TO
H. M. DOM PEDRO II
EMPEROR OF BRAZIL
SCHOLAR AND SCIENTIST, PATRON OF
ARTS AND LETTERS
STERLING STATESMAN AND MODEL MONARCH,
WHOSE REIGN OF HALF A CENTURY HAS BEEN
ZEALOUSLY AND SUCCESSFULLY DEVOTED TO
PUBLIC INSTRUCTION, INDUSTRIAL
ENTERPRISE, AND THE ABOLITION
OF SLAVERY
THROUGHOUT THE VAST AND OPULENT
“EMPIRE OF THE SOUTHERN CROSS”

Dedication by Frank Vincent

FREEDOM IN BRAZIL

THE BRAZILS MAGNIFICENT

Robinson Crusoe, after escaping from Moorish slavery with the boy Xury, was rescued by a Portuguese ship bound for South America. He was carried by the ship’s captain to the Brazils.

There he settled, bought a plantation and made a fortune. Then, away from those same Brazils, he sailed and was wrecked and cast upon his Desert Island.

Magnificent and rich were Robinson Crusoe’s Brazils, or the Country of Brazil, stretching vast and unknown far westward into the interior of the continent. Near the sea-coast, in the parts inhabited by civilized men, were plantations of coffee, tobacco, and fruits. Primeval forests covered the shores of the rivers whose mighty waters rushed far out into the ocean. Fierce savages roved the forests. There were gold, spices, and diamonds in Robinson Crusoe’s Brazils, and rare woods, brilliant birds, butterflies, and flowers.

And so is the country of Brazil to-day—a magnificent land! Only there are cities there now, and towns and villages. And to-day, Brazil is a Republic with a Constitution like that of our own United States.

In Robinson Crusoe’s time, Brazil was owned and ruled by the Kingdom of Portugal, just as other parts of South America were owned and ruled by the Crown of Spain.

How Brazil won Independence and became a Republic, is a fascinating story.

THE EMPIRE OF THE SOUTHERN CROSS

Brazil, on which the Southern Cross of four bright stars, looks down, first became a Kingdom, then an Empire and after that a Republic.

When Napoleon’s Army threatened to invade Portugal, the Royal Family of Portugal fled in terror of their lives. They escaped from Lisbon, crossed the Atlantic, and found refuge in the royal Colony of Brazil.

In 1815, Brazil was declared a Kingdom, though still to remain a part of Portugal. The first and only European Kingdom in America!

When the time arrived, that the Royal Family might safely return to Portugal, the King left his son, Dom Pedro, to be Regent or Governor of Brazil.

But the Brazilians had grown used to having their King live among them. More just laws and greater privileges were theirs, when their ruler lived in the land. He could understand their needs better than if he ruled them from Europe. So the Brazilians became dissatisfied, when their country was reduced once more to the state of a Colony.

Dom Pedro was a patriotic Brazilian, and ruled the Country without much regard to Portugal’s wishes. Trouble soon arose between the Mother Country and Brazil. Dom Pedro proclaimed the Independence of Brazil, September 7, 1822. An Empire was established, and Dom Pedro was made Emperor under a Constitution.

But as time went on, the Emperor did not uphold the People’s rights; so he was forced to abdicate in favour of his little son, Dom Pedro, who was only five years old.

After which, Dom Pedro the First, sailed away to Europe, leaving little Dom Pedro the Second, to rule in his stead.

MAKING THE LITTLE EMPEROR

“The King is afloat! God save the King!” were the shouts which rang through the streets of Rio Janeiro, for now that their Emperor Pedro the First had abdicated and escaped on an English man-o-war, the people were giving themselves up to rejoicing.

“The King is afloat! God save the King!” was the cry of the townspeople and the streets, festooned with coffee branches, were made to glow with coloured silks, while the balconies were thronged with seÑoritas in all their finery of brilliant dresses, garlands, fluttering fans, and feather flowers.

