In order that this should be effected, he was persuaded to stay away from his country for a considerable while.  At length it became evident that his return was imperative, and in August, 1888, he landed again in Rio, where he was received with genuine enthusiasm.  His loved personality, however, could no longer stand between the throne and popular opinion, for, in addition to the discontent aroused by the acts of the Princess, the centralized system of government, and the general prevalence of corruption in the provincial administration, had excited a widespread feeling of discontent, especially in the Assembly and among the Republican party.

In May, 1889, occurred the resignation of the Cabinet which was in power when the Act of Emancipation had been passed.  A new Cabinet was formed on June 7, under the Presidency of the Vizconde de Ouro Preto, a statesman much respected by the Emperor.  The liberal policy of this new Cabinet was resented by the landowners, and a serious agitation, which now began, shortly after received the support of the army.

General Deodoro da Fonseca and General Floriano Peixoto placed themselves at the head of the military malcontents, and it became clear to the inhabitants of Brazil that a crisis was not far off.  On November 14, 1889, some fifteen months after the Emperor had returned to his country, the Imperial residence at Petropolis was surrounded by soldiers, while the palace at Rio was taken possession of by other troops.

The revolution was conducted in the simplest fashion.  Beyond the arrest of the Emperor and the wounding of the Baron de Ladario, the solitary Minister who resisted, nothing happened—­nothing, that is to say, of a dramatic nature.  Indeed, after the arrest, the chief work of the revolutionists appears to have lain in the obliteration of Imperial badges and the cutting out of similar tokens from their uniforms and flags.  The main population of the country appears to have regarded the change with a most complete indifference.

Dom Pedro’s personality appears to have retained somewhat of its popularity up to the very last.  He was sent to Portugal a few days after the successful revolt, it is true, but it seems that this move was taken rather because it appeared to be the traditional and proper thing to do than from any dread of plotting on the part of the deposed monarch, who was allowed to retain the whole of his property.  In fact, in order to show that no personal malice was intended, the new Republic pressed a pension on the deposed monarch, which, however, was refused.  Pedro II. quitted the harbour of Rio on November 16, 1889, and with his person the last trace of Iberian Monarchy vanished from South America.

CHAPTER XXI

MODERN BRAZIL