St. Tammany farmer. [volume] (Covington, La.) 1874-current, 1890-02-15
A FINE OLD


Some Pleasant "Reminiscences Of the veo.
erabl Emperor OF Brasll
What an industrious old chap he wa
when here. and. for that matter,
wherever he was, says Joe Howard.
writing Of Dom Pedro.
I had the pleasure Of seeing much Of
him. and he was always the same court
eous searcher for information. He Is .
superb specimen of physical manhood
and Of striking physical presence. being
six feet -four inches in height and we'll
proportional. He writes and speaks
fuently English, French, German, Span
ish and Italian. Thoroughly demo-
cratic in character. his manner are
simple and Unaffected. and his tastes
those of q rational and unselfish gentle
man. who cares little for the pomp and
luxuries Of state. Details Of etiquette
never had any fascination for him. and
a discussion with a learned nan on some
question Of science or art was moro
pleasing to him than having to preside
Over q State ceremonial. Hence 1t Is
not surprising that he was never unwill-
ing to yield up his scepter to other
hands while he travelled where he could
follow his own tastes with greater free
dom.
In 1871 he visited London, Paris. Flor
ence. Rome. Brussels and other European
capitals, and in 1876 he came to this
country.
ner, 1t may be mentioned that in q Paris
hospital he was taken for n CORE
spondent of a London daily journal. and
that gentleman received all the saluta-
tions and explanations intended for tho
Emperor. Dom Pedro made a sign to .
doctor who had found out his mistake
not TO say any thing about it.
In this country as in Europe he was
always out betimes in the morning,
making the mos Of every opportunity
to inform himself thoroughly as to all
he saw. He made friends readily, and
the freedom and peculiar ~insistency and
pertinacity with which he asked qucs-
tions. the evident intelligence and
knowledge exhibited by those questions.
attracted much attention to him and
made his visit more than usually notice
able.
In Europe ne reused Le Verrier the
astronomer, from sleep 500 after dawn.
LIE Verrier. who worked late in tho
night. was furious At being disturbed 50
soon after going to bed. The Emperor
called on Hugo in the same informal
manner and invited himself to pot luck
with the great French writer.
The personal popularity Of Dom
Pedro with his subjects has always been
considered to be very great. After his
recovery from a severe sickness a few
years ago there were many demohstra-
tions Of public joy. During his late
visit to Europe he was again stricken
down and lay between life and death
for some weeks. His restoration to
health was again celebrated with gener-
al public rejoicing. A little while ago
his life was attempted. but the offender
was pronOu need a lunatic.
The growth of the republican senti-
ment. however, in Brazil has long been
an acknowledged fact, and no longer
than last August the Condo d'Eu, the
Emperor's son-in-law, announced in .
public speech that the imperial family
we're ready to retire At any time when
it was felt that their presence was i'm.
peding the progress of the country.
But so We 60. An empire falls, and
contemporaneous comment says, ''cof.
fee is excited. "-BostOn Globe.