During the period of my absence I had been pressing upon the Department of Marine at Rio de Janeiro the necessity of a speedy adjudication of the prizes belonging to the squadron, according to the written order of His Imperial Majesty.  On the 5th of December I received an evasive reply from the Auditor of Marine, stating that “he did not consider himself in possession of all the laws and regulations whereon his judgment should be founded in regard to seizures made or vessels captured by the naval forces of Brazil.”  A miserable subterfuge!—­as though it were any part of my duty to supply an official with “laws and regulations” on such a subject.  It was quite evident to me that, despite His Majesty’s orders, no adjudication was intended, nor was any afterwards made; but in order to prevent complaint of neglect on my part.  I transmitted, on the same date, to the auditor the whole of my documents, with a request that they might be returned.

From the state of the province on my first arrival, I had entertained suspicions as to the President’s sincerity; and as outbreaks were again of frequent occurrence, notwithstanding the general desire for pacification, an investigation into the causes of these elicited the fact that he was secretly sending agents to promote disturbance, for the purpose of revenging himself upon those now disarmed, who, before my arrival, had opposed his arbitrary authority.

To such an extent was this carried, that memorials reached me begging my interference, as the memorialists could not now defend themselves.  Two of these memorials, signed by upwards of three hundred of the respectable inhabitants of the province, were of such a nature as to render hopeless the perfect restoration of order so long as the President was permitted to exercise the autocracy, which, contrary to all the principles of the constitution, he had irresponsibly assumed.

In order to account for a step which I subsequently considered it my duty to adopt, it is necessary to give some extracts from one of these memorials, signed by a hundred and fifty-two of the most respectable inhabitants in a distant part of the province:—­

“That the most demoralizing excesses are permitted amongst the soldiery, and, in order to preserve his influence with the troops, the President permits them to murder with impunity—­even Europeans; the perpetrators of these acts being not only unpunished, but rewarded, whilst military commandants and others attempting to repress these disorders are dismissed; so that absolute authority is established—­the public money being squandered on the soldiery, in order to support a criminal despotism.

“Your Excellency must have witnessed the state to which the province was reduced on your arrival, the people being compelled to have recourse to arms in order to ward off a multitude of vexations.  Your Excellency must also have observed how quickly they laid down their arms