560 PORTUGAL. 



eeeded to the throne by the title of John IV, almost without blood- 

 shed ; and the foreign settlements also acknowledged him as their 

 sovereign. A fierce war subsistea for many years between the two 

 kingdoms, and all the efforts of tlie Spaniards to re-unite them prov- 

 ed vain; so that a treaty was concluded in February, 1668, by which 

 Portugal was declared to be free and independent. 



The Portuguese couid not have supported themselves under their 

 revolt from Spain, had not the latter power been engaged in wars with 

 England and Holland ; and, upon the restoration of Charles II, of 

 England, that prince having married a princess of Portugal, prevail- 

 ed with the crown of Spain to give up all pretensions to that kingdom, 

 Alfonso, son to John IV, was then king of Portugal. He had the 

 misfortune to disagree at once with his wife and his brother Peter ; 

 and they, uniting their interests, not only forced Alfonso to resign his 

 crown, but obtained a dispensation from the pope for their marriage, 

 which was actually consummated. They had a daughter ; but Peter, 

 by a second marriage, had sons, the eldest of whom was John, his 

 successor, and father to the late king of Portugal. John, like his fa- 

 ther, joined the grand confederacy formed by king William :, but 

 neither of them were of much service in humbling the power of 

 France. On the contrary, he almost ruined the allies, by occasioning 

 the loss of the battle of Almanza, in 1707. John died in 1750, and 

 was succeeded by his son Joseph, whose reign was neither happy to 

 himself, nor fortunate for his people. The fatal earthquake, in 1755, 

 overwhelmed his capital, and shook his kingdom to the centre. Hi* 

 succeeding administration was not distinguished by the affection that 

 it required at home, or the reputation which it had sustained abroad. 

 It was deeply stained with domestic blood, and rendered odious by 

 excessive and horrible cruelty. In September, 1758, the king was 

 attacked by assassins, and narrowly escaped with his life, in a solitary 

 place near his country palace of Belem. The families of Aveira and. 

 Tavora were destroyed by torture, in consequence of an accusation 

 being exhibited against them of having conspired against the king's 

 life. But they were condemned without proper evidence, and their 

 innocence has since been authentically declared. From this supposed 

 conspiracy is dated the expulsion of the Jesuits (who were conjectured 

 to have been at the bottom of the plot) from all parts of the Portuguese 

 dominions The marquis de Pombal, who was at this time the prime 

 minister of Portugal, governed the kingdom for many years with a 

 most unbounded authority, and which appears to have been sometimes 

 directed to the most cruel and arbitrary purposes. 



In 1762, when a war broke out between Spain and England, the 

 Spaniards, and their allies, the French, attempted to force his faithful 

 majesty into their alliance, and offered to garrison his sea-towns 

 against the English with their troops. The king of Portugal reject- 

 ed this proposal, and declared war tigainