The death of Alphonso the VIth, having removed all apprehensions from the breast of don Pedro, he remained in future unrivalled possessor of a throne, which, flattering as it was to his ambition, most probably cost him some moments of remorse. This sunshine of prosperity was in the first year of his reign overclouded by the death of the queen, an event sincerely deplored by his majesty; who, however, having paid the just tribute of his tears to her memory, employed his every thought in alleviating the misery of a people who had sympathised in his misfortunes, and whose love towards a sovereign, whom they regarded as a father, made them deeply regret his being left without male heirs. He therefore, in compliance with their solicitations, consented to form a second marriage, and on the 2d of July, 1682, espoused Mary Elizabeth, the daughter of William, elector palatine of the Rhine. This princess, one of the most accomplished women of the age she lived in, bore him several children, and died on the 4th of August, 1699. The great affection felt by the Portugueze for this monarch, will not appear extraordinary, if we trace back the whole of his conduct from the commencement of his administration as regent, and the situation of Portugal at the moment he took into his own hands the reins of government. Having settled every thing relative to the abdication of the king, with the states-general, his next care was to convince the people, that his true and only motive for taking upon himself the sovereign authority, was the good of the public. Those Portugueze who had presumed to attribute this action to personal interest were most severely punished: nothing, however, contributed so much to silence the clamours of the friends and favourites of the deposed monarch, as the plan of conduct adopted by his successor; a plan from which he never departed during the whole course of his life.