Wood County reporter. [volume] (Grand Rapids [i.e. Wisconsin Rapids], Wis.) 1857-1923, 1890-01-16
dom PEDR0'S PRIVATE LIFE.
The Education and Habits of the Elk.
Emperor, and How He Passed
His Time.
A General Character That VIII Long
Live, Not 0nlyin 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
life is less known to Americans, whom he
visited, however, in 1876. At that time
when he was not s%crutinizing with deep
interest the marvels exhibited at the Cen
tennial Exhibition, or when he was not
travelling throughthe 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 as in Paris, where he often rode on
the top of o~mnibusses, Dom Pedro was
fond of entering a horse car and having a
chat with his neighbors in the public
vehicle, which,was an easy thing for him
as he spoke perfect English.
The knowledge of many languages was
but a small part of the scholarly acquire
ments of the Brazilian monarch, who was
as much of a savant as of an emperor,
and who had been received, not on account
of his 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 by the venerable Bishop of
Chrysopolis and by the famous liberal
leader, Andrada Sylvia. who had been re-
called from exile, where he was sent by
his ungrateful party. Dom Pedro, when
one year old, lost his mother, Leopoldine,
an Austrian Archduchess and a sister of
Marie Louise, the second wife of Ma
poleon l. He was only 5 years old when,
in 1881, his father, Dom Pedro l., abdi-
Gated in his favor and left Brazil. The
poor boy was thus left quite alone in the
world, and he felt himself still more iso-
lated when, at 10 years of age, he heard of
his fathers death in Portugal.
No wonder then that his character was
predisposed to a serious and even a sad
view of life; that he was a meditative and
grave young man. His intelligence be-
came precocious; he was anxious to work
and to study; so much so that he got up
at night sometimes and relighted the
lamp which had been carefully put out by
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 Dom
Pedro II. emperor three years before the
age fixed by law for declaring that minor
ity 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 eyes
have a deep look; his face, frank and
open, inspires a great sympathy at the
first glance. He speaks easily, and listens
with polite interest. His residence at Rio
J~aneiro, which is his own property, as is
his castle of Petropolis, is called San
Christovao. The Imperial palace, for
mer residence of ssthe Portuguese V1ceroys,
was in a dilapidated condition, and the
Parliament intended to rebuild it for the
use of Dom Pedro, who declined saying:
"How can we think of building a palace
when we have not enough schools and use
full establishments, During the Summer,
which in the Southern hemisphere CORE
spends to Northern Winter, the Court re-
northward of Rio Janeiro a half DAYS
journey. This is a charming place, which
reminds me of Saratoga, or Ems In Eu-
rope. 1t is built on the side of a noun
tain, and surrounded with a real village.
composed of villas belonging to the high
society of Rio Janeiro, to the members of
the diplomatic Crops and of 1.-THE a%ristoc-
racy of the Brazilian provinces.
Dom Pedro liked Petropolis so much
that he used to leave it only ON Saturdays
to go to Rio to preside at the Ministers
Councils, which were held at s p. m. on
account of the heat in that tropical climate.
The Emperor got up at 6 o'clock, though
he retired very late at night. His first
occupation in the morning consisted in
reading newspapers. At 9 his breakfast
In Yankee fashion" as he used to say
after his s%ojourn 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 a 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 afew minutes,
during which the diplomat had kept an
swering 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 black; 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
s~avants, 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
berlains. After the audience he entered
his carriage and paid visits to schools,
hospitals, naval ships, barracks, etc. Ia
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