Volume II Part 12 (1/2)
The determined perseverance in a course so opposed to justice, by those members and adherents of the Portuguese faction, whose influence prevails in the ministry and council, and more especially the proceedings of those individuals of that faction, who compose the naval tribunals, must come to an end.
The general discontent which prevails in the squadron has rendered the situation in which I am placed one of the most embarra.s.sing description; for though few may be aware that my own cause of complaint is equal to theirs, many cannot perceive the consistency of my patient continuation in the service, with disapprobation of the measures pursued. Even the honours which Your Majesty has been pleased to bestow upon me, are deemed by most of the officers, and by the whole of the men--who know not the a.s.siduity with which I have persevered in earnest but unavailing remonstrance--as a bribe by which I have been induced to abandon their interests. Much, therefore, as I prize those honours, as the gracious gift of Your Imperial Majesty, yet, holding in still dearer estimation my character as an officer and a man, I cannot hesitate a moment which to sacrifice when the retention of both is evidently incompatible.
I can, therefore, no longer delay to demonstrate to the squadron, and the world, that I am no partner in the deceptions and oppressions which are practised on the naval service; and as the first, and most painful step in the performance of this imperious duty, I crave permission--with all humility and respect--to return those honours, and lay them at the feet of Your Imperial Majesty.
I should, however, fall short of my duty to those who were induced to enter the service by my example or invitation, were I to do nothing more than convince them that I had been deceived. It is inc.u.mbent on me to make every effort to obtain for them the fulfilment of engagements for which I made myself responsible.
As far as I am personally concerned, I could be content to quit the service of Your Imperial Majesty, either with or without the expectation of obtaining compensation at a future period, and could submit to the same sacrifices here as I did on the other side of the continent, even to abandoning the s.h.i.+ps which I captured from the enemy--without payment or reward--as I did in Chili and Peru.
After effectually fighting the battles of freedom and independence on both sides of South America, and clearing the two seas of every vessel of war, I could submit to return to my native country unrewarded; but I cannot submit to adopt any course which shall not redeem my pledge to my brother officers and seamen. Neither can I relinquish the object which I have equally at heart, of depriving the Portuguese faction of the means of undermining the nationality and independence of the empire, to which--notwithstanding their admission to places of honour and trust--they are notoriously and naturally opposed.
It is impossible to view the prize tribunal--consisting of natives of the hostile nation--in any other light than as a party of the enemy, who, in the disguise of judges, have surprised and recaptured our prizes, after we had lodged them--as we thought--safely in port. And we have not the slightest reason to doubt that, if suffered to proceed unmolested, they will eventually get them clean out of the harbour, and convey them back to their own country.
We do not ask for reprisals upon these people, but simply rest.i.tution of the fruits of our labours in the service of Your Majesty, of which they have insidiously despoiled us, and that no impediment to this act of justice may arise, or be pretended by the individuals in question, we are willing to wait for a still further period--retaining, however, what remains of the prizes in our own custody--until our claims are settled; when we shall punctually surrender them into Your Imperial hands at whatever moment Your Majesty shall be pleased to cause the said claims to be duly discharged.
We most earnestly beseech Your Imperial Majesty--upon whom alone we depend for justice--to take into your consideration the necessity of withdrawing all control over the naval service and its interests from the hands of individuals with whose country Your Majesty is at war, and against which, under Your Imperial authority, we have been employed in active hostilities. It is only by the removal of Portuguese functionaries--more especially from the naval department, and the appointment of native Brazilians in their stead, that Your Imperial Majesty can reasonably hope to possess the full confidence of your people. Such a proceeding would be far more effective for the suppression of the rebellion in the North, than the ill-equipped naval detachment employed on that service.
I trust that Your Imperial Majesty will perceive that nothing short of the most thorough conviction in my own mind, with regard to the step now taken, could have led me to adopt it on my own account, or on that of the squadron. To myself, in particular, it must be a source of great anxiety, and in all probability, for a time --before the circ.u.mstances are generally understood--it may bring on me a large share of obloquy. My resignation is attended with the surrender of the high honours with which Your Majesty has graciously invested me, in addition to the honourable situation which I hold under Your Imperial authority. Your Majesty may be a.s.sured that such sacrifices as these are not made without extreme reluctance, and if there had remained the slightest probability of obtaining by any ordinary means the justice for the squadron, which it is my bounden duty to persevere in demanding, I should have avoided a step so pregnant with disadvantages to myself.
(Signed) COCHRANE AND MARANHA.
