attack on the constitution. Notwithstanding the approval, more
or less sincere, by the governors of the other States, a revolution
against the dictator broke out in the federal capital on the twenty--
third of November, under the form of a revolt of the national
fleet in the bay of Rio de Janeiro. Then, as now, Señor Custodio
de Mello, who at that time was a member of the opposition
in the Congress, headed the movement. A single high officer
of the navy on that day opposed the revolutionary action of
the squadron ; that officer was Saldanha da Gama, who eight
days before had been promoted to the post of rear-admiral, and who
at the time was stationed in Fort Villegaignon, with the command
of which he had been intrusted by the republic. On that occasion,
with a correct understanding of his duties as a soldier, he
offered the first and only resistance to the attack of the revolu-
tionists. In view, however, of his present position at the head
of the rebel fleet in that same port, attacking the constitutional
government of the nation, the rectitude of his proceeding
on the former occasion is not so clear. He has exposed him-
self to the charge of defending the dictatorship, because, in
violating the constitution, it threw discredit on a form of govern-
ment with which he had no sympathy, though not because of
the personal advantages he had gained under it. The dictator,
recognizing the full extent of his error, to which his attention was
called by a friendly power, and desiring to avoid bloodshed,
resigned his office.
At that time the revolutionists had on their side a large
majority of the Congress, while the only dependence of the
president was a minority of the army, little disposed to sup-
port the violator of the constitution. The vice-president of
the republic, Marshal Floriano Peixoto, took the seat of the re-
tiring president as his constitutional successor. The dominion
of law returned ; the Congress continued its labors ; the Lucena
cabinet, which had fallen with the dictator, was succeeded by
another made up of republicans taken from the opposition to the
former administration. The direction of public affairs took quite
another shape, and the honesty of the government barred the
doors of the treasury against the irruptions of the stock specula-
tors and the brokers in government concessions. It was
the beginning of a new era, full of promise for the
consolidation of the republic. Peace was established in the
