COCHRANE AND MARANHAO.

The permission to retire was neither granted, nor was the request noticed, yet—­notwithstanding that the ministerial organs of the press teemed with matters injurious to my reputation, and displayed the most unfair comments on my proceedings—­no complaint was officially made to me, as indeed none could be made; this ungenerous mode of attack being resorted to, whilst the whole of my letters and despatches were withheld from public knowledge.

On the 3rd of January, intelligence was received that an outbreak had occurred at Caixas, promoted by the adherents of Bruce on learning the fact of his suspension from the presidentship.  The interim-president, Lobo, was anxious to re-arm the disbanded troops against them, but this I forbade, telling him that, “in my opinion a military mode of governing was neither suited to the maintenance of tranquillity nor the promotion of obedience to the law, and that it would be better to give the civil law a trial before proceeding to extremities; and that although some outrages had occurred in the heat of party spirit, yet they would probably cease on the intelligence that President Bruce had embarked for Rio de Janeiro.”  The result was in accordance with these anticipations, for, on learning this fact, the insurgents immediately laid down their arms—­being only too glad to escape further notice.

In the expectation that His Imperial Majesty would approve of the act, and that his ministers could offer no opposition, I considered it my duty to the officers and seamen of the squadron, no less than to myself, to obtain repayment from the Junta of Maranham—­at least in part—­of the sums temporarily left for their use in the preceding year.

It will be remembered that after the expulsion of the Portuguese from Maranham in 1823, considerable sums of money and bonds had been taken in the treasury, custom-house, and other public offices, together with military and other stores—­and the value of these, though guaranteed by His Imperial Majesty to the captors, had, with the consent of officers and seamen, been temporarily lent to the then Provisional Government, for the double purpose of satisfying the mutinous troops of Ceara and Piahuy, and carrying on the ordinary functions of Government—­there being no other funds available!

At the period of this temporary surrender of the prize property to state exigencies, it was expressly stipulated and fully understood that, as soon as commerce had returned to its usual channels, and with it the customary revenues of the province, the whole should be repaid to the account of the captors.  This had not been done, and the officers and men were still losers to the amount, in addition to the non-adjudication of their prizes generally by the Portuguese tribunal at Rio de Janeiro, which, in unprincipled violation of the express decrees of His Imperial Majesty—­asserted that “they knew nothing of prizes, and did not know that Brazil was at war with Portugal!” though, in the Imperial order of March 30th, 1823—­given for the vigorous blockade of Bahia, His Majesty had explicitly ordered the Portuguese to be considered as “enemies of the empire.”—­“Distruindo ou tomando todas as forcas Portuguesas que encontrar e fazendo todas damnos possives a os inimigos deste Imperio.”