that his orders should be obeyed. To show
that he was in earnest he even took a match in his hand and lit it, and
swore that, did the Portuguese troops refuse, he would be the first man
to fire a cannon at them. This ended the matter, and the next day the
ship sailed and carried away the Portuguese garrison.

[Illustration: CHAMBER OF DEPUTIES, RIO DE JANEIRO.]

On May 13, 1822, a deputation from the Rio Chamber of Deputies
approached Prince Pedro and persuaded him to assume the title of
"Constitutional Prince Regent and Perpetual Defender of Brazil."
Portugal, for its part, was now bitterly opposed to Brazil and to the
Brazilians. Decrees were enacted towards the suppression of the
independence of the great colony. One of these ran to the effect that
Prince Pedro was to return to Europe within four months, and that any
of the military who obeyed his orders, unless by compulsion, were to be
deemed traitors to Portugal.

During all this time fresh troops were arriving to reinforce the
garrison at Bahia, which had remained Royalist. The patriots, for their
part, had collected strong forces and hemmed the Royalists in Bahia to
such an extent that they could only retain communication by sea.

Matters grew more and more strained every day, for the Mother Country
sought to put an end to the virtual supremacy of its great colony, while
Brazil was utterly opposed to Portuguese rule. When Prince Pedro was
ordered to return to Portugal, "in order to complete his education," the
Brazilians, and especially the provincial Government of Sao Paulo,
begged him to disobey and remain in Brazil. The soldiers threatened to
mutiny if he went, and the people entreated him not to go, while every
proof of his popularity was added cause for exasperation on the part of
the Home Government, rendering his situation more dangerous.

If Dom Pedro went to Portugal, said the Brazilians, they must choose
between an anarchical republic and the old state of dependence on
Portugal. In the matter of Sao Paulo and the requests of its citizens,
the brothers Andrada were most prominent, and they obtained a promise
from the Prince that he would not go. Together with the Andradas he
toured the States of Minas and Sao Paulo on a mission of pacification;
but the people of the country felt that the present state of affairs
could not continue, and in his absence it was determined to make him the
ruler of the country, and he was declared Defender of the Empire.