The old Emperor, Pedro I., died in Portugal on September 24, 1834, and
after that event a strong reaction set in among the Brazilians in favour
of the Monarchy. The democratic party asserted that the Emperor's
sister was, on attaining the age of eighteen, fully capable of
exercising the duties of Regent. Having once granted this, the natural
deduction followed that if a girl was fit to rule at eighteen, a boy was
fit to rule sooner. In 1840 the Opposition brought forward a motion to
the effect that the Emperor was of age, in spite of the article of the
Constitution which declared that the majority of the Sovereign should be
the age of eighteen.
By that time the nation was prosperous and at peace, while moderate men
were tired of the faction struggles and the tumults caused thereby.
Lima, Regent at the time, was extremely unpopular, and, when the debates
began in the Assembly, there was a general wish that he should be
defeated. The motion of the Opposition was made, and was met by the
answer that the Constitution forbade this premature declaration of
majority. The Opposition retorted that circumstances warranted the
infringement, since in extreme evils the interests of the State required
extreme measures.
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