Page:Men of the Time, eleventh edition.djvu/893

 87G

PEDRO II.— PEEL.

an essay on "The Divine Per- sonality."

PEDRO II., De Alcantara, Em- peror of Brazil, born at Rio de Janeiro, Dec. 2, 1825, the son of Dom Pedro I., of Braganza and Bourbon, and of Leopoldina, arch- duchess of Austria, is the legitimate descendant of the three great royal houses in Europe — Braganza, Bour- bon, and Hapsburg — ^and was pro- claimed upon the abdication of his father, in April, 1831, at the age of five years and some months. The government was at first adminis- tered by a Council of Regency, and afterwards by one regent. In July, 1840, he was declared of age by the Chambers, and assumed the sove- reign power when not quite fifteen. In 1843 he was married to the Princess Theresa Christina Maria, sister of Francis I., late King of Naples; from which union were bom two princes, who died youn^, and two princesses. Dom Pedro is very courteous in his manners, and writes and speaks fluently English, French, German, Spanish, and Italian. He is strongly attached to literature, and liberally patronises industrial enterprises by encourag- ing public works and perfecting the navigation of rivers. He has suc- ceeded in substituting free labour for slaves, by encouraging European colonization. The aid which he afforded to General Urquiza contri- buted greatly to the overthrow of Rosas, and the fruits of this inter- vention were an aggrandisement of territory, and the free navigation of the Plate River, which have con- tributed greatly to the prosperity of the Brazils. The firm and judi- cious attitude he assumed in 1862, in the quarrel which broke out be- tween his Government and that of Great Britain, which was settled in his favour by the arbitration of the King of the Belgians, tended greatly to consolidate his power. In 1865, Dom Pedro entered inte an alliance with Uruguay and the Argentine Republic against the

1 Paraguayans under Lopez. The I war began in 1866, and ra^ed with I varying fortunes down to March 1,

1870, when it was brought to a dose by the death of Lopez. In 1871 Dom Pedro made the tour of Eu- rope, visiting London, Paris, Flo- rence, Rome, Brussels, and other capitals, and in 1876 he visited the United States. The meet im- portant event of his reign was the issuing of an imperial decree, in

1871, for the gradual but total abolition of slavery in Brazil. He was elected a corresponding member of the section of Navigation and Geography by the Academic des Sciences at Paris in Feb. 1875.

PEEL, The Rioht Hon. Sib Fbidsbick, E.C.M.G., second son of the late Sir Robert Peel, born in London, Oct. 26, 1823, and educated at Harrow and Trinity College, Cambridge, where he wbs first class in classics: was called te the bar at the Inner Temple in 1849, and re- turned as one of the members in the Liberal interest for Leominster in Feb., 1849 ; was elected for Bury in. July, 1852, and having been de- feated at the general election in March, 1857, was again returned by this constituency at the general election in April, 1859, but was again defeated at the general elec- tion in July, 1865. He was Under- Secretary of State for the Colonies from Nov., 3851, till March, 1852, in Lord Russell's first administra- tion ; held the same post in the Coalition administration under Lord Aberdeen ; was Under-Secretary for War in Lord Palmerston's first ad- ministration in 1855, and resigned in 1857 ; and was Secretary to the Treasury from 1860 tiU 1865. He is a Deputy-Lieutenant for War* wickshire; was sworn a Privy Coun- cillor in 1857; and nominated a Elnight-Commander of the Order of SS. Michael and George in 1869. He was appointed President of the Railway Commission in 1873.

PEEL, The Right Hon. Sie Laubence, cousin of the late Sir