The anxiety occasioned by the constant harassing which I had undergone--unalleviated by any acknowledgment on the part of the Imperial government of the services which had a second time saved the Empire from intestine war, anarchy and revolution--began to make serious inroads on my health; whilst that of the officers and men, in consequence of the great heat and pestilential exhalations of the climate, and of the double duty which they had to perform, afloat and ashore, was even less satisfactory. As I saw no advantage in longer contending with factious intrigues at Maranham--unsupported and neglected as I was by the administration at Rio de Janeiro, and as I knew that my immediate return to the Capital would instantly be followed by resident contention, I resolved upon a short run into a more bracing Northerly atmosphere, which would answer the double purpose of restoring our health, and of giving us a clear offing for our subsequent voyage to Rio de Janeiro.

Accordingly--after paying both to officers and crews their share of the prize money refunded by the Junta of Maranham (see concluding Chapter), I shifted my flag into the Piranga, despatched the Pedro Primiero to Rio, and leaving Captain Manson, of the Cacique, in charge of the naval department at Maranham, put to sea on the 18th of May.

On the 21st we crossed the Equator, and meeting with a succession of Easterly winds, were carried to the Northward of the Azores, passing St. Michael's on the 11th of June. It had been my intention to sail into the latitude of the Azores, and then to return to Rio de Janeiro; but strong gales coming on we made the unpleasant discovery that the frigate's main top mast was sprung, and when putting her about, the main and main top sail yards were discovered to be unserviceable. A still worse disaster was, that the salt provisions shipped at Maranham were reported bad; mercantile ingenuity having resorted to the device of placing good meat at the top and bottom of the barrels; whilst the middle, being composed of unsound provisions, had tainted the whole, thereby rendering it not only uneatable, but positively dangerous to health.

For the condition of the ship's spars I had depended on others, not deeming it necessary to take upon myself such investigation; it is however possible that we might have patched these up, so as to reach Rio de Janeiro, had not the running rigging been as rotten as the masts, and we had no spare cordage on board. The state of the provisions, however, rendered a direct return to Rio de Janeiro out of the question, the good provisions on board being little more than sufficient for a week's subsistence of the crew.

On ascertaining these facts, I convened the officers for the purpose of holding a survey on the state of the ship and provisions, they all agreeing with me as to the impracticability of attempting a six weeks' voyage with defective masts and rigging, and only a week's provisions on board, at the same time signing a survey to that effect, which document is now in my possession. It was therefore determined to put into some port for the purpose of refitting; but here another difficulty presented itself. Portugal was still an enemy's country. Had we made a Spanish port, the prominent part I had taken in depriving Spain of her colonies in the Pacific would have ensured me a questionable reception. A French port too was unsuitable, as France had not acknowledged the independence of Brazil.

To enter an English harbour was attended with some risk of annoyance to myself, in consequence of the enactments of the "Foreign Enlistment Bill," the provisions of which had been specially aimed at my having taken service in South America though before that Bill was passed, so that I did not consider myself to come within the meaning of the Act. Still the point was debateable, and were it raised, might subject me to considerable personal inconvenience, the more so as being in command of a foreign ship of war belonging to an unacknowledged state. The necessity was, however, urgent, and taking all circumstances into consideration, I resolved, notwithstanding the Foreign Enlistment Bill, to stretch on to Portsmouth, and there procure provisions, anchors, cables, and stores, indispensable for the use of a ship of war; the frigate being so destitute of all these, that, had I been fully aware of her condition before quitting Maranham, I should have hesitated to put to sea.

In passing the Azores, we overtook the brig Aurora, which left Maranham ten days before the Piranga, cleared out for Gibraltar under Brazilian colours. She was now steering direct for Lisbon under a Portuguese ensign, in company with a Portuguese schooner; this circumstance clearly shewing the kind of intercourse carried on between Brazil and the mother country by connivance of the authorities. Though both vessels were within my grasp I did not molest them, in consequence of having received private information of a decree passed by the supreme military council at Rio de Janeiro on the 26th of October, from the tenor of which decree, had I made further captures from the enemy, I should have incurred additional penalties, as acting contrary to the obvious intentions of a majority of the council, though their views had not been officially communicated to me.

