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Princesa Izabel |
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Elizabeth, the
princess who
loved Brazil |
The newspaper,
O
Imortal, in
its April, 1988
edition,
published an
interview by
Marcelo Borela
de Oliveira with
the medium Irene
Carvalho, from
the city of
Brasilia, which
reported that
Princess
Elizabeth
communicated as
an "old black
woman", Mother
Elizabeth, and
that her work
regarding
slaves' freedom
was her highest
mission during
the period in
which she
reigned.
During this
interview, the
medium informed
that, according
to Mother
Elizabeth, not
only in Brazil,
but in other
countries as
well, the black
race would stand
out, which
effectively
happened. It
also states
that,
reincarnated in
a black body, a
Spirit of great
moral force and
persuasion would
rise to power
(Could it be
Barack Obama?).
According to
Irene Carvalho,
Mother Elizabeth
– who rather
preferred to
appear as an
"old black
woman", instead
of Princess
Elizabeth -
communicated
that she could
still hear the
cry of the black
slave who, even
upon being free,
still cried his
pains, with
nowhere to go.
And, when
signing the
Golden Law, her
hand has
conducted by
another stronger
hand. She felt a
great strength
and even if she
wanted to
retreat, she
couldn't. It was
a moment of
great emotion,
and she wept.
The Spirit of
Elizabeth and
her mission
to
abolish slavery
Elizabeth
Cristina
Leopoldina
Augusta Miguela
Gabriela Rafaela
Gonzaga de
Bragança and
Bourbon, known
by the
Brazilians as
Princess
Elizabeth, was
born in the
Palace of Saint
Klitts (São
Cristóvão), in
Rio de Janeiro,
on July 29,
1846, at 6:26
pm. According to
Humberto de
Campos, based on
Francisco
Candido Xavier's
psychographics
in the book
Brazil, Heart of
the World,
Fatherland of
the Gospel (BSF),
she, the
daughter of the
Emperor Dom
Pedro II and
Empress Theresa
Cristina, came
to this planet
in response to
her request to
the Spiritual
Plane to
reincarnate and
thus contribute
to the
emancipation of
slaves, as the
Emperor's
daughter.
For nearly four
decades, from
1851 to 1889,
she was the
rightful heir to
the Brazilian
throne and
between the
years 1871 and
1888, in a total
of three and a
half years,
Elizabeth was
the Brazilian
ruler, filling,
according to the
1824
Constitution,
the absence of
Emperor Dom
Pedro II in his
trips abroad.
Married to Louis
Gaston d'Orleans,
Count d'Eu, a French
prince,
Elizabeth signed
the Law of the
Free Womb, on
September 28,
1871,
which granted
freedom to all
children born to
slaves from that
date onwards.
On September 28,
1885, she signed
the Sexagenarian
Law, freeing
slaves over
sixty years of
age.
And on May 13,
1888 the "Golden
Law" was
promulgated,
abolishing
slavery, based
on two legal
devices:
slavery in
Brazil is
abolished
and the
second,
repealing
otherwise.
Spiritual
repercussion of
the act
that
abolished
slavery
The book
Brazil, Heart of
the World,
Fatherland of
the Gospel (BSF),
records:
“The phalanges
of Ishmael
relied on
determined
collaborators of
the liberation
movement, such
as Castro Alves,
Rio Branco and
Patrocinio.
Princess
Elizabeth
herself, whose
traditions of
nobility and
kindness will
never be
forgotten in the
heart of Brazil,
came to this
world with her
task defined in
the blessed work
of abolition.
“(...) But
Ishmael from the
High articulated
the elements
necessary for
the great
victory. The
generous Emperor
is removed from
the throne, in
early 1888,
under the
influence of
invisible
mentors of his
homeland,
handing the
Regency to
Princess
Elizabeth, which
had already
sanctioned the
charitable law
in 1871.
“(...) On May
13, 1888 a bill
of law is
presented to the
regent for
immediate
termination of
captivity, law
which Elizabeth,
surrounded by
angelic
entities,
sanctions
without
hesitation and
with the noble
serenity of her
women's heart.
On that
memorable day, a
whole wave of
compassionate
trumpets
descended from
the sky over the
vastness of the
North and South
of the
Fatherland of
the Gospel.
