politicians who had begun to dominate the government had little memory of the times before Pedro II assumed control in 1840. Unlike their predecessors, they had no experience of the regency and the early years of Pedro II's reign, when external and internal dangers threatened the nation's existence; they had only known a stable administration and prosperity. The young politicians saw no reason to uphold and defend the imperial office as a unifying force beneficial to the nation. Times were changing fast, and Caxias was aware of the situation. He became increasingly nostalgic for the former times he had spent with his now-dead Conservative Party colleagues and held a pessimistic view of future political prospects. When Itaboraí—one of the last survivors of those Conservative leaders who had begun their careers during the 1830s—died in 1872, the duke wrote to a friend: "Who will replace him? I don't know, I cannot see ... The vacuum he left will not be filled, as it was not with Eusébio, Paraná, Uruguai, Manuel Felizardo and many others who helped us sustain this little church [i.e., the monarchy, his 'second faith'], which collapsed or almost collapsed on 7 April 1831." Confined to a wheelchair as his health slowly declined, the Duke of Caxias lived his remaining days at Santa Mônica farm, located near the town of Valença, in the countryside of Rio de Janeiro province. On 7 May 1880 at 11 pm he quietly died, attended by members of his family. A saddened Pedro II (who visited Caxias several times during his long illness) remarked about his "friend of almost a half century", that he had "known him, and esteemed him since 1832. He was 76, almost 77 years old. And so we remain in this world." Caxias asked for a simple funeral, with no pomp, no honors, no invitations, and only six soldiers of good conduct to carry his coffin. His last wish was not entirely respected: Pedro II sent a carriage used for funerals of members of the imperial family only, to be followed by sixteen servants of the imperial household, and one corporal and thirteen, not six, soldiers of good conduct to carry his remains. A huge procession was followed by a funeral (attended by Pedro II) and his body was laid to rest in the São Francisco de Paula cemetery in the city of Rio de Janeiro. Legacy From his death