of your Imperial Majesty's
Naval Forces having terminated by the conclusion of peace and by the
decree promulgated on the 28th of February, 1824, I have notified to
your Imperial Majesty's Envoy, the Chevalier de Gameiro, that I have
directed my flag to be struck this day. Praying that the war now
terminated abroad may be accompanied by tranquillity at home, I
respectfully take leave of your Imperial Majesty."
All Lord Cochrane's subsequent correspondence with Brazil had for its
object the recovery of the payments due to him and to his officers and
crews for the great services done by them to the empire. Lord Cochrane
had saved that empire from being brought back to the position of
a Portuguese colony, and had enabled it to enter on a career of
independence. In return for it he was subjected to more than two years
of galling insult, was deprived of his proper share of the prizes
taken by him and his squadron, was refused the estate in Maranham
which the Emperor, more grateful than his ministers, had bestowed upon
him, and was mulcted of a portion of his pay and of all the pension
to which he was entitled by imperial decree and the ordinances of the
Government. His services to Brazil, like his services to Chili, adding
much to his renown as a disinterested champion of liberty and an
unrivalled seaman and warrior, brought upon him personally little but
trouble and misfortune. Only near the end of his life, when a worthy
Emperor and honest ministers succeeded to power, was any recompence
accorded to him.