Crowds of
invisible beings
flocked to Rio
de Janeiro and
joined the grand
solemnities of
Abolition. Along
with the
magnanimous
spirit of the
Princess,
Ishmael remains
with the
blessing of his
generous and
touching joy.
This is the
reason why
Patrocínio, in a
rapture of joy,
crawled on his
knees to the
feet of the
Princess, pious
and Christian.
Everywhere
contagious joys
and
communicative
hopes were
spread."
In the book
Lazarus
Resuscitated
(BSF),
Brother X (Humberto
de Campos),
based on
Francisco
Candido Xavier's
psychographics,
tells us about
the continuing
work of Princess
Elizabeth (and
the
Abolitionists),
after she passed
away on November
14, 1921 in
Paris. "Do you
suppose the
Abolition ended
on May 13, 1888?
The great
revolution of
the Brave
Princess reached
the "physical
slaves", but the
liberation work
of the
"spiritual
slaves"
continued here.
Jose do
Patrocinio and
Luis Gama,
Antonio Bento
and Castro Alves,
Andre Reboucas
and Joaquim
Nabuco continued
on the journey
of redemption.
Princess
Elizabeth does
not consider the
movement ended
and also
continues
serving the
great cause,
unleashing the
fetters of
ignorance and
sparking new
lights on the
orb to which you
will arrive in a
near future."
Princess
Elizabeth's
profile, a
Christian and
pious woman
The issue 36 - Great
Characters of
our History
(Princess
Elizabeth),
edited by Abril
Cultural,
records Princess
Elizabeth's
profile:
“Dress in white
embroidered
moire, with a
green silk
mantle hanging
from her waist,
kneeling before
the throne, the
right hand on
the Gospels
(...)
"Low, curly
hair, blue eyes,
round face,
small mouth, she
sat on the high
back chair. In
front of her the
desk with
folders, papers,
the brass
inkstand, the
geese feathers,
the small box
with sand used
to absorb the
excess of ink.
With a firm
handwriting, she
was telling her
father about her
first day of
regency: (...)
The
Princess
was
far beyond the
simple act of
signing
the
Law
of the
Free Womb, the
Sexagenarian
Law
and the
Golden Law.
Priscilla Leal
in her work
(The
rebellious side
of Princess
Elizabeth),
published in the
magazine
Our History,
May
2006,
reports
that an
unpublished
letter,
pinched from the
collection of
3000
documents
of the
Memorial
Visconde de
Maua,
reveals
that the
Princess
defended the
indemnification
of former
slaves,
as well as the
land reform
and
women's suffrage.
In the article
In the days
of
Imperial Brazil,
published in the
30th edition
of the
Spiritist
Magazine
Afterlife,
Paulo
Roberto
Viola
reports that a
reliable
document and
other evidences
suggest, based
on historical
inference, that
if Princess
Elizabeth did
not feed
veiled
sympathy for
Spiritism,
she
demonstrated
interest in the
Spiritist
Doctrine,
which
was
the subject of
conversation
in the Imperial
Court,
due to the
strong
French influence
in the Capital
of the Empire.
Manuel de
Araujo
Porto Alegre,
Baron
of St. Angelo,
was the one who
took his
interest in
Spiritism to the
Imperial Court,
in particular
to
Princess
Elizabeth,
which made the
constitutional
oath
in the name
of Catholicism,
but felt
strong
sympathy for the
Spiritist
Doctrine (...)
Before the
Golden Law,
Elizabeth
protected runaway slaves
In a letter to
his personal
friend Joaquim
Manuel de Macedo,
author of the
Brazilian
classic
literature
A Moreninha,
close to the
Imperial Family,
since he had
been a teacher
of Princess
Elizabeth's
daughters,
Manuel de Araujo
Porto Alegre
told him
confidentially
about the
interest the
Princess about
Spiritism, and
that she would
like to know who
her Protecting
Spirit was. That
is why the
Spiritist, Baron
of St. Angelo,
said: "If the
noble rules and
legislators were
Spiritists,
everything would
run smoother,
because they
would believe in
God, in
afterlife, and
would be in
connection with
their great and
sublime duties".
Princess
Elizabeth
acted as
a
true
Christian,
not
measuring
efforts to be
charitable and
humanitarian.
