BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH OF DOM PEDRO II. 177 



the 2d of December, 1825; and had hardly completed his fifteenth year 

 when his august father abdicated in his favor, in accordance with the 

 constitution, which prescribed that with the same degree of relation- 

 ship, preference should be given to the masculine sex.* His name is 

 Pedro d'Alcantara Joao Carlos Leopoldo Leocadeo Miguel Gabriel 

 Raphael Gonzaga; his title, Constitutional Emperor and Perpetual Pro- 

 tector of Brazil. 



The childhood of this prince was far from happy, for his mother died 

 the year following his birth, and his father was engaged in the harass- 

 ing and almost daily political struggle which terminated with his abdi- 

 cation. It is doubtful whether, under the circumstances, Dom Pedro I 

 had the time to attend, as he would have desired, to the education of 

 his children. They did not even witness his departure, the Emperor 

 having determined suddenly in the night to abdicate and leave the 

 country. He did not wish to disturb the peaceful slumber of his chil- 

 dren, and contented himself with embracing them several times very 

 tenderly and with tears. It was a sad spectacle, this valiant soldier, 

 who had many times braved the danger of revolutionary crises, weep- 

 ing in the presence of his court, his ministers, the embassadors of France 

 and England, his friends, and his faithful generals. 



Imagine the sorrow of his children the next morning when they 

 received, instead of the paternal kiss, the sad news of the departure of 

 the father they would perhaps never see again. Although Dom Pedro, 

 on account of his extreme youth, could not feel all the importance of 

 such an event, his tears, and the manner in which be pressed in his 

 arms his young sisters, testified to the extent of his grief. How many 

 children of the people were at that moment happier in their cottages 

 than he in a palace, notwithstanding he had just come into the posses- 

 sion of an immense empire. 



II. 



According to the Brazilian constitution the Emperor is a minor until 

 the age of eighteen years, and during his minority the empire must be 

 governed by a regent, the member of the imperial family the most 

 nearly related to the Emperor, provided always such relative is more 

 than twenty-five years of age. In case there should be no relative ful- 

 filling this condition, it is the duty of the chamber of deputies and the 

 seuate to nominate a permanent regency composed of three members, 

 the oldest of which is the president. This was done, and the regency, 

 consisting at first of the required number of persons, was, a few years 

 later, after the reform of the constitution, reduced to one, elected by the 

 nation for a term of four years. 



The men who were successively called to the noble task of preparing 



*Of the surviving sisters of Dom Pedro who remained in Brazil, one, the Princess 

 Dona Francisca, was married in 1843 to the Prince of Joinville ; the other espoused 

 Priuce Louis de Bourbon, Count d'Aquila, in 1844. 



S 12 



