Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1890-01-10
dom PEDRO'S PRIVATE LIFE.
The Education and Habits of the Fx-
Emperor, and How He Passed
His Time.
AGeneral Character That VIII LONG
Live, Not Only in the History of
Brazil But of the World.

Much has been said in the last few DAYS
| about the political and historical side of
| the life of Emperor Dom Pedro II. of
| Brazil. now an exile. But his private
| lite is less known 10 Americans. whom he
visited, however, in 1876. At that time
| when he was not scrutinizing with deep
| interest the marvelS exhibited at the Cen
/ tennlal Exhibition, or when he was not
| travelling through the United States, which
| he admired and lauded so warmly and
frankly, he liked to stay in New York.
where he lived At the Buckingham Hotel
| Here rs in Paris, where he often rode ON
| the Top of omnibuSseS, Dom Pedro was
! fond of entering a horse car and having a
chat with his neighborS in the public
vehicle, whlchwaS an easy thing for him
IS he spoke perfect English
The knowledge of many lancusccS WIS
but small part of the scholarly acquire
| mentS of the Brazilian monarch. who was
as much of SavGnt rs of an emperor.
and vino had been received, not on account
or ms title, but as a reward for his num-
! erouS scientific works, as a member of the
| famous Institute of France and of most of
the European academies. His education
was begun 10y the venerable Bishop of
ChrySop0iS and by the famous HGeral
leader, Andrada sylvia. who had been re-
called from exile, where he was sent hy
hiS ungrateful party. Dom Pedro. when
one year old, lost his mother. I.eopoldine.
an Austrian ArchducheSS and sister of
Marie Louise, the second wife of Ma
poleon |. He was only wears old when.
IN 1881, his father, Dom Pedro l.. ahdi-
Gated IN his favor and left Brazil. Tie
poor boy was thus left quite alone in tue
world, and he felt himself still more iSo-
lated when, at 10 years of age. he heard of
has father 5 death in Portugal.
No wonder then that has character wgs
predlSpOSed to serious and even sad
view of life; that he WAS meditative and
grave young man, His intelligence be-
came precociouS; he was anxious to work
and to study; 50 much ~ that he gut ur
at night sometimes and relighted the
lamp which had been carefully put out 10y
the worthy Bishop. his Immediate tutor.
The qualities and strength OF mind he
acquired caused the regents, tired of ex-
erciSing power amidst the difficulties of
that time IN Brazil, to advance the epoch
of his majority, and to proclaim hom
Pedro IL. emperor three years before the
age fixed 10y law for declaring that minor
lty has ceased for Brazilian citizens. He
was only Is when his reign began practi-
cally for him.
Dom Pedro is tall, robust and Of splen-
did bearing; his hair and beard have
grown white prematurely. His blue ewes
have deep look; his face, frank and
open, inspires a great sympathy ut the
first glance. He speaks easily, end listens
with polite interest His residence at Rio
Jmeuo, which is his own property as is
h's castle of Petropolis, is called SAN
Christovao The Imperial palace. for
mer residence of the Portuguese N1ceroys.
was in Il dilapidated condition. and the
Parliament intended to rebuild it for the
use of Dom Pedro. who declined saving:
How can we think of building palace
when we have not enough schools and use
ful establishments, y During the Summer.
which in the Southern hemisphere CORE
spends to Northern Winter, the Court re-
sided at the castle of PctrOpolis, situated
northward of Rio Janeiro a half days
journey. This is Il charming place, which
reminds me of Saratoga, or Ems in Eu-
rope. 1t is built ON the side of noun
tain, and surrounded with real village,
composed of villas belonging to the high
society of Ri" Janeiro, to the members ,of
the diplomatic Crops and of the aristoc-
racy of the Brazilian provinces
Dom Pedro liked petropohs SO much
that he used to leave it only on SATURDAYS
to go to Rio to preside at the Ministers
Councils, which were held mt 8 p. m. on
account of the heat in that tropical climate
The Emperor got up at o'clock, though
he retired very late at night. His first
occupation in the morning consisted in
reading newspapers. At his breakfast
III Yankee fashion, as he used to say
after his sojourn here. He ate so rapidly
that his guests, anxious to answer the in
Vulnerable questions he constantly pro-
pounded to them, often left the table hun
CRY. Once he was to open railroad, and
he had taken along hith him the Ambas-
sador of a great European power. The
latter, invited to breakfast with the EN-
Emperor at the buffet of the station, saw
Dom Pedro getting up after few minutes,
during which the diplomat had kept an
swerlng the questions asked by His
Majesty. The Ambassador had to follow
His Imperial with an empty stomach. and
with a long journey yet to accomplish.
But before leaving the table and following
the Emperor. who had already
turned his back. and was moving
in the direction of the train, the famished
guest rapidly seized upon cakes spread
on the table, forced them into his pocket,
and managed to eat them without being
seen, during the remainder of the trip.
Every morning the Emperor used to hold
audiences and listen to everybody who
chose to present him a request. Aside
from these audiences daily given to
savants, artists, merchants etc. Dom
Pedro received once a week in the palace
yard the lower classes, or rather the poor
and those in want, TO whom he distributed
money from big bags held by two cham
berains. After the audience he entered
his carriage and paid visits to schools,
hospitals, naval ships, barracks, etc. In
the evenings the Emperor worked in his
library or went to the theater, always with
some member of his family His life has
been a patriarchal one and he has won
universal esteem for his public and private
charities. New York Tribune