Papers Relating to the Foreign Relations of the United States, For the Year 1887, Transmitted to Congress, With a Message of the President, June 26, 1888

No. 57.
Mr. Trail to Mr. Bayard.

Legation of the United States,
Rio de Janeiro, April 7, 1887. (Received May 7.)

No. 81.]

Sir: On the 1st of March the Emperor was taken ill with a pernicious fever, the bad effects of which his physicians have not yet been able to overcome, and His Majesty is still confined to the sick-room.

Whilst the assurance is given by his medical advisers that no serious result is to be feared, yet His Majesty’s illness has created a general feeling of uneasiness.

* * * * * * *

This feeling is somewhat intensified at the present moment by the temporary absence in Europe of the princess imperial, the constitutional successor to the throne.

The diplomatic corps has visited the palace almost daily to inquire as to His Majesty’s condition, and the cable has conveyed to the illustrious sufferer the expressions of sympathy, and wishes for a speedy recovery, from many of the crowned heads of Europe.

I have, etc.,

Charles B. Trail.