They were witnessing the triumphal entry into his capital of the new Emperor, Dom Pedro the Second, the little lad of five and a half years old.

First in the procession of the Child-Emperor, were justices of the peace bearing green flags. Then came the little Emperor.

And what a figure was this! A tiny infant in a huge state-coach, dragged by four strings of excited mulattoes! He cried, and at the same time waved a white handkerchief.

The tender-hearted Brazilians, every man and woman of their number a child-adorer, were altogether overcome by the sight, and even the choir that accompanied the procession, was touched. Its triumphant chant died away in an emotional quiver.

With great pomp, little Pedro was installed as Emperor, the eyes of the enthusiastic spectators swimming with tears, as he was carried out of the chapel in the arms of an old chamberlain.

Later, while sitting in a little chair at the window of the palace, he reviewed the troops of his Empire.

But though little Pedro was now Emperor of all Brazil, he was too young to rule. A Regent ruled for him for ten years, while Pedro studied and prepared himself to govern his People.

W. H. Koebel and Other Sources

THE PATRIOT EMPEROR

I

Viva Dom Pedro the Second!

At last a large political party in the capital grew tired of installing Regents and electing new ministers, and insistently demanded that the Emperor himself begin to reign, although legally he was still too young. According to the Constitution, an Emperor reached his majority at the age of eighteen, and Dom Pedro was only fifteen. But in spite of his youth, Dom Pedro the Second was declared constitutional Emperor and perpetual defender of Brazil. Viva Dom Pedro the Second!

So mature was the young Emperor in mind and appearance, that he was well fitted to play the part of an eighteen-year-old. His tutors were the best that could be found in Europe or South America, and he was a brilliant student. He had a trick of relighting his lamp at night and studying for a while after every one had gone to bed. Natural history, mathematics, and astronomy were his favourite subjects at that time.

But in the course of his life he studied almost everything under the sun, and he could talk fluently on any subject in English, German, French, Italian or Spanish; he read Latin, Greek, and Hebrew. When he was sixty he learned Sanskrit. His library was packed with histories, biographies, encyclopÆdias, and law-books.

Besides his library the Emperor loved peace, happiness, and prosperity. These were his gifts to Brazil during his long reign, while surrounding Nations were struggling with anarchy and civil war.

Before Dom Pedro was eighteen, he signed a contract of marriage with a Princess whom he had never seen, Theresa Christina Maria, sister of the King of the two Sicilies. A Brazilian squadron conducted her to Rio, and the city received her with splendid ceremonies.

II

My People

Under Dom Pedro’s guiding influence, Brazil gained steadily in power, importance, and reputation. Home industries and foreign commerce doubled. Telegraphic communications were established with the United States and Europe. Good steamship lines, both coastwise and oceanic, made Brazil accessible to all the world. Public property was opened to settlement, and the Government became as hospitable to all foreign enterprise as it had before this been exclusive.

Above all things, Dom Pedro wanted to stimulate the love of knowledge among his People, to give the boys and girls of every class an equal chance. Free public schools were established all over the Empire.

One time, the Emperor learned that 3,000,000 francs had been pledged by citizens for a fine bronze statue of himself to be given the place of honour in a city square. Dom Pedro, expressing his deep gratitude, said that it would please him far more if the money could be used for public schools instead. The grade and high school buildings of Rio have always been noted for their beauty, size, and equipment.

While so many of the South American States were lagging far behind the times, Brazil, under Dom Pedro, caught up with other progressive Nations of the World. Liberty of speech and religious tolerance were not even questioned, but taken for granted.

III

Emancipating the Slaves

1888

The greatest national event during Dom Pedro’s reign was the Abolition of Slavery, and no one worked harder to bring it to pass than the Emperor himself.

The African slave-trade had been abolished in 1850 and from that time on public opinion grew more and more in favour of Emancipation, in spite of the strong opposition of planters and wealthy slave owners.

