After some disturbances in Brazil, Joam VI. sailed for Portugal, where he was not allowed to land until he bad given his consent to several acts of the Cortes, which imposed reetrietions on his power, and had sworn to observe the new constitution. The ambassadors of Russia and Austria left the court; Brazil separated itself from Portugal; and the country was disturbed by various attempts in favour of the old system of government. In the meanwhile the constitution was completed by the legislative assembly, and publicly sworn to by the king on the let of October, 1822, but the Infante Dom Miguel, assisted by the Count of Amarante and other noblemen, resolved to overthrow it. After many disturbances and insurrectionary move ments Dom Miguel obtained possession of supreme power, the ambas sadors of the foreign states were not allowed to enter the presence of the king, and he was closely watched ; but Joam succeeded in escaping on board an English tnan-of-war at anchor in the Tagus, where, having sent for the diplomatic body, he deprived his son of command, and summoned him to his presence. Dom Miguel obeyed, confessed that he had been deceived and misguided, and received the royal pardon, with permission to travel. On the 14th of May the king returned ashore, and early in June proclaimed a sort of amnesty for the adherents of the Cortes of 1820. In 1825, after many difficulties and protracted negotiations, the independence of Brazil was finally acknowledged by Joam VI., who merely retained the imperial title.
Early in March, 1826, deem VI. died, after having named the Infanta Isabel regent. She administered the kingdom in the name of Dom Pedro, the emperor of Brazil, as king of Portugal. On the 23rd. of April, Pedro IV. granted the latter kingdom a constitution, which established two chambers, and in other respects resembled the French charter. On the 2nd of May however ho abdicated the Portuguese throne in favour of Dona Maria da Gloria (he remaining king during her minority) on condition of her marrying her uncle Dom Miguel. But a party secretly favoured by Spain aimed at the overthrow of the constitution granted by Dom Pedro. Dom Miguel having caused the Cortes to assemble in June, 1828, was declared by that body eovcrsign of Portugal, chiefly on the grounds that Dom Pedro had forfeited all right to the crown, as well as to the appointment of a successor, by becoming a Brazilian citizen, and not residing in Portugal. On the 4th of July, 1826, Dom Miguel assumed the royal title.
On the 24th of February, 1832, the naval forces of Dom Pedro arrived off Terceira, of which island they took possession in the name of Doan Maria, as lawful queen of Portugal. Three months after (Juoe, 1S32), an expedition 10,000 strong sailed from St. Michael's in the Azores, and on the 10th of July landed near Oporto, which city they took without opposition. The Miguelito forces laid siege to Oporto, but were defeated in several engagements by the troops of Dom Pedro, who were chiefly Englishmen. After a siege of several enmities, an expedition was fitted out by means of a loan raised in England, and Dous Pedro, encouraged by the recent victory won by Admiral Napier over the naval forces of Dom Miguel, sailed with part of his forces for Lisbon, of which Ito took possession with compare.
lively little trouble. He then established a permanent government, and shortly after sent to England for the young queen, who was received by the Portuguese nation with every demonstration of joy.
In the meautime the army of Dom Pedro prosecuted its successful struggle. On the 26th of May, 1834, after the surrender of Santarem and other places, Dom Miguel was obliged to capitulate and sign the convention of Evora. He was permitted to leave Portugal, and to embark for Genoa. This event ended the struggle, and the young queen was firmly seated on the throne of Portugal, the regency bbing conferred upon her father. One of the first acts of his administration was the suppression of the monastic establishments; another was the partial abolition of paper money, and the formation of a metallic currency. On the 15th of August Dorn Pedro was confirmed in the regency by the Cortes, but in the following month the declining state of his health having induced him to resign his office, the Cortes iu consequence declared the young queen of age. She theu assumed the full exercise of royal authority. Dom Pedro died on the 22nd of September, 1834. Soon after (January, 1885), Dona Maria married Duke Augustus of Leuchtenberg, who died shortly after (March, 1835), and in April, 1836, she married Prince Ferdinand of Saxe Coburg Gotha. Dona Maria died November 15, 1853, and was succeeded by her eldest son Dom Pedro V., who was born September 16, 1837. The king-consort is regent of the kingdom during the minority of his eon.
language of Portugal, like those of other kingdoms in the Peninsula, originated in a mixture of the Latin, Teutonic, and Arabic. Some writers have called it a dialect of the Castilian ; but, besides the etriking difference in its structure and pronunciation, there can be no doubt that the Portuguese was formed earlier than the Castilian. It might more properly be called a dialect of the Galician, to which it had at first great affinity, and which it still much resembles. The separation of Portugal from Spain, their wars, and the little commercial intercourse which existed between them during the middle ages, combined in course of time to make the Portuguese a different language. When Henry of Burgundy fixed his court at Guitnaraens, the French knights who came with hint introduced a considerable number of French words into the language of the country. The great efforts too of the Portuguese poets and prom writers in the 15th and 1Gth centuries to improve their native language by resisting the introduction of Castilian words, and anathe matising all those who adopted the Spanish language in their writings, may be mentioned as one of the means which mainly contributed to render the tongues of Spain and Portugal still more dissimilar. The Spanish, like the Portuguese, has many words borrowed from tbo Arabic. Their wars with the Moors of Africa and the Mohammedans of India in the 15th century introduced into it many others from the languages spokeu in those countries. The pronunciation is difficult for a foreigner, more particularly the nasal sounds, in which it abounds. The gutturals are neither so strong nor so common as in the Spanish, and many consonants have been omitted, so that it is softer than the Spanish, but not so harmonious.