I had, however, stronger reasons for not molesting these vessels. Knowing that both were bound for Lisbon, I felt certain that they would carry the news of our approaching the shores of Portugal with a view to mischief--and that a knowledge of the proximity of a Brazilian ship of war, with the further consideration of the injury she might do to the trade of that nation in case of rupture of the pending negociations, could not fail to inspire a desire for peace on the minds of the mercantile portion of the population, who had hitherto been chiefly instrumental in delaying the paternal intentions of His Portuguese Majesty with regard to the independence of Brazil as now firmly established under the government of his descendant and heir apparent. The effect anticipated was, in reality, produced by their report, so that we contributed in no small degree to hasten the peace which was shortly afterwards established.

Another motive for not molesting these vessels was, that being compelled, for the reasons before stated, to resort to an English port, at a time when I knew the British Government to be carrying on negociations for peace between Portugal and Brazil, I felt it better to abstain from hostilities against Portuguese vessels or property--considering that a contrary course might impede the reconciliation which was desirable both for the interests of His Imperial Majesty and his royal father; a result scarcely less advantageous to England on account of her rapidly extending commerce in Brazil.

We sighted the English coast on the 25th of June, and on the following day came to anchor at Spithead, our available provisions being entirely expended. My first step was to inquire of the authorities at Portsmouth, whether, in case of the Piranha's saluting, the compliment would be returned with the same number of guns? The inquiry being answered in the affirmative, the salute was fired, and replied to; thus, for the first time, was the flag of His Imperial Majesty saluted by an European state, and the independence of Brazil virtually acknowledged.

My next step was to report the arrival of the Piranga at Portsmouth, to the Chevalier Manoel Rodriguez Gameiro Pessoa, the Brazilian Envoy in London; at the same time informing his Excellency of the circumstances which had unavoidably led to our appearance in British waters, and requesting him to forward the means of paying the men's wages. This requisition was complied with, to the extent of two months' pay to the men.

As it was contrary to the law or usage of England to assist in the equipment of ships of war belonging to foreign belligerent states, the articles required for the re-equipment of the frigate could not be furnished from the Royal arsenal--the duty of providing these, therefore, devolved upon the Brazilian Envoy, who soon afterwards represented that he was without means for the purpose, thus impeding the equipment of the frigate. The men being also without fresh provisions or the means to procure them, were beginning to desert, I advanced L.2000, in order to keep them together, giving the Chevalier Gameiro an order for this amount on my bankers, Messrs. Coutts, and taking his receipt for the amount, for which I drew a bill upon the Imperial Government at Rio de Janeiro, which was protested, and has not been paid to this day!

On the 4th of August, I was surprised at receiving from the Envoy a letter charging me personally with the amount he had advanced to the Piranga, and also with L.295, an alleged error of account in payments made at Maranham; his Excellency concluding with the extraordinary declaration, that--"having received from my bankers, Messrs. Coutts and Co. the sum of L.2000 he had placed against it the amount advanced, the transaction leaving me indebted to the Legation in the sum of L.25!" Though the Legation could not have anything to do with the assumed error arising from transactions at Maranham.

On the 21st of August, I received a letter from the Brazilian Envoy to the effect that he had perceived in the newspapers a report that I had accepted from the Government of Greece the command of its navy--and wished to know if there was any truth in the assertion. To this inquiry I replied that so long as I continued in the Brazilian service I could not accept any other command; that the Greek command had been offered to me whilst in Brazil, in the same manner as the Brazilian command had been offered to me whilst in the service of Chili; and that, soon after my return to Portsmouth, the Greek committee, zealous in the cause which they had adopted, had renewed their offers, under the impression that my work in Brazil was now completed. At the same time, I assured the Envoy that as, in the case of Chili, I did not accept the Brazilian command till my work was done, neither should I accept a Greek commission till my relations with Brazil were honourably concluded, but that nevertheless the offer made to me on behalf of Greece was not rejected.