Following Dom Pedro’s example, many high-minded citizens freed their own slaves. The slave was enabled to free himself in many ways, such as raising his own purchase money. The incentive to do this was great, for an ambitious slave had plenty of chance to rise in the world.

Dom Pedro’s dearest wish was that he might live to see every slave in the country a free man, and this wish came true in the last year of his reign.

He had gone abroad in poor health, leaving his daughter Isabel as Regent. When Congress met, the Princess Isabel railroaded the Abolition Bill through both Houses in eight days, and signed the bill which put the law into immediate effect.

IV

The Empire of the Southern Cross—No More!

Soon after the humane Princess Isabel had freed the slaves, Dom Pedro came hastening home from Europe. He landed in Rio, and was received with genuine enthusiasm. But his loved personality could no longer stand between the throne and the widespread desire for a Republic together with the popular discontent aroused by the Princess’s acts.

In 1889, a Republican revolt took the whole Empire by surprise. It had long been brewing beneath the surface, but so great was the Emperor’s popularity that Republicans had tacitly agreed to postpone the new Government until his death.

A rumor that Dom Pedro might abdicate in favour of Princess Isabel, and thus initiate another generation of monarchy, precipitated the Revolution. The Republican leagues, with the backing of the army and navy, refused to wait any longer.

Dom Pedro, summoned from Petropolis by telegram, found a Provisional Government already organized when he reached the capital. In the Imperial Palace at Rio, surrounded by insurgents, the old Emperor was told briefly that his long reign was over.

“We are forced to notify you,” said the ultimatum, “that the Provisional Government expects from your Patriotism the sacrifice of leaving Brazilian territory with your family in the shortest possible time.”

Dom Pedro the Second replied simply:—

“I resolve to submit to the command of circumstances and will depart with my family for Europe to-morrow, leaving this beloved Country to which I have tried to give firm testimony of my love and my dedication during nearly half a century as chief of the State. I shall always have kind remembrances of Brazil and hopes for its prosperity.”

The next day the Imperial Family sailed for Lisbon.

In three days’ time a monarchy had been overthrown without bloodshed or opposition. The Emperor, who had sometimes been called the best Republican in Brazil, was replaced by a military dictator.

The homesick Emperor, living in European hotels or rented villas, “always remained as one on the point of departure, as if he ever expected to be recalled by his former subjects, a hope which till the last moment would not die out of his heart.”

Margarette Daniels (Arranged)

THE UNITED STATES OF BRAZIL

Brazil, whose name originally meant the Land of Red Dye Wood, is to-day, the United States of Brazil with a Constitution like our own. It has a President, Vice-President, and House of Congress, and an army and navy. It has railroads, beautiful cities, many towns, and a world commerce.

Brazil exports quantities of rubber, sugar, coffee, and other products. The milky juice of the caoutchouc or rubber, is gathered largely from the wild rubber-trees growing in the tropical forests far in the interior of Brazil, or along the banks of the Amazon. Our United States receives great shipments of this rubber. The coffee-trees flourish in the famous red earth of Brazil, producing large crops of the delicious berry, to make happy the breakfast tables of the world.

There is the friendliest of relations between our United States and Brazil. It is no uncommon sight to meet Brazilian sailors in their picturesque uniform, at home on the streets of New York City. And when the statue of Bolivar, the Liberator of Venezuela, was unveiled in Central Park in 1921, there was present a detachment of Brazilian Marines detailed from their battleship anchored in New York Harbour. They made an imposing appearance, filing down the park-slope of Bolivar Hill, in the military procession which accompanied President Harding.

The year 1922, the one hundredth anniversary of Brazilian Independence, has been celebrated by People of the United States. Out of friendship for Brazil, they have presented her with a statue of Liberty cast in bronze. Liberty holds aloft two entwined banners, the Brazilian Flag and the Stars and Stripes. The Brazilian Government has selected one of the most prominent spots in the city of Rio Janeiro, as a site for the statue.