The result of this was a commission, appointed by the Brazilian Government, to inquire into the case of the squadron generally.  The following is an extract from their report, so far as regards myself:—­

   LORD COCHRANE.

   The first in rank and title assuredly is Lord Cochrane, Earl of
   Dundonald, and Marquis of Maranhao, First Admiral and Commander-in-Chief
   of the National Armada during the War of Independence.

The fame of the services rendered by Lord Cochrane in Chili, as Commander-in-Chief of the squadron of that republic induced the Imperial Government to invite him to accept a similar command in Brazil, so long as the War of Independence should last, with the promise of the same advantages which he there enjoyed.

Accepting the invitation, he was appointed by the decree of the 21st of March, 1823, with the pay of 11.520 milreis, being the same as he had in Chili, conferring upon him, by communication of the same date, the command of the squadron which was being equipped in the port of this city; and by decree of the 23rd of February, 1824, the command-in-chief of the naval forces of the Empire during the War of Independence.

It was afterwards decreed, on the 27th of July, 1824, that he should enjoy the said pay in full, so long as he continued in the service of the Empire; and in case of his not desiring to continue therein after the War of Independence, one half of the said pay as a pension, which, in the event of his decease, should revert to Lady Cochrane.

   Lastly, by a portaria of the 20th of December, 1825, it was
   decreed that all his muniments and rights should be suspended, and
   he was dismissed by a decree of the 10th April, 1827.

Justice demands that we shall acknowledge (says the Commission) that the services of Lord Cochrane in the command of the squadron, put an end to the war more speedily than had been expected; but if his services were great, it is impossible to conceal that unqualified and arbitrary acts of the most audacious daring were committed by him and by the ships under his command, occasioning to the National Treasury enormous losses, particularly by the heavy indemnification of an infinite number of bad prizes, which it was obliged to satisfy; and truth demands that we should declare that if the pretended claims are suspended, the fault was entirely his own, from having disobeyed the repeated orders of the Imperial Government, which commanded his return to this Court to give account of his commission, aggravated by the crime of having withdrawn himself from the Empire for England with the frigate Piranga, and there remaining with that frigate, notwithstanding the reiterated orders of the Imperial Government, for more than two years, pretending that he had not received the said orders, which at last were ordered to be communicated to him through the Brazilian