This reply was construed by the Chevalier Gameiro into an admission that I had accepted the Greek command, and he addressed to me another letter, expressive of his regret that I should have "come to the resolution to retire from the service of His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Brazil, in the great work of whose independence I had taken so glorious a part, (a grande obra da independencia, V. E'a teve tao gloriosa parte) regretting the more especially that his august Sovereign should be deprived of my important services (prestantes servicios) just at a moment when new difficulties required their prompt application," &c. &c.

These expressions were probably sincere, for, since my departure from Maranham, serious difficulties had arisen in the river Plate, which afterwards ended with little credit to the Brazilian cause. But I had not accepted the Greek command, and had no intention of so doing otherwise than consistently with my engagements with Brazil. On the 6th of September, I therefore addressed to the Envoy the following letter:--

Edinburgh, 6th Sept. 1825.

MOST EXCELLENT SIR,

I regret that your translator should have so far mistaken the words and meaning of my last letter as to lead your Excellency to a conclusion that I had taken the resolution to leave the service of H.I.M. the Emperor of Brazil, or, in other words, that it was I who had violated the engagements entered into with the late ministers of His Imperial Majesty in 1823. Whereas, on the contrary, the portaria published in the Rio Gazette on the 28th of February, 1824, was promulgated without my knowledge or sanction, and the limitation of my authority to the existing war was persevered in by the present ministers, notwithstanding my remonstrance in writing, both to the Minister of Marine and the Minister of the Interior.

Your Excellency ought not therefore to be surprised, if--threatened as I am with this portaria--I should provide beforehand against a contingency which might hereafter arise from an occasion happily so nigh, as seems to be the restoration of peace and amity between His Imperial Majesty and his royal father.

With regard to any communications of a pressing nature relative to the equipment of the Piranga, your Excellency may consider Captain Shepherd authorised to act, in my absence, in all ordinary cases. And that officer, having instructions to acquaint me whenever the Piranga shall have two-thirds of her complement of men on board--I can at any time be in London within two days of the receipt of such communication, and most assuredly before the complement can be procured.

I have the honour, &c.

COCHRANE AND MARANHAO.

To Chevalier MANOEL RODRIGUEZ GAMBIRO PESSOA.

Notwithstanding that my engagements with Brazil rested on the original patents conferred upon me by His Majesty, of which the validity had been further established by the additional documents given before my departure for Pernambuco--the latter completely setting aside the spurious portaria of Barbosa, limiting my services to the duration of the war--I nevertheless felt confident that, when my services were no longer required, no scruples as to honourable engagements would prevent the ministry from acting on the spurious documents, though promulgated without my knowledge or consent, against every principle of the conditions upon which I entered the Brazilian service. No blame could therefore attach to me, for not rejecting the offer of the Greek command, in case a trick of this kind should be played, as I had every reason to believe it would be--and as it afterwards in reality was.

On the 27th of September, the Brazilian Envoy forwarded to me an order from the Imperial Government at Rio, dated June 27th, and addressed to me at Maranham; the order directing me to proceed from that port to Rio immediately on its receipt, to give an account of my proceedings there--though despatches relating even to minute particulars of every transaction had, as the reader is well aware, been sent by every opportunity. His Majesty, when issuing the order, was ignorant that I had quitted Maranham, still more that on the day the order was issued at Rio de Janeiro, I had anchored at Spithead, so that obedience to His Majesty's commands was impossible.

Acting on this order, the Chevalier Gameiro took upon himself to "require, in the name of the Emperor, the immediate return of the Piranga, so soon as her repairs were completed, and her complement of men filled up." As I knew that the order in question would not have been promulgated by the Emperor, had he known the effect produced by the presence of the Piranga in the vicinity of Portugal; and as, in everything I had accomplished in Brazil, His Majesty had placed the fullest confidence in my discretion, I felt certain that he would be equally well satisfied with whatever course I might deem it necessary to pursue, I did not therefore think it expedient to comply with the requisition of the Envoy, assigning the following reasons for using my own judgment in the matter:--

Edinburgh, Oct. 1, 1825.

