Signed by one hundred and fifty-two of the principal inhabitants of the province.
A similar document, signed by upwards of a hundred and fifty of the respectable inhabitants of Alcantara—upon whom excesses had been committed in no way less reprehensible than at Maranham—had been forwarded to me on the 6th of December; but, as the complaints were of the same nature, it is unnecessary to do more than advert to the circumstance. In addition to these, I received a statistic list of the murders and robberies perpetrated throughout the province, under the agency of those placed in authority by the President. The whole of these documents were retained by me as a justification of any contingency that might arise, and are still in my possession.
The Maranham memorial reached me on the 14th of December, and had scarcely been placed in my hands, when a letter arrived from President Bruce, deprecating its reception, thus shewing that he had previously been made aware of the contents, and—as I had afterwards reason to believe—had attempted to intercept the memorial, but had failed in so doing. After glancing at the contents, I made him the following reply:—
SIR,
I have this moment been honoured with the receipt of your Excellency's letter, and have to state that the document to which you allude had not been delivered to me five minutes previous to your Excellency's communication, and that I have not yet had time to read it.
Your Excellency may, however, rest assured that if the said paper contains any thing injurious to the interests or dignity of his Imperial Majesty, I shall not fail to take such steps as the occasion may require. All papers that have been presented to me, it is my intention to transmit to Rio de Janeiro, where the Imperial government will judge of the motives of the writers, and of the contents of their communications.
(Signed) COCHRANE AND MARANHAÕ.
Dec. 14, 1824.
My reply to the memorialists was as follows:—
Maranham, Dec. 18,1834.