Of the subsequent occurrences in the Western States, for which he had done so much, and tried to do so much more than was permitted, it is enough to say that Peru, sadly abused by San Martin, and almost won back to Spain, was rescued by the valour and wisdom of Bolivar, and that Chili, destined to much future trouble through the bad action of its false patriots, was temporarily benefited by the successful revolution which placed General Freire in the Supreme Directorship.
Lord Cochrane had not been absent three months before a new Minister of Marine wrote to inform him of Freire's accession and to solicit his return. From this, however, he excused himself, on the grounds that he had now entered into engagements with Brazil which he was bound to fulfil, and that his past treatment by the Chilian Government discouraged him from renewal of relations which had been so full of annoyance to him. "On my quitting Chili," he said in his reply, "there was no looking to the past without regret, nor to the future without despair, for I had learned by experience what were the views and motives which guided the counsels of the State. Believe me that nothing but a thorough conviction that it was impracticable to render the good people of Chili any further service under existing circumstances, or to live in tranquillity under such a system, could have induced me to remove myself from a country which I had vainly hoped would have afforded me that tranquil asylum which, after the anxieties I had suffered, I felt needful to my repose. My inclinations, too, were decidedly in favour of a residence in Chili, from a feeling of the congeniality which subsisted between my own habits and the manners and customs of the people, those few only excepted who were corrupted by contiguity with the court, or debased in their minds and practices by that species of Spanish colonial education which inculcates duplicity as the chief qualification of statesmen in all their dealings, both with individuals and the public. I now speak more particularly of the persons lately in power, excepting, however, the Supreme Director, whom I believe to have been the dupe of their deceit. Point out to me one engagement that has been honourably fulfilled, one military enterprise of which the professed object has not been perverted, or one solemn pledge that has not been forfeited. Look at my representations on the necessities of the navy, and see how they were relieved. Look at my memorial, proposing to establish a nursery for seamen by encouraging the coasting trade, and compare its principles with the code of Rodriguez, which annihilated both. You will see in this, as in all other cases, that whatever I recommended, in regard to the promotion of the good of the marine, was set at nought, or opposed by measures directly the reverse. Look to the orders which I received, and see whether I had more liberty of action than a schoolboy in the execution of his task. Sir, that which I suffered from anxiety of mind whilst in the Chilian service, I will never again endure for any consideration. To organize new crews, to navigate ships destitute of sails, cordage, provisions, and stores, to secure them in port without anchors and cables, except so far as I could supply these essentials by accidental means, were difficulties sufficiently harassing; but to live amongst officers and men discontented and mutinous on account of arrears of pay and other numerous privations, to be compelled to incur the responsibility of seizing by force from Peru funds for their payment, in order to prevent worse consequences to Chili, and then to be exposed to the reproach of one party for such seizure, and the suspicions of another that the sums were not duly applied, are all circumstances so disagreeable and so disgusting that, until I have certain proof that the present ministers are disposed to act in another manner, I cannot possibly consent to renew my services where, under such circumstances, they would be wholly unavailing to the true interests of the people."
Writing thus to the Minister of Marine, Lord Cochrane wrote also at the same time to General Freire, who, as has been said, asked him to join his revolutionary movement. "It would give me great pleasure, my respected friend, to learn that the change which has been effected in the government of Chili proves alike conducive to your happiness and to the interests of the State. For my own part, like yourself, I have suffered so long and so much that I could not bear the neglect and double-dealing of those in power any longer, but adopted other means of freeing myself from an unpleasant situation. Not being under those imperious obligations which, as a native Chilian, rendered it incumbent on you to rescue your country from the mischiefs with which it was assailed, I could not accept your offer. My heart was with you in the measures you adopted for their removal; and my hand was only restrained by a conviction that my interference, as a foreigner, in the internal affairs of the State would not only have been improper in itself, but would have tended to shake that confidence in my undeviating rectitude which it was my ambition that the people of Chili should ever justly entertain. Permit me to add my opinion that, whoever may possess the supreme authority in Chili, until after the present generation, educated as it has been under the Spanish colonial yoke, shall have passed away, will have to contend with so much error and so many prejudices as to be disappointed in his utmost endeavours to pursue steadily the course best calculated to promote the freedom and happiness of the people. I admire the middle and lower classes of Chili, but I have ever found the senate, the ministers, and the convention actuated by the narrowest policy, which led them to adopt the worst measures. It is my earnest wish that you may find better men to co-operate with you. If so, you may be fortunate and may succeed in what you have most at heart, the promotion of your country's good."