MOST EXCELLENT SIR,

I have this day been favoured with your letter containing a copy of a portaria dated June 27th, wherein His Imperial Majesty, through his Minister of Marine, directs my immediate return from Maranham to Rio de Janeiro, leaving only the small vessels there; which order you will observe I had anticipated on the 20th of May, when I left the Imperial brig-of-war Cacique and the schooner Maria in that port. Since then, His Excellency the Minister of Marine is in possession of duplicates of my correspondence mentioning the arrangements I had so made in anticipation of the Imperial order; and of my official communications--also in duplicate--transmitted on my arrival at Portsmouth, by your Excellency's favour, with your despatches.

These will have acquainted His Imperial Majesty with the cause and necessity of our arrival at Spithead--as well as with my intention there to wait a reasonable time before the departure of the Piranga, in order to learn the result of the negociations with Portugal.

I have only to add that, by some inadvertence, your Excellency's secretary has sent me the copy instead of the original order addressed to me by order of His Imperial Majesty, which mistake may be remedied on my return to town.

I am gratified to learn that there is less difficulty in procuring men than I had anticipated under the regulations respecting foreign seamen.

I have the honour, &c.

COCHRANE AND MARANHAO.

The Chevalier GAMEIRO.

Shortly previous to this, the Chevalier Gameiro addressed a letter to Lieutenant Shepherd, under the title of "Commander of the Piranga!" unjustifiably informing him officially that "I had retired from the service of His Majesty the Emperor of Brazil!" notwithstanding my letters to him in contradiction. Indeed, the letter just quoted is sufficient to shew that not only had I not relinquished the service, but that I refused to obey Gameiro's order to proceed to Rio, because I knew that if the frigate returned to Brazil, the impression her presence had produced on Portugal would be altogether neutralized, and the negociations for peace might be indefinitely prolonged; so that his order to run away from the good which had been effected, was so truly absurd, that I did not choose to comply with it. Had the negociations for peace been broken off, I had formed plans of attacking Portugal in her own waters, though with but a single frigate; and I had no reasonable doubt of producing an impression there of no less forcible a character than, with a single ship, I had, two years before, produced on the Portuguese fleet in Brazil. The order was, therefore, one commanding me to run away from my own plans, of which the Envoy however knew nothing, as I did not feel justified in entrusting him with my intentions.

On receiving the above-mentioned intimation to proceed to Rio de Janeiro--without my intervention, Lieutenant Shepherd very properly forwarded the Envoy's letter to me--when, of course, I apprised him that he was under my command, and not under that of the Chevalier Gameiro. At the same time I wrote to the latter, that "it would be the subject of regret if anything should cause the spurious decree of the 28th of February, 1824, to be brought into operation, but that, at present, being in full possession of my office and authority, my opinion was in no way changed, that the Piranga should be first fully equipped, and then wait for a reasonable time for the decision of those important matters in discussion."

Finding that Lieutenant Shepherd would not fly in the face of my authority, the Envoy finally resorted to the extraordinary measure of stopping the seamen's wages and provisions. On the 6th of October, Lieutenant Shepherd wrote to me, that "in consequence of their wages not being paid they had all left off work, and though Clarence did all he could to pacify them, and get them to return to their duty, they had determined not to go to work until they were paid." On the 8th, Lieutenant Shepherd again wrote, "that Gameiro having ceased to supply the frigate with fresh provisions, he had, on his own responsibility, ordered the butcher to continue supplying them as usual." On Lieutenant Shepherd waiting upon the Envoy to remonstrate against this system of starvation, he replied--and his words are extracted from Lieutenant Shepherd's letter to me, that as "His Lordship did not think proper to sail at the time he wished, he would not be responsible for supplying the frigate with anything more--nor would he advance another shilling." In all this, Gameiro--acting, no doubt, on instructions from the Portuguese faction at Rio--resorted to every kind of falsehood to get the officers to renounce my authority and to accept his! Of the character of the man and his petty expedients, the following extract from Lieutenant Shepherd's letter of the 8th of October, will form the best exponent:--

