In fact, in order to
show that no personal malice was intended, the new Republic pressed a
pension on the deposed monarch, which, however, was refused. Pedro II.
quitted the harbour of Rio on November 16, 1889, and with his person the
last trace of Iberian Monarchy vanished from South America.
CHAPTER XXI
MODERN BRAZIL
After the deportation of their third Monarch, the Brazilians settled
down to enjoy the advantages of an ideal and much-exalted Republican
Government; but it was not long before they encountered some sharp
disillusions. Their first President, General Don Manuel Deodoro de
Fonseca, who had been mainly responsible for the expulsion of the
Emperor, was installed immediately after Pedro's departure as head of
the Brazilian Government. He began by proving that a Republic in the
midst of unsettled political circumstances is, from its very nature,
almost invariably more autocratic than the ordinary empire.
Fonseca, a character sufficiently striking to merit individual mention,
was born at Algoas in Brazil, was educated at the military school in Rio
de Janeiro, and received his commission as a Lieutenant of Artillery in
1849. The chief feature of his military career was the prominent part he
took in the war with Paraguay in 1868-1870, where he distinguished
himself sufficiently to be promoted to the rank of Divisional-General.
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