His Majesty frankly admitted that the course pursued by his Ministers towards the squadron was no less discreditable than injurious to the vital interests of the state, but begged me to reconsider my determination. To prevent further ministerial interposition, at a moment so pregnant with danger, the Emperor offered to place at my disposal, for the temporary satisfaction of the men, 200,000 milreis in paper currency--not one-tenth of the value of the prizes--if I would endeavour to rally them under the national flag, and merge my own injuries in oblivion, till he should be better able to do us justice.
My reply was that, personally, His Majesty had ever manifested his desire to fulfil his promises to me, and that I would stand by the integrity of the empire, and its consolidation. It was of the ministers I had to complain, by whom all the Imperial promises had been broken, and His Majesty's intentions thwarted; but that this would neither interfere with my duty nor grat.i.tude to His Majesty, personally; and that if the 200,000 milreis were paid, I would endeavour to use the money to the best advantage by inducing the men to return to the s.h.i.+ps.
The amount was directed to be placed in my hands, with the request that I would proceed to Pernambuco, and use my discretion in putting down the revolution, unfettered by orders; His Majesty recommending me to withhold payment till the squadron was at sea, in order to prevent delay and desertion. I begged of His Majesty to appoint a commission for the distribution of the money, as the responsibility was foreign to my duties. This, however, was overruled with a gracious compliment as to the manner in which my services had uniformly been conducted; being thus pressed I made no further opposition.
Still the ministers withheld the money, on which I wrote to the Emperor, requesting that His Majesty would perform the gracious compliment of delivering it on board personally. The Emperor at once comprehended the nature of the hint, and insisted on the sum being placed in my hands. On receiving it, I immediately issued a proclamation to the seamen, informing them of His Majesty's concession--inviting them to return to their duty--and promising payment to the extent of the funds supplied. The result was, that all who had not quitted Rio de Janeiro in despair, with one accord rejoined the service, and every effort was made to get the expedition ready for sea.
Before sailing for Pernambuco I was naturally desirous of coming to a definite understanding on the subject of my commission, the patents conferring which had been ruthlessly attempted to be set aside under the signature of Barbosa, on the _a.s.sumed pretence of authority_ from His Imperial Majesty, whose _rubrica_, however, was not attached to this violation of our original compact. Accordingly, on the 26th of July, I addressed a letter to Barbosa on the subject, and on the 29th received the following reply:--
His Imperial Majesty commands, through the Secretary of State and Marine, that there shall be transmitted to the First Admiral commanding-in-chief the naval forces of this empire the enclosed copy of a decree of the 27th of this month, by which His Imperial Majesty has judged proper to determine that the said First Admiral shall receive _in full_, so long as he shall continue in the service of this empire, _the full pay of his patent_; and, _in the event of his not choosing to continue therein after the termination of the present war of independence, the one-half of his pay as a pension_--the same being extended to his wife in the event of his decease.
The said First Admiral is hereby certified that the said decree of His Imperial Majesty is not required to be inserted in his patent, as he requests in his letter of the 26th instant, the said decree being as valid as the patent itself.
Palace of Rio de Janeiro, July 29th, 1824.
(Signed) FRANCISCO VILLELA BARBOSA.
Decree of His Imperial Majesty, inserted in the _Mercurio de Brazil_, Sunday, 31st July, 1824.
In consequence of what has been represented to me by the Marquis of Maranha, First Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the naval forces of the empire, and in consequence of the great services he has rendered, and which we hope he will continue to render to the sacred cause of Brazil, I hereby--by the advice of my Council of State--determine that the said Marquis of Maranha shall be paid in full, during the period that he shall remain in the service of this empire, the whole amount of salary due to his patent; and in the case of his _not wis.h.i.+ng to continue in the service_ after the termination of the present war of independence, the one-half of the said pay as a pension, the same, in case of his death, being extended to his wife.
Francisco Villela Barbosa, of my Council of State, Minister and Secretary of Marine, is hereby commanded to promulgate the same, and execute the necessary despatches.
Given in the palace of Rio de Janeiro, the 27th of July, 1824, and the third of independence and the empire.
With the _Rubrica_ of His Imperial Majesty.
(Signed) FRANCISCO VILLELA BARBOSA.
This decree nullified the unjustifiable _portaria_ issued by Barbosa, limiting my services to the period of the war, which, in reality, had been ended by my expulsion of the Portuguese from Bahia and Maranham. It recognised and established the validity of the Emperor's original patents, of which, by the minister's own explanation, it was a continuation, with an extension to Lady Cochrane; a boon spontaneously granted by the Emperor, as a mark of grat.i.tude for services rendered in the preceding year. It was, moreover, clearly left to my own option to continue in the service or to quit it on half-pay, on the termination of the war of independence.