as surrounded.

During the period of my absence I had been pressing upon the Department
of Marine at Rio de Janeiro the necessity of a speedy adjudication of
the prizes belonging to the squadron, according to the written order of
His Imperial Majesty. On the 5th of December I received an evasive reply
from the Auditor of Marine, stating that "he did not consider himself in
possession of all the laws and regulations whereon his judgment should
be founded in regard to seizures made or vessels captured by the naval
forces of Brazil." A miserable subterfuge!--as though it were any part
of my duty to supply an official with "laws and regulations" on such a
subject. It was quite evident to me that, despite His Majesty's orders,
no adjudication was intended, nor was any afterwards made; but in order
to prevent complaint of neglect on my part. I transmitted, on the same
date, to the auditor the whole of my documents, with a request that they
might be returned.

From the state of the province on my first arrival, I had entertained
suspicions as to the President's sincerity; and as outbreaks were again
of frequent occurrence, notwithstanding the general desire for
pacification, an investigation into the causes of these elicited the
fact that he was secretly sending agents to promote disturbance, for the
purpose of revenging himself upon those now disarmed, who, before my
arrival, had opposed his arbitrary authority.

To such an extent was this carried, that memorials reached me begging my
interference, as the memorialists could not now defend themselves. Two
of these memorials, signed by upwards of three hundred of the
respectable inhabitants of the province, were of such a nature as to
render hopeless the perfect restoration of order so long as the
President was permitted to exercise the autocracy, which, contrary to
all the principles of the constitution, he had irresponsibly assumed.

In order to account for a step which I subsequently considered it my
duty to adopt, it is necessary to give some extracts from one of these
memorials, signed by a hundred and fifty-two of the most respectable
inhabitants in a distant part of the province:--

"That the most demoralizing excesses are permitted amongst
the soldiery, and, in order to preserve his influence with the troops,
the President permits them to murder with impunity--even Europeans;
the perpetrators of these acts being not only unpunished,
but rewarded, whi