plunged into as strenuous a week as any king or emperor could desire. Within that period he had created new peers for a brand-new chamber, had framed a new code of laws, and, in fact, had provided Portugal with a new constitution! When he had achieved all this, he abdicated in favor of his daughter, Dona Maria, on the 2nd of May. So on this occasion at least Portugal might boast of a king who had scarcely wasted an hour of his entire reign of six days!

There can seldom have been a more complete antithesis of the mountain which was in labor and which produced a mouse! The exigencies of the political situation had caused Sir Charles Stuart, the British ambassador to Lisbon, to be in Rio just then and he was on the eve of his return to Portugal. His amazement may be imagined when Pedro sent for him, and produced a bundle of papers, which he begged him to take back with him to Lisbon. The package contained the new constitution of Portugal, he explained, to which he had devoted the greater part of the past week!

This feverish feat was all the more remarkable in an age that knew nothing of the bustle of the present day. When royal mails and messengers lay at the mercy of any freak of wind and tide, a delay of some weeks might well cause less comment than an unpunctuality of some hours in the twentieth century.

It is said and there seems no particular reason to doubt that the first news of one of the revolutions in Pará in the early days of the Brazilian Empire was brought to Rio de Janeiro from Pará in sixty days by a British sailing vessel by way of England. The reasons for this extraordinary occurrence were, in the first place, the utter want of land communications; and in the second, the unusual strength of the ocean current running northwards from Bahia, which, further impeded by a spell of southerly winds, no vessel could stem.

The Emperor Pedro I, it may be remarked, had taken

some pains to learn the English language, and in his younger days he studied this under Father Tilbury, an English priest resident in Rio. At a later period he resumed his acquaintance with the language in less academic circumstances. His fount of knowledge then was an English groom, whose linguistic specialty most unfortunately consisted in a liberal stock of expletives and adjectival Billingsgate!

Thus it would happen that not only the Emperor, but the dainty and charming Empress as well, would interlard their English conversation with the most appalling oaths and the most vulgar solecisms under the impression that these were mere colloquial amenities! The story sounds almost too humorous to be founded on fact, but it is given on good authority, and is, I believe, perfectly true. But the sensations of such British as listened to these strings of unconscious oaths without daring to explain their real meaning to these royal victims of a groom's tongue must have been curious!

CHAPTER XVIII

THE BRITISH IN BRAZIL (V)

The British fleet and Portuguese royalty-The abdication of Pedro I— His relations with his subjects-Movements of the diplomatic corps -Attitude of the United States minister-Arrival of the royal messengers on board H.M.S. Warspite-Description of the occurrences by one of the Warspite's officers-Conferences with the French admiral -Portuguese merchants and officers seek the protection of the British vessel-The Bragança family arrives on board the WarspiteTheir reception-Humorous account by a spectator-Impression made by one of the Warspite's officers-Conferences with the French admiral -Incidents attending the arrival-Pedro's philosophy-How he occupied himself with his courtiers-What his trunks revealed-Episodes on the deck of the Warspite-Pedro's speech at a levée-A dramatic interlude The Emperor exhibits the remnant of his army -Account of the abdication by Kidder and Fletcher-The guests of the Warspite-Duties of some members of the crew-The royal family is dunned by creditors from the shore-Methods by which Pedro comforted his consort-The Emperor attends to business-Some financial transactions-Scenes in Rio-Triumphal entry of the ChildEmperor Pedro II-Some details of the procession and of the decora tions-Proclamation of an actor-How the Empress learned of what was happening on shore-Pedro's remarkable behavior on the Warspite Further dramatic episodes—Uneasiness in Rio-Fatal rioting-The royal family prepare to sail-Manner in which the Emperor parted from the remnant of his army-An imperial packing upSome ludicrous incidents-Complications of etiquette-Transfer of the imperial party from the Warspite to a French frigate Episodes of the leave-taking-Departure of the royal family from Brazil.

W

HETHER from mere intuition, or from a policy of profound foresight, the British fleet seemed to be invariably at hand when any question arose of the conveyance of Portuguese or Brazilian royalty! So it happened in 1831 when the Emperor Pedro was about to abdicate his throne in favor of his infant son and to shake the dust of Brazil from his feet, he turned to Mr. Aston, the British chargé

d'affaires, and, indicating the British fleet at anchor in the bay of Rio de Janeiro, exclaimed, "Let us send to Admiral Baker for some boats!"'

This was easier said than done, for a wide breach yawned between Pedro and his subjects, and Pedro's few adherents that remained at the palace regarded with dismay the turmoil in the streets, where the populace had taken matters into their own hands. Pedro was now in a fever to leave the town which had shown itself so unappreciative of his somewhat mixed virtues. He impatiently waved aside the suggestion of the British chargé d'affaires that there was no need for so very hasty a departure. At length a young captain of artillery and a chamberlain of stronger nerve than the rest came forward to solve the difficulty, and the message was sent.

Pedro had his faults, but a lack of personal bravery was not among them. On more than one occasion he had displayed high physical courage, but now the situation seemed to inspire him with a sudden species of panic, and scarcely had the messengers left when he ordered carriages to be in readiness to convey himself, his family, and his suite to the beach.

In the meantime the ministers of the European powers met in a body in order to impress the need for public order upon the revolutionists, and to wait upon the Emperor to find out from his own lips if he had really abdicated. Mr. Brown, the American chargé d'affaires, held strictly aloof from all interference with the movement, and his abstention gained him a wide popularity among the Brazilians.

In the circumstances it was but natural that the monarchy of Brazil should have been regarded coldly by the United States. Seen through North American spectacles, Brazil of that period was a royal weed intruding in a garden of republics. The United States minister, in consequence, was in search of no metaphorical earth with which to bank up its loosening roots!

After this the scene may be transferred to H.M.S. Warspite, on whose trim deck in the middle of the night a gigantic master-at-arms was holding a lantern to the faces of two uniformed Brazilians who had come out from the shore in a boat. They delivered a message from Dom Pedro, begging that boats might be sent, if possible before daylight, for the conveyance of the royal family and the remnants of the court from the shore to the Warspite. After some unavoidable delay, owing to the fact that Admiral Baker was on shore at the time, and that it was diplomatically essential to communicate with the French flagship which lay at anchor near by, the Warspite awoke to action.

For the remaining events of that notable flitting we may rely on the description of one of the Warspite's officers whose services as interpreter were brought into requisition. It will be seen from his account that our naval spectator was endowed with some humor as well as with a keen gift of observation. It is fortunate for posterity that he was present, for his remarks show the closest appreciation of the tragedy as well as the lighter vein of the situation. He says:

"The dead silence in which our good ship lay buried was now suddenly broken by a shrill call. . . . The Admiral sent an order to despatch two armed boats and to inform the French commander-in-chief of it. The latter was also to be asked whether he was going to San Christavão himself or how he intended to arrange matters; since according to the latest agreement both were to act in strict accordance. I was desired to accompany the acting lieutenant for the purpose of translating the message and the answer. When we came on board the Dryade, a large double banked 60-gun frigate, we found all the Frenchmen on their legs. Although rather early (2 A.M.) they were dressed as for full parade, and in high glee. The flattering idea of seeing a new edition of their own glorious trois jours published in the New