I have had another visit from General Brown, when he began a conversation by mentioning the evils which would arise from the feeling between your Lordship and Gameiro, who was at a loss how to act, as he had no authority over you--Gen. Brown suggesting how much better it would be for me to place myself under Gameiro's orders. Finding that I refused--on the following morning he called again, and told me that he had seen Gameiro, and had heard that the misunderstanding between your Lordship and him was at an end, but that Gameiro wanted to see me. On this I waited on Gameiro, who after some conversation told me that if I had any regard for His Imperial Majesty's service, I should never have acted as I had done. I told him that all I had done had been for the good of the service, and that I was ready to put to sea as soon as I received your Lordship's orders. He then asked me if I was the effective Captain of the ship? and whether I was not under the orders of Captain Crosbie? I told him that I was not acting under the orders of Captain Crosbie, but that I was Captain of the ship by virtue of a commission from the Emperor, and by an order from Lord Cochrane. He then said--Are you authorised to obey the orders of Captain Crosbie? and I said, I was not. Suppose you were to receive an order from Captain Crosbie, would you obey it? I said I would not. Then you consider yourself the lawful Captain of that ship? I do.

Upon this Gameiro remarked, "You are not an officer of Lord Cochrane's, but of the Imperial Government. It is impossible for Lord Cochrane to return to the Brazils as the Admiralty Court there has sentenced him to pay L.60,000 sterling, and his command will cease as soon as peace is made between Brazil and Portugal! Besides, Lord Cochrane's motive for detaining the Piranga is the expectation on his part of receiving L.6000 per annum at the termination of the war, which the Government will never give him!"

Finding that this made no impression on me, he began to threaten, saying that "he would state to his Government that all delay was occasioned by me, and that I should have to answer for it." I told him that, in the event of my sailing without your orders, I subjected myself to be tried by a court-martial for so doing, and leaving your Lordship behind. He answered that "I must be aware that he was the legal representative of His Imperial Majesty, and that he would give me despatches of such a nature as would not only exonerate me from all blame, but would shew the great zeal I had for His Imperial Majesty's service."

I asked Gameiro--if I were to act in such a manner, what would people think of me? The answer was, "Never mind what Lord Cochrane says, you will be in the Brazils and he in England, and I will take upon myself all the blame and the responsibility." He gave me till the evening to think of his proposals, and if I would not consent to them, he had other means of sending the Piranga to sea. He further requested me to keep this secret from your Lordship, as if you heard of it you would come post and stop it; adding that if I would consent, he would send a sufficient number of men in a steamboat, with every kind of store and provisions required to complete us, and we were to sail immediately.

This deep laid plot of Gameiro's was not to be carried on as Portuguese plots are in general, but was to be done--using his own words--at a blow, before anybody could know anything about it.

With this I send a copy of my answer to Gameiro's proposals, and a letter representing the state of the ship.

I have the honour to remain

Your Lordship's obedient Servant,

JA'S. SHEPHERD.

Such were the underhand expedients of a man who was silly enough to tell the secrets of his Government, as regarded the intended injustice of the Brazilian Ministry towards me--in spite of stipulations thrice ratified by the Emperor's own hand. But in confiding them to Lieutenant Shepherd, the Envoy's want of common honesty, no less than of common sense, did not perceive that he was imparting iniquitous projects to a brave and faithful officer, who would not lose a moment till he had apprised me of the whole. I should be unjust to the memory of Captain Shepherd did I not give his written reply to the infamous proposals of Gameiro, a copy of which was enclosed to me in the preceding letter.

Copy of my answer to Gameiro's proposals, sent in Portuguese, and translated by Mr. March:--

MOST EXCELLENT SIR,

In answer to the wishes of your Excellency to place myself under your immediate orders, I have to acquaint you that I have this morning had a letter from Lord Cochrane, stating that he had received letters from your Excellency of such a nature as to require his immediate presence in town, where he intends to be on Monday next. This alone--you must be aware--will entirely preclude the possibility of putting into execution the arrangements which you wished; the celerity of the Admiral's movements being such as to preclude all hope of effecting them.

