BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. 181 



ity of the Emperor, induced the young and inexperienced monarch 

 to dissolve the new liberal chamber even before it had assembled, on 

 account of alleged violence and fraud committed during the election, 

 and placed itself at the head of the administration of the government of 

 the country. The liberals followed this defection by the revolution of 

 1842, in two of the largest provinces of the empire — Minas-Geraes and 

 S. Paulo — but were soon subdued. However, their exclusion from the 

 government was not of long continuance, for two years afterwards we 

 see them again in power, to be reversed anew in 1848. Again they took 

 up arms, this time at Pernambuco. The contest was bloody, but hap- 

 pily did not last long, and the rebels were conquered as before. If the 

 young Emperor had not at this time sufficient experience in the govern- 

 ment of men to avoid these fratricidal struggles, he had an opportunity 

 of manifesting his conciliatory disposition by using one of the most 

 beautiful prerogatives granted him by the constitution — that of remis- 

 sion of punishment, and pardon of the guilty. 



The conservative party, in 1845, brought to an end the important 

 revolution of the Eio Grande, and gained by this new success a prestige 

 and reputation for order which maintained it in power until 1863. 



The Emperor was married, by power of attorney, in 1843, to the daugh- 

 ter of Francis I, King of the Two Sicilies, the Princess Th6r^se Christine 

 de Bourbon -* and in 1845 he made with her a journey through the 

 southern provinces of the Kio Grande and S. Paulo, to study for him- 

 self the means of avoiding the return of discontent., 



V. 



Order was hardly restored (after the revolution of 1848) when the 

 attention of the government was called to the neighboring countries of 

 La Plata, under the despotic rule of General Eosas, President of the 

 Argentine Confederation. 



This audacious gatlcho had conceived the project of re-establishing for 

 his own benefit the ancient Spanish vice-royalty of La Plata, which in- 

 cluded the territories known to-day under the names of the Argentine 

 Confederation and the republics of Paraguay and Uruguay. 



Foreseeing the danger that must necessarily arise from an increase 

 of the power of Eosas to Brazilian commerce, a part of which was car- 

 ried on by river communication with the Brazilian province of Matto- 

 Grosso, ^he imperial government was making preparations to oppose this 

 measure, when Eosas, by his hostile attitude toward Brazil, which he 



* Of this maiTiaj^e was born two princes and two princesses. The princes are dead ; 

 also the younger of the two princesses. The latter, the Princess L6opoldine, was mar- 

 ried to the Prince Louis Auguste Marie de Cobourg-Gotha, Duke of Saxe. The 

 surviving princess, who bears the title of princess imperial, because she is the heir 

 presumptive to the crown, is called Isabel. She is married to Prince Louis-PhilipiJe- 

 Marie-Ferdinand-Gaston d'Orleans, Count d'Eu, and son of the Duke de Nemours. The 

 Pjincess L6opoldine left four children. The princess imperial has only one son, who la 

 by the constitution her successor to the throne. 