In 1877, she
organized
a benefit
concert
for the victims
of the great
drought;
financed the
emancipation
of former slaves
with
their own
resources;
ostensibly
supported
a refuge for
blacks in
the South Zone
of
Rio de Janeiro,
called the
Quilombo
of
Leblon;
she
faced the
pressure
and reaction
of wealthy
landowners and
slaveholders
who did not want
to abolish
slavery.
As reported by
the
documents,
the Princess
tried
to
compensate
former slaves
with the
resources from a
banking
institution at
the time, the
Bank of Maua.
According to
historians,
Elizabeth
practiced
charity
with a keen
awareness of her
responsibility
as a ruler,
at a time when
poor communities
lived
with the
indifference
of the ruling
elites.
In the book
The
Camellias
of
Leblon
and the
Abolition
of Slavery,
the historian
Eduardo
Silva,
Master
in History from
the
Federal
Fluminense
University,
informs that
Princess
Elizabeth
sheltered
runaway slaves
in Petropolis. The
abolitionist
Andre
Rebolledo
reports
that
on
May 4, 1888,
fourteen African
slaves, which
fled from
the
surrounding
farms in
Petropolis,
lunched
at the
Imperial Palace
and
the whole scheme
of escapes and
lodging was
planned by
Princess
Elizabeth
herself. On the
eve
of Abolition,
it is known that
over a thousand
fugitives
were
welcomed and
sheltered
by the Princess.
Elizabeth and
family were
exiled when the
imperial regime
was extinguished
It is recorded
that before
signing the
Golden Law, her
husband Count
d'Eu, advised
her "Don't sign,
Elizabeth, it
can mean the end
of Monarchy".
But she was
determined, with
no personal
feelings of
selfishness or
commitment to
power.
Therefore, she
answered
resolutely "It
is now or never.
The blacks need
their freedom".
And so she
signed the
historical
document. A year
after the
signing of the
Golden Law,
Princess
Elizabeth was
confronted with
the confirmation
of Joao Mauricio
Wanderley's
foresight, he
who was the
Baron of
Cotegipe, and
who opposed to
the Abolition of
slavery: "Your
Highness
released a race,
but lost the
throne". And she
did not hesitate
to answer as a
true Christian:
"A thousand
thrones had I, I
would give a
thousand thrones
to free the
slaves of
Brazil".
With the
dissolution
of the
Empire
in 1889,
Dom
Pedro
II
went into exile
in Normandy,
France, adopting
the name
of
Pedro de
Alcantara.
The
Imperial Family
left the country
by
a ruthless,
cold,
ungrateful
and humiliating
banishment
imposed by
Decree
No. 78-A,
December 21,
1889,
subscribed
by
Marshal
Deodoro
da Fonseca,
a
close
friend to
Dom
Pedro
II
and visiting his
home.
Dom
Pedro
II
left the country
refusing to
receive the
bulky
amount of
5000 "contos de
réis" (an
expressive
amount in
Portuguese
currency at the
time), granted
by the Decree
of Banishment
so that he could
restore his life
in exile.
Humberto de
Campos
(in
Spirit), informs
us in the book
Brazil, Heart of
the World,
Fatherland of
the Gospel,
that Dom Pedro
II did this with
tears in his
eyes, and
rejected all
counterproposals,
comforted
by the Lights
from Above,
which did not
abandon him
throughout
his
life.
In a
communication,
dated November
16, 1889,
and made to
the Nation
he loved
so much,
and showing
kindness and
resignation at
heart,
Dom Pedro II
said: "I am
leaving,
accompanied by
my family, but I
shall keep the
most tender
memory of
Brazil, making
the most ardent
wishes for its
greatness and
prosperity". On
December 5, 1891,
at
half past
midnight,
the monarch
left this
planet,
disembodying
due to
pneumonia,
without ever
stepping foot
on the land he
so much loved.
Although
President
Epitacio Pessoa,
through the
Presidential
Decree number
4,120, dated
September 3,
1920, revoked
the republican
legislative act
that banned the
Royal Family,
Princess
Elizabeth did
not return to
Brazil, since
she passed away
on November 14,
1921, in France,
Allan Kardec's
motherland. The
remains of Dom
Pedro II, the
Empress Theresa
Cristina,
Princess
Elizabeth and
her husband,
Count d'Eu, lie
in the chapel at
the right side
of the
churchyard of
the Cathedral
St. Peter of
Alcantara, in
the mountain of
Petropolis, city
they loved so
much.
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