472 CONVERSATIONS WITH A SPANISH LIBERAL. 



"Nursed in the cradle of absolutism, haughty, impetuous, and self- 

 willed, a slave to all the fiery passions of youth, that had never felt 

 the reins of discipline or control we saw him, at one time, leading 

 a revolutionary movement ; at another, yielding with an ill grace to his 

 own concessions, when the spirit of the times rendered it imperative 

 to bow to the revolutionary exigencies of his people; and, finally, he 

 abdicated in a pet his imperial crown, like a second Sylla, disgusted 

 with the love of sway, and abandoned, really without any adequate 

 reason, his Brazilian empire. Up to that moment, Europe and with 

 just reason had conceived no very favourable opinion of the imperial 

 Maestro, who used to distribute with one hand his own productions to 

 an orchestra of negro and mulatto slaves, and with a whip in the 

 other, to stand over them and punish any blunder in their execution. 

 Again, his conduct to his amiable consort, the empress Leopoldina 

 "Proud Austria's mournful flower ;" 



the open disregard of all delicacy and propriety he exhibited in his 

 liaison with the celebrated Condessa dos Santos, whom he created the 

 first lady of honour to her whose feelings it was his duty to respect, 

 rouses the indignation of every generous mind ; but, since his return to 

 Europe, from the very moment that he repaired to the ocean rock of 

 Terceira, that last asylum of Portuguese liberty from the moment 

 that, to use the expression of the gallant Villa Flor, ' he threw aside 

 the imperial mantle for the uniform of the grenadier/ the conduct of 

 Don Pedro was the antithesis of his former life, as magnanimous, 

 moral, and brilliant as it was before dark, selfish, and depraved. To 

 his firmness and activity, the successful issue of the Portuguese strug- 

 gle may in a great measure be attributed; harassed by financial dif- 

 ficulties which exercised so marked an influence over the fortune of 

 the campaign ; assailed by cabal and intrigue ; exposed to ingrati- 

 tude, and accused of ulterior designs, which he never for a mo- 

 ment entertained, he alone was firm, and never despaired of suc- 

 cess. When all appeared lost, when the further protraction of the 

 struggle was considered madness, he obstinately refused to evacuate 

 Oporto; and to the urgent remonstrances of his ministers and his 

 staff, he nobly replied that he would conquer or die; and nobly did 

 he consummate his holy enterprise ; while his end was as heroic 

 as his life had been unfortunate. How touching, how affecting, 

 were the last moments of the dying emperor ! His adieus to the 

 army breathed the spirit of a gallant soldier. His advice to his 

 daughter to celebrate her assumption of the reins of government 

 by a general amnesty, betrayed Christian charity, and deep political 

 wisdom. As the tide of life was fast ebbing, the scenes of his past 

 existence appeared to flit before the imagination of the dying prince. 

 He confessed to his physician the efforts he had made to overcome 

 the evil effects of his vicious education, and pointed to himself as 

 an example of the danger of neglecting the moral and intellectual 



distone or a Count Sandon might be proud of this imperial feat. For the in- 

 formation of our sporting readers, we shall just say, that during his gallop the 

 emperor repeatedly took baths of strong rum and water. Only one of his suite 

 could stand the pace and the fatigue, and he died a few days after reaching llio. 



