prosperous cities, remained loyal to the Empire. In April 1835 an election was held to select a new regent. The outcome was problematic as no candidate won a majority of the vote. Feijó, the leader of the Nativists, garnered the most votes and assumed office on 12 October. News of the premature death of former emperor Pedro I on 24 September 1834 had arrived from Europe effectively removing the restorationist movement as a factor in national politics. Many restorationists joined the ranks of the Coimbra bloc. Both groups shared similar economic, social and ideological views. They were all firm monarchists and opposed Feijó. The death of Pedro I eliminated the chief difference between them as the Coimbra bloc was firmly opposed to his return. The first hints of what would later become the Conservative Party appeared when they began throwing their support to candidates other than Feijó and it became clearer after Deputy Carneiro Leão initiated talks with the restorationists in October 1834. Once in office Feijó proved to be an authoritarian with little inclination to be accountable to parliament. By 1837 his government's credibility and support had disappeared. Uprisings both in the north and south had not been suppressed and other issues were ignored. "The country's needs were not being addressed." The reinvigorated Coimbra bloc intensified its efforts to remove Feijó from office due to inappropriate behavior and in August 1837 the regent resigned. He was replaced by Araújo Lima who appointed his colleagues to fill ministry portfolios. The Coimbra bloc "had come to power—not through a coup, not through a dynast's favor, but through the conquest of a representative majority in the Chamber." This marked the extinction of the always weak Moderate Party, whose demise was symbolized with the death of Evaristo de Veiga in May, the last tie that kept united both Nativists and the Coimbra bloc. The Coimbra bloc began a policy aimed at restoring and enforcing order throughout Brazil. A new law was passed which built upon the Ato Adicional of 1834 to allow the national government to reassert control over provincial police and courts. This greatly enhanced the national government's ability to deal with rebels. However, no changes were made to the administrative and political autonomy granted to the provinces by the amendment of 1834. The Coimbra bloc's credibility was considerably enhanced by "the close links, both political and personal, that its leaders established