For the real welfare of Chili Lord Cochrane was always eager; but in the treatment which he himself experienced he had strong proof, both during his four years' active service under the republic and in all after times, of the difficulties in the way of its advancement. Not only was he subjected to the contumely and neglect of which he complained in the letters just quoted from: he was also directly mulcted to a very large extent in the scanty recompense for his services to which he was legally entitled, and indirectly injured to a yet larger extent. "I was compelled to quit Chili," he wrote at a later date, "without any of the emoluments due to my position as Commander-in-Chief of the Navy, or any share of the sums belonging to myself and the officers and seamen; which sums, on the faith of repayment, had, at my solicitation, been appropriated to the repairs and maintenance of the squadron generally, but more especially at Guayaquil and Acapulco, when in pursuit of the Prueba and the Venganza. Neither was any compensation made for the value of stores captured and collected by the squadron, whereby its efficiency was chiefly maintained during the whole period of the Peruvian blockade. The Supreme Director of Chili, recognizing the justice of payment being made by the Peruvians for at least the value of the Esmeralda, the capture of which inflicted the death-blow on Spanish power, sent me a bill on the Peruvian Government for 120,000 dollars, which was dishonoured, and has never since been paid by any succeeding Government. Even the 40,000 dollars stipulated by the authorities at Guayaquil as the penalty for giving up the Venganza was never liquidated. No compensation for the severe wounds received during the capture of the Esmeralda was either offered or received. Shortly after my departure for Brazil, the Government forcibly and indefensibly resumed the estate at Rio Clara, which had been awarded to me and my family in perpetuity, as a remuneration for the capture of Valdivia, and my bailiff, who had been left upon it for its management and direction, was summarily ejected. Unhappily, this ingratitude for services rendered was the least misfortune which my devotedness to Chili brought upon me. On my return to England in 1825, after the termination of my services in Brazil, I found myself involved in litigation on account of the seizure of neutral vessels by authority of the then unacknowledged Government of Chili. These litigations cost me, directly, upwards of 14,000£, and, indirectly, more than double that amount. Thus, in place of receiving anything for my efforts in the cause of Chilian and Peruvian independence, I was a loser of upwards of 25,000£, this being more than double the whole amount I had received as pay whilst in command of the Chilian squadron."
CHAPTER X.
THE ANTECEDENTS OF BRAZILIAN INDEPENDENCE.—PEDRO I.'s ACCESSION.—THE INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL TROUBLES OF THE NEW EMPIRE.—LORD COCHRANE'S INVITATION TO BRAZIL.—HIS ARRIVAL AT RIO DE JANEIRO, AND ACCEPTANCE OF BRAZILIAN SERVICE.—HIS FIRST MISFORTUNES.—THE BAD CONDITION OF HIS SQUADRON, AND THE CONSEQUENT FAILURE OF HIS FIRST ATTACK ON THE PORTUGUESE OFF BAHIA.—HIS PLANS FOR IMPROVING THE FLEET, AND THEIR SUCCESS.—HIS NIGHT VISIT TO BAHIA, AND THE CONSEQUENT FLIGHT OF THE ENEMY.—LORD COCHRANE'S PURSUIT OF THEM.—HIS VISIT TO MARANHAM, AND ANNEXATION OF THAT PROVINCE AND OF PARÀ.—HIS RETURN TO RIO DE JANEIRO.—THE HONOURS CONFERRED UPON HIM.
[1823.]
In 1808, King John VI. of Portugal, driven by Buonaparte from his European dominions, took refuge in his great colonial possession of Brazil, and the result of his emigration was considerable enlargement of the liberties of the Brazilians. Thereby the immense Portuguese colony in South America was prevented from following in the revolutionary steps of the numerous Spanish provinces adjoining it. In Brazil, however, during the ensuing years party faction produced nearly as much turmoil as attended the struggle for independence in Chili and the other Spanish, colonies. Those Brazilians who were still intimately connected with the inhabitants of the mother country rallied under Portuguese leaders, and did their utmost to maintain the Portuguese supremacy over the colony. Quite as many, on the other hand, were eager to take advantage of the new state of things as a means of consolidating the freedom of Brazil. Plots and counterplots, broils and insurrections, lasted, almost without intermission, until 1821, when King John returned to Portugal, leaving his son, Don Pedro, as lieutenant and regent, to cope with yet greater difficulties. The Cortes of Portugal, able to get back their king, desired also to bring back Brazil to all its former servitude. So great was the opposition thus provoked that the native or true Brazilian party induced Don Pedro to throw off allegiance to his father. In October, 1822, the independence of the colony was publicly declared, and on the 1st of December Don Pedro assumed the title of Emperor of Brazil.
Only the southern part of Brazil, however, acknowledged his authority. The northern provinces, including Bahia, Maranham, and Para, were ruled by the Portuguese faction and held by Portuguese troops. A formidable fleet, moreover, swept the seas, and the independent provinces were threatened with speedy subjection to the sway of Portugal.
That was the state of affairs in the young empire of Brazil during the months in which Lord Cochrane, having destroyed the Spanish fleet in the Pacific, was being subjected to the worst ingratitude of his Chilian employers. Don Pedro and his advisers, hearing of this, lost no time in inviting him to enter the service of the Brazilian nation. Equal rank and position to those held by him under Chili were offered to him. "Abandonnez vous, milord," wrote the official who conveyed the Emperor's message, on the 4th of November, 1822, "à la reconnaisance Brésilienne, à la munificence du Prince, à la probité sans tache de l'actuel Gouvernement; on vous fera justice; on ne rabaissera d'un seul point la haute considération, rang, grade, caractère, et avantages qui vous sont dûs." In yet stronger terms a second letter was written soon afterwards. "Venez, milord; l'honneur vous invite; la gloire vous appelle. Venez donner à nos armes navales cet ordre merveilleux et discipline incomparable de puissante Albion."