I am sorry to add, that all our men have this morning left the ship in a complete state of mutiny, occasioned by their not having received their last two months' pay, and I much fear that it will be now more difficult than ever to get her manned--as, from their having been so long kept in arrears, and leaving their ship without being paid, has irritated their feelings to such a degree, that I have no hesitation whatever in saying that they will do all in their power to prevent others from joining her.

I have the honour to remain

Your obedient humble Servant,

JAMES SHEPHERD.

To His Excellency

MANOEL RODRIGUEZ GAMEIRO PESSOA.

On the 29th of October, I received from the Brazilian Legation in London, further orders from the Imperial Government, dated August 25th, 1825, to return with the Piranga to Rio de Janeiro--and with these I made preparations to comply, notifying to Gameiro my readiness to sail--by the following letter:--

London, Nov. 3, 1825.

MOST EXCELLENT SIR,

Having informed your Excellency on the 1st of October, that previous to quitting Maranham I had anticipated the Imperial resolutions, and having in my letter of the 24th further made known to your Excellency that the Piranga should sail for Brazil on or as soon after the 10th of this month as the wind would permit, your Excellency will perceive that there is nothing remaining of the Imperial decree to be executed, unless the Piranga (which I much doubt) should be enabled to put to sea before the early day which I have fixed for departure.

(Signed) COCHRANE AND MARANHAO.

His Excellency

MANOEL RODRIGUEZ GAMEIRO PESSOA.

This declaration of my readiness to comply with His Imperial Majesty's orders did not, however, suit the Envoy, nor did it fall in with his instructions from the Brazilian Ministry, which, no doubt were, as soon as peace was proclaimed, to get rid of me without satisfying my claims--this course being, indeed, apparent from what the Envoy, as just shewn, had communicated to Lieutenant Shepherd. (See page 260.) On the 3rd of November, peace between Portugal and Brazil was announced, and the independence of the Empire acknowledged; Gameiro being, on the occasion, created Baron Itabayana, whilst I--to whose instrumentality the peace--as a consequence of the consolidation of the Empire had been mainly owing, was to be ignominiously dismissed the service!

On the 7th of November--four days only after the announcement of peace--Gameiro took upon himself the execution of the spurious ministerial decree issued by Barbosa on the 27th of February, 1824, which had been abrogated by the Emperor, through the same minister, in the July following, as a prelude to my employment in the tranquillisation of the Northern provinces. Gameiro did not venture previously to apprise me of the act lest I should resist it--but insultingly sent an order to the officers of the Piranga to "disengage themselves from all obedience to my command." (Se desligao de toda subordinacao a o Ex'mo S'r Marquez do Maranhao), thus unjustifiably terminating my services--as I was on the point of returning, in obedience to the order of the Emperor. The subjoined is the order alluded to:--

To Captain SHEPHERD, commanding the Piranga, still refusing supplies whilst I held the command.

Having received the two letters which you addressed to me on the 4th of this month, enclosing three demands for various articles for the use of the frigate, I have to reply that I persist in my resolution not to furnish anything to the frigate unless she is placed under the immediate orders of this Legation, which I shall only consider accomplished when I shall receive a reply signed by yourself, and by all the other officers, declaring that--in compliance with the orders of His Imperial Majesty, contained in the two portarias of 37th of June and 20th of August last--you all place yourselves under the orders of this Legation, and cast off all subordination to the Marquis of Maranhao!

Dated London, 7th November, 1825.

(Signed) GAMEIRO.

As this was done without the slightest motive existing or assigned, there was no doubt in my mind but that Barbosa and his colleagues in the ministry had instructed Gameiro to dismiss me from the service whenever peace was effected; indeed, he had so informed Lieutenant Shepherd by the letter before quoted. To resist a measure--though thus insultingly resorted to--in the face of the Imperial order to return, was out of the question, as the instant consequence would have been a disgraceful outbreak between the Brazilian and Portuguese seamen of the Piranga, in the principal war port of England, to my own scandal, no less than to that of the Imperial government. I had, therefore, no alternative to avert this outrage but by submitting to the forcible deposition from my authority as Commander-in-Chief.

