ned the service, and every
effort was made to get the expedition ready for sea.

Before sailing for Pernambuco I was naturally desirous of coming to a
definite understanding on the subject of my commission, the patents
conferring which had been ruthlessly attempted to be set aside under the
signature of Barbosa, on the _assumed pretence of authority_ from His
Imperial Majesty, whose _rubrica_, however, was not attached to this
violation of our original compact. Accordingly, on the 26th of July, I
addressed a letter to Barbosa on the subject, and on the 29th received
the following reply:--

His Imperial Majesty commands, through the Secretary of State
and Marine, that there shall be transmitted to the First Admiral
commanding-in-chief the naval forces of this empire the enclosed copy
of a decree of the 27th of this month, by which His Imperial Majesty
has judged proper to determine that the said First Admiral shall
receive _in full_, so long as he shall continue in the service of this
empire, _the full pay of his patent_; and, _in the event of his not
choosing to continue therein after the termination of the present
war of independence, the one-half of his pay as a pension_--the same
being extended to his wife in the event of his decease.

The said First Admiral is hereby certified that the said decree of
His Imperial Majesty is not required to be inserted in his patent,
as he requests in his letter of the 26th instant, the said decree
being as valid as the patent itself.

Palace of Rio de Janeiro,
July 29th, 1824.

(Signed) FRANCISCO VILLELA BARBOSA.

Decree of His Imperial Majesty, inserted in the _Mercurio de
Brazil_, Sunday, 31st July, 1824.

In consequence of what has been represented to me by the
Marquis of Maranhao, First Admiral and Commander-in-Chief of the
naval forces of the empire, and in consequence of the great services
he has rendered, and which we hope he will continue to render to
the sacred cause of Brazil, I hereby--by the advice of my Council
of State--determine that the said Marquis of Maranhao shall be
paid in full, during the period that he shall remain in the service of
this empire, the whole amount of salary due to his patent; and in
the case of his _not wishing to continue in the service_ after the
termination of the present war of independence, the one-half of the
said pay as a pension, the same,