HKB
[Sidenote: End of Lisbon regency]
The contagion of Spain and Sicily proved too much for the people of Portugal. The continued absence of the royal family in Brazil, and the unwelcome prolongation of the British regency had long caused dissatisfaction in Portugal. The feeling of discontent was deepened by industrial and commercial distress which made the manifest prosperity of Brazil seem all the more galling. Marshal Beresford, the English commander-in-chief of the Portuguese army, was generally execrated for his barbarous treatment of military conspirators. After the outbreak of the Spanish revolution, the aspect of affairs became so threatening in Portugal that Beresford set out for Rio Janeiro to induce the Princes of Braganza to return to their Court in Lisbon. Before he could accomplish his purpose, the government that he had left behind him was overthrown by the people. On August 24, the city of Oporto rose against the regency. The officers of the army, the magistrates, the priests and townspeople united in declaring against the regency. They established a provisional Junta to govern in the name of the King until the Cortes of Portugal could be convened to frame a constitution. The authority of the regency in Oporto was lost without a blow. The Junta immediately seized the reins of government, and began its career by dismissing all English officers and paying the arrears of the soldiers. In Lisbon the regency itself tried to stem the storm by giving its formal approval to the measures of the Junta of Oporto. The troops of Lisbon, however, would no longer recognize the authority of the government. Within a fortnight the regency was deposed, and a Junta installed in its place. Beresford was forbidden to return to Portugal. He went to England, but found there that the British Ministry did not deem it advisable to interfere further in the domestic affairs of Portugal. Dom Juan VI., in Rio Janeiro, promised to return to Portugal and bestow on his subjects a liberal constitution.
[Sidenote: British liberalism]
[Sidenote: Sale of Russian fleet]
In England, Lord Beresford's attempt to induce the government to suppress the revolutionists of Portugal only served to strengthen the popular antipathy that had grown up against the reactionary tendencies of the Holy Alliance. Prior to this an attempt had been made to persuade England to act as instrument of the Alliance by suppressing the rebellious colonies of Spain in South America. At the last session of the Holy Alliance, the envoys of Russia and France submitted a paper in which they suggested that Wellington, as "the man of Europe," should go to Madrid to preside over a negotiation between the Court of Spain and all the Ambassadors, regarding the terms to be offered to the transatlantic States. If the colonies continued rebellious, England's fleet was counted upon to reduce them to submission. But the force of liberalism was too strong in England for any British Minister to enter into such a scheme. Then it was that the Czar of Russia sold a large part of the Russian fleet to Spain. To Englishmen, who had seen these same ships in their harbors at the time they were held as hostages by England, this action gave but little concern. The scandal that followed in Spain was anticipated in England. On their arrival at Cadiz, the Russian ships were found to be useless rotten hulks.
[Sidenote: Death of George III.]
[Sidenote: Queen Caroline's trial]
[Sidenote: Death of the Queen]