With the departure of the King from Brazil it was inevitable that complications should ensue. Having once enjoyed the status of a kingdom, and having been granted those privileges which had so benefited the country during the past few years, it was only natural that Brazil should resent any attempt to place her once again in the neglected situation from which she had been rescued. It seemed, nevertheless, as though the policy of Portugal would now be directed towards this end. It was at this juncture that the influence of Prince Pedro began to be felt. Prince Pedro possessed a personality essentially capable of commanding; his talents, moreover, were varied. He was a good horseman, a keen sportsman, and was addicted to music and many of the politer arts. The part he had to play was undoubtedly a difficult one. His sentiments were intensely Brazilian; at the same time, in the letters he wrote to the Court of Portugal he stated distinctly that the Mother Country alone possessed his loyalty, as was only just, and that he would make no move whatever that would prejudice the interests of Portugal. He even went the length of lamenting his presence in the far-away land he governed, and swore that he longed for the day when he might return and sit upon the steps of his father's throne. In the meanwhile the jealousies between the Portuguese and Brazilians increased rapidly, the bitterness being more especially evident in the soldiery of the respective lands. King Joao himself had behaved with little consideration ere his departure. One of his last acts in Brazil had been to promise the soldiery of that country double pay, yet, though he had left the promise behind him, he had left no means whatever to carry it out, and thus disturbances arose in many places. On December 9, 1821, the brig _Dom Sebastiao_ arrived, bearing a decree to institute a provisional Government, which should again reduce the country to the condition of a province, and another which ordered the immediate return to Portugal of the young Prince Regent. A real crisis now arose. The Brazilians, devoted to Dom Pedro, implored him to remain; the Portuguese garrison spoke of removing him on a homeward-bound ship by force. The whole city was agog, and the excitement at fever-heat. In the midst of the turmoil the Brazilian troops surrounded the Portuguese, and, after obtaining a great strategic advantage, ordered them to march on board the vessels of the fleet bound for Lisbon. [Illustration: THE OPENING OF THE SENATE HOUSE, RIO DE JANEIRO.]