them clean
out of the harbour, and convey them back to their own country.
We do not ask for reprisals upon these people, but simply restitution
of the fruits of our labours in the service of Your Majesty, of which
they have insidiously despoiled us, and that no impediment to this
act of justice may arise, or be pretended by the individuals in
question, we are willing to wait for a still further period--retaining,
however, what remains of the prizes in our own custody--until our
claims are settled; when we shall punctually surrender them into
Your Imperial hands at whatever moment Your Majesty shall be
pleased to cause the said claims to be duly discharged.

We most earnestly beseech Your Imperial Majesty--upon whom
alone we depend for justice--to take into your consideration the
necessity of withdrawing all control over the naval service and its
interests from the hands of individuals with whose country Your
Majesty is at war, and against which, under Your Imperial authority,
we have been employed in active hostilities. It is only by the removal
of Portuguese functionaries--more especially from the naval department,
and the appointment of native Brazilians in their stead, that
Your Imperial Majesty can reasonably hope to possess the full
confidence of your people. Such a proceeding would be far more
effective for the suppression of the rebellion in the North, than
the ill-equipped naval detachment employed on that service.

I trust that Your Imperial Majesty will perceive that nothing
short of the most thorough conviction in my own mind, with regard
to the step now taken, could have led me to adopt it on my own
account, or on that of the squadron. To myself, in particular, it
must be a source of great anxiety, and in all probability, for a time
--before the circumstances are generally understood--it may bring
on me a large share of obloquy. My resignation is attended with
the surrender of the high honours with which Your Majesty has
graciously invested me, in addition to the honourable situation
which I hold under Your Imperial authority. Your Majesty may be
assured that such sacrifices as these are not made without extreme
reluctance, and if there had remained the slightest probability of
obtaining by any ordinary means the justice for the squadron,
which it is my bounden duty to persevere in demanding, I shoul