This act of the Envoy--based upon the deliberate falsehood that His Imperial Majesty had ordered the officers not to obey me, no such order existing in either of the Portarias mentioned--precluded my obedience to the Imperial command to return to Rio de Janeiro, for being no longer acknowledged as "First Admiral of Brazil, and Commander-in-Chief of the National Armada," I could only have accompanied the Piranga as a passenger, or rather quasi prisoner; and to this, in either capacity, it was impossible, without degradation, to submit. I had no inclination to place myself at the mercy of men who had taken advantage of a spurious decree to dismiss me--now that--in spite of their opposition--the destiny of the Empire had been irrevocably decided by my having counteracted their anti-national views whilst carrying out the intentions of His Imperial Majesty.

As will presently be seen, it was falsely represented by Gameiro, to the Imperial Government, that I had voluntarily abandoned the service! though, from the letter just quoted--ordering the officers to "disengage themselves from all subordination to me," this subterfuge of my having dismissed myself is obviously false. I will not, therefore, trespass on the patience of the reader by dilating upon the subject; suffice it to say that, not choosing to return to Rio de Janeiro as a passenger, I had no dignified alternative but to give up the frigate to the command of the senior officer, Captain Shepherd; confiding to him all accounts of monies distributed for the Imperial service, with the vouchers for the same--taking the precaution to send however the duplicate receipts given by the officers on account of the monies paid by the Junta of Maranham--and retaining the originals in my possession, where they now remain, and will be adduced in the statement of account forming the concluding chapter of this volume.

For these accounts--which the Brazilian ministers deny ever to have received--Captain Shepherd gave me, under his own signature, the following acknowledgment--now in my possession; a photograph of which, together with photographs of other important documents has long since been sent to the Brazilian Government:--

Received from Lord Cochrane, Marquess of Maranhao, the key of the iron chest, in which the prize lists and receipts for the disbursement of public monies have been kept during His Excellency's command; which key and chest I engage faithfully to deliver to the accountant-general of His Imperial Majesty's navy, or to the proper authority at Rio de Janeiro, taking his receipt for the same.

On board H.I.M.'s ship Piranga, November 12th, 1825,

JA's SHEPHERD.

The denial by the Brazilian Administration--of the accounts and receipts thus acknowledged by Captain Shepherd, and the absence of any ministerial communication on the subject, forms an unworthy imputation on the memory of a gallant officer, who a short time afterwards nobly died in action in the cause of Brazil. It was utterly impossible that Captain Shepherd should have done otherwise than have delivered them, for he was a man upon whose honour no reproach could be cast. There are only two ways to account for their not having been delivered, if such be the case. 1st, that Gameiro on the delivery of the frigate to the legation obtained possession of the chest in which they were deposited, and withheld them to justify my dismissal by casting the reproach upon me of having appropriated the amount--an act of which the Brazilian Government may judge whether he was capable; or, 2ndly, that from the same reason they were purposely withheld or destroyed by the ministers who had been so inimical to me. The present Brazilian Administration is happily composed of men of a different stamp, and it becomes them, for the sake of the national reputation, to institute the strictest search for the documentary evidence adduced, as no man will believe that I withheld documents which could alone justify my acts.

And here I must be permitted to remark, that the documentary evidence adduced in this volume proves the history, and not the history the documents. If any question be made as to their validity or fidelity, I hereby call upon the Brazilian Government to appoint a Commission, or authorise their Embassy to compare the extracts with the originals in my possession, so that no manner of doubt or question shall attach to them. My object in now producing them is, that I will not voluntarily go to my grave with obloquy, cast on me by men, who, at the outset of Brazilian independence, were a misfortune to the Empire no less than to myself; men who not only pursued this shameful line of conduct towards me who was unable to resist it,--but towards His Imperial Majesty,--who, by similar practices, was eventually disgusted into AN ABDICATION OF HIS THRONE AND AN ABANDONMENT OF THE COUNTRY--to which he had given one of the freest Constitutions in existence--achieved under the Imperial watchword, "Independencia ou morte."