Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1920-09-26
BRAZIL TO HONOR
Ex|LED FAMILY
Movement to Build National
Pantheon for Remains of
Dom Pedro II and Kin.

The significance of press dispatches
stating that President Pessoa of Bra
gil has signed a decree revoking the
edict which banished former Eli
peror Dom Pedro II and all his rela-
tfves is explained in a communica-
tfon to the National Geographic So
ciety by Harriet Chalmers Adams as
follows:
There is movement under way to
build national pantheon in Rio de
Janeiro and bring to it, at the time
of the 1922 centenary. the remains of
BraziIs historical personages, includ-
ing Joao VI, Pedro I. Pedro II and
government will probably consent,
and it is to be hoped that Princess
Isabel, too. will agree. Dom Pedro II
should return with honor to the land
of his birth. The difficulty hitherto
lay in the fact that neither the prin-
enter the republic of Brazil and could
no longer visit the family tomb.
Princess Isabel In France.
Dom Pedro II died in Paris in 1891
Princess Isabel, who married the
French Comte d'Eu, still lives in
France. In 1908 her elder son re-
nounced his claim to the throne of
BrazN in favor of his brother, Dom
Luiz, whose little son. born in 1909.
is Pedro ILL.,
when in Lisbon l visited the
Pantheon, where the rulers of Por
tugaI lie. Exiled from his own coun-
try, Dom Pedro II also found a rest
lng place in the land of his fore
fathers. was most unfavorably i'm
pressed with this Pantheon. 1t alto
gether lacks the beauty and dignity of
the royal mausoleum of the Escorial
in Spain. For the payment of a small
fee the custodian permits you to climb
a ladder and gaze at the embalmed
body of the last Emperor of Brazil
This seems most uniting.
Brazil's Biggest Name.
Dom Pedro II is Brazirs biggest
name. He it was who led his country
into the brotherhood of great ma
lions. With him wisdom and kind
illness were pre-eminent. Every inch
an emperor, he yet was accessible to
the humbiest of his subjects. There
is much in the city where he lived
for so many years still closely asso-
ciated with his rule, which ended only
the other day, as we count history
1889. In the coat of arms of the
House of Braganca, still to be- seen
On many of the buildings; in such
street names as MARQUEE de Sac vi
cente, Barao de Petropolis. Visconde
de Maranguape and in the titled Bra
|
try we realize that not so many years
ago Rio de Janeiro was the abode
of royalty.
CLOSELY associated with imperial
rule in its decline was the emperor's
daughter. bona Isabel. While prin-
cess regent. during one of her fathers
visits to Europe in search Of health,
she signed the most vital decree ever
issued in the country. l saw the
original document in the hall of
archives and the pen, set with dia-
monds and emeralds, with which the
princess signed it, the decree of May
IS. 1888. which liberated 100000
slaves.
1.-The decree Of 1888. which freed all
slaves, was immensely unpopular with
many Of the country's leading men,
who claimed the princess regent had
been unduly Influenced by her cler-
ical advisers. This was one of the
reasons for the fall of the empire.
although that event may be largely
attributed to discomfort all over the
country. owing to the Capitalization
OF power in the capital"