Narrative of Services in the Liberation of Chili, Peru and Brazil Volume II Part 12

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 ships 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 ships.

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 wishing 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.

If there was any faith to be placed in princes or ministers, nothing could be more definite or satisfactory than the preceding doc.u.ment, with the exception of the phrase, "_in the event of his not choosing to continue therein_," which evidently contained an _arriere pensee_, implying, as was afterwards proved, that when I could be got rid of it would be easy to _compel me_ to retire from the service; but even this alternative was subsequently disregarded--though His Imperial Majesty, on my thanking him for having so far done me justice against the attempts of his Ministers--remarked, "_never mind their injustice--they can't deprive you of that"_--alluding to the stipulations contained in the Imperial patents, and this renewed confirmation thereof.

The concession of 200,000 dollars, as a portion of the prize money so long due to the officers and crews, was actually made to suffice, in place of an advance of wages usually given on the departure of a naval expedition; so that, in fact, the squadron was manned at its own expense! no other payment being accorded by the _Government_. As His Majesty had requested that the men should not receive their money before going to sea, _the squadron_, with the exception of the flagship, was despatched on its voyage, the crews being satisfied--now that the money was on board--with my promise of payment when they should a.s.semble at the rendezvous appointed.

It is requisite to enter into some detail relative to the distribution of prize money thus of necessity subst.i.tuted as an advance of wages: it being impossible to get the requisite numbers of foreign seamen for the _Pedro Primiero_ without such advance; and although the frigates which had sailed, manned for the most part with Portuguese or Brazilian crews, relied upon _me_ for payment of their prize money, the foreign seamen refused even to remain on board the flagship without the usual advance; the officers also were in want of everything, and the men--indebted to tavern keepers--clamorous for payment.

As the necessity was urgent, I did not choose that the flagship, under my immediate command, should leave port in a discreditable manner, I therefore took upon myself--notwithstanding His Majesty's suggestion to withhold payment till we were at sea--to accommodate the officers and satisfy the crew by the advance demanded; a step, in my judgment, the more necessary, since, as had been the case in the former campaign, I should mainly have to depend upon the foreign officers and seamen of my own ship, for the execution of plans which might become requisite--the best way, therefore, to ensure their zealous co-operation throughout the voyage, was to establish harmony at its commencement by complying with their just demand.

The following were the princ.i.p.al sums disbursed on this occasion, as appears from my private memoranda, the vouchers themselves being afterwards transmitted to the Minister of Marine through Captain Shepherd, as will subsequently appear:--

Dollars.

To Myself 85,000 Paid Messrs. May and Lukin, Prize Agents, for Admiralty Court expenses, and commission, at 5 per cent 15,000

Advanced to Squadron generally 23,000

Ditto to Captain Crosbie 5,000

Ditto, to other Officers 3,750

Disbursed at Rio, 70,750

This sum, about .14,000, may appear trivial to the English reader, accustomed to lavish expenditure in all naval expeditions as the most economical way of securing their future efficiency--and hence the mention of such an amount may be deemed superfluous. That this is not the case will presently appear.

The reader must not however imagine that I am about to inflict on him an account current of the expenditure of the squadron; but circ.u.mstances compel me to a precision in this respect on personal grounds: the Brazilian Government--though in possession of the doc.u.ments and vouchers afterwards transmitted by Captain Shepherd--publicly persisting in the statement that I never furnished accounts of the expedition to Pernambuco and Maranham--thus leaving the public to infer that the disburs.e.m.e.nts just narrated, together with subsequent payments, had never in reality been made! In other words, that I induced the crews to go to sea--put down the revolution in the North--spent nine months in pacifying the revolutionary provinces--and yet fraudulently withheld 200,000 dollars, the only sum supplied during the whole of the expedition; the seamen meanwhile not only serving without reward, but being content with my monopolizing the portion of the prize-money known by them to have been awarded for the expulsion of the Portuguese in the preceding year, and notoriously in my possession! Their forbearance being so improbable as to refute itself, being contrary to common sense; even in the absence of the vouchers, which were transmitted to the Brazilian Government, _but never acknowledged_--I am able however to account for the whole from doc.u.ments no less convincing than the vouchers transmitted.

It is true that nothing but the blind hatred of the old Portuguese faction towards me could have originated such charges, and that hatred was greatly increased by my pacification of the revolutionary provinces--this being the death-blow to the intrigues recommended by Palmella in favour of the mother country. As, however, the Brazilian Government did not acknowledge to me the receipt of my accounts, which must either exist to this day in the office of the Minister of Marine, or must have been destroyed, for the sake of traducing my character in justification of my prospective dismissal--it is inc.u.mbent on me to supply, for the information of the Brazilian people, explanations which have been repeatedly given to their Government, but which have not as yet been made public through the medium of the press--and that not for the information of the Brazilian people solely, but of the British public, who, in the absence of official imputations recently promulgated, have never before been put in possession of facts.

The Brazilian people may rest a.s.sured that whenever I received, for the use of the squadron, sums which itself had captured, I could neither then conceal the circ.u.mstance nor can I now disavow the fact--giving, however, the reasons which, for the interests of the Empire, justified my proceedings. The only instance of this kind which had hitherto occurred was my retention of 40,000 dollars captured at Maranham, and they who have perused the preceding narrative will be at no loss for the ground of my refusal to surrender to the Court of Admiralty a sum which would have been returned by that tribunal to their Portuguese brethren--nor for my resistance to the plot which the ministers had formed to take it by force from on board the flagship.

To return to the advances made to the officers and seamen of the flagship. The following extracts from the original log kept by my secretary will shew the fact of the distribution previously narrated:--

_July 12th_, 1824. Received the 200,000 dollars at the treasury, and gave receipt, with Captain Crosbie and the Commissary. Deposited the notes in the iron chest on board the _Pedro Primiero_.

_July 19th_. Went on board the _Pedro Primiero_ to pay advance.

(Paid May and Lukin 15,000 dollars.) Engaged all day in paying the men.

_July 26th._ Went to the _Pedro_, with the Admiral and Lieutenant Blake, to pay advance from the prize-money. In the evening the Emperor called and announced to the Admiral that he was to sail on Sunday next.

_July 31st_. On board the _Pedro_ paying seamen as before.

Soldiers came on board.

_August 2nd._ Emperor came alongside. Admiral embarked.

Got under way, and set sail in company with the _Maranha_ brig and three transports.

The preceding extracts shew that not only was an advance made for the good of the service, but this was done with such publicity, that both the Emperor and his ministers could not fail to be aware of the circ.u.mstance. The further distribution as prize-money, according to His Majesty's direction, took place at Bahia and Pernambuco, as will be shewn in the next chapter.