century was no
less absolute than was that of Spain, The Cortes was extinct, and
although Pombal, chief minister during the period 1750-1777, had
caused all Portuguese subjects to be made eligible to public office
and had introduced numerous economic and administrative reforms,
nothing had been permitted to be done by which the unrestricted
authority of the crown might be impaired. The country was affected but
slightly by the Revolution in France. In 1807, however, it fell prey
to Napoleon and the royal family was obliged to take refuge in the
dependency of Brazil. With the aid of the English the power of the
conqueror was broken in 1808, and through a number of years the
government was administered nominally by a commission designated by
the absentee regent, Dom John, though actually by a British
dictatorship. In 1815 Brazil was raised to the rank of a co-ordinate
kingdom, and from that year until 1822 the official designation of the
state was "the United Kingdom of Portugal, Brazil, and the Algarves."
In 1816 the mad queen Maria I. died and the regent succeeded to the
affiliated thrones as John VI. His original intention was to remain in
America, but in 1820 a general revolt in Portugal culminated in the
calling of a national assembly by which there was framed a
constitution reproducing the essentials of the Spanish instrument of
1812, and by this turn of events the sovereign was impelled, in 1821,
to set sail for the mother country, leaving as regent in Brazil his
son Dom Pedro. Fidelity to the new constitution was pledged perforce,
but the elements of reaction gathered strength swiftly, and before the
close of 1823 the instrument was abrogated. The only tangible result
of the episode was the creation of a constitutional party which
thereafter was able much of the time to keep absolutism upon the
defensive.[869]

[Footnote 869: In the meantime a revolt which was
impending in Brazil at the time of King John's
withdrawal had run its course. September 7, 1822,
the regent Dom Pedro, who freely cast in his lot
with the revolutionists, proclaimed the country's
independence, and some weeks later he was declared
constitutional emperor. Protest from Lisbon was
emphatic, but means of coercing the rebellious
colony were not at hand, and, in 1825, under