As soon as the compulsory deprivation of my command, by the Envoy Gameiro, became known in Rio de Janeiro—where, doubtless, it was expected—a great outcry was raised against me, as though my non-return had been my own act. The press was set in motion, and every effort was used to traduce me in the eyes of the Brazilian people, from whom the truth of the matter was carefully withheld; the whole, eventually, terminating with a mock trial in my absence, when it had been placed out of my power to defend myself. At this trial I was accused of contumacy—stigmatised as a deserter, though, as has just been seen, formally dismissed by the government, in confirmation of my dismissal by the Envoy in England—and not only this, but I was declared by the creatures of the administration in the National Assembly, to merit punishment as a deserter! Such was my reward for first consolidating and afterwards preserving the Empire of Brazil.
Never dreaming of the advantage which might thus be taken by the Administration of the act of their envoy—on the 10th of February, 1826, I drew a bill upon the Brazilian Government for the remainder of my pay up to the period of my dismissal by Itabayana. This was refused and protested, as was also another afterwards drawn.
This course clearly indicated the intention of the Administration not to pay me anything, now that they had dismissed me from the service. To have returned then to prosecute my claims against such judges, would have been an act of folly, if not of insanity; my only alternative being to memorialize the Emperor, which for many successive years I did without effect—the execution of the Imperial will unhappily depending on the decision of his ministers, who, little more than five years afterwards, partly forced, and partly disgusted His Majesty into an abdication in favour of his infant son, Don Pedro de Alcantara, now Emperor of Brazil; committing the guardianship of his family to José Bonifacio de Andrada, who, like myself, had been forced into exile from the hatred of the very men who had so bitterly persecuted me, but had been permitted to return to Brazil from which he never ought to have been exiled.
For more than twenty years did I unceasingly memorialize successive Brazilian governments, but without effect. At length the Administration which had so bitterly visited its hatred on me passed away, and it became evident to His present Imperial Majesty, and the Brazilian people, that I had been most shamefully treated. Nearly at the same time I had fortunately succeeded in convincing the British Government that the obloquy for so many years heaped upon me was unmerited; and Lord Clarendon warmly espoused my cause, as did the Hon. Mr. Scarlett, the British Minister at Rio de Janeiro; these excellent personages taking the trouble to investigate the matter, a boon which I had in vain solicited from any of their predecessors; though, had the favour previously been granted, it would have had the effect of explaining my conduct in Brazil as satisfactorily as, I trust, this volume has done to the reader.
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 Maranhaõ, 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.