born at Algoas in Brazil, was educated at the military school in Rio
de Janeiro, and received his commission as a Lieutenant of Artillery in
1849. The chief feature of his military career was the prominent part he
took in the war with Paraguay in 1868-1870, where he distinguished
himself sufficiently to be promoted to the rank of Divisional-General.
It was not until 1881 that he became definitely known as an ardent
Republican, but from that time onward he continued to be actively
associated with the ultra-Liberal and Republican movement, and he was
responsible for the organization of the Military Club at Rio de
Janeiro, an institution which had other objects in addition to those
implied by its name.

Although Fonseca was a warm personal friend of the Emperor, his activity
and very obvious Republican sentiments led to his being appointed
Governor of a frontier province in 1887. This measure, of course, was
adopted in order to remove him from the capital, where his influence was
considered the reverse of helpful to the Imperial cause. In 1889 he
returned to Rio de Janeiro, and entered actively into the schemes of the
Republican party, more especially in army circles. In the recently
established Republican League, moreover, he was the leading spirit in
the movement which culminated in the overthrow of the Empire.

On November 21, 1889, the provisional Government conceded to all
Brazilians who could read and write universal suffrage, and this was
followed by the appointment of a Commission for the providing of a
Federal Constitution. Republican measures came quickly. On January 10,
1890, the separation of Church and State was decreed by the provisional
Government; and on June 23 of the same year the new Constitution was
promulgated.

In February of 1891 General Fonseca was elected first President of the
new Republic, for a four years' term. He was set at the head of a
Government depending largely on its troops, and these found themselves
suddenly possessed of a power which they had not known previously. The
new citizens of Brazil writhed uneasily under the restraints and
affronts which were now for the first time put upon them; the Press was
muzzled, and a tribunal established with the power of summarily trying
persons suspected of being guilty of want of respect to the new order of
things.

There is no doubt that the first establishment of the Brazilian
Republic was followed by measures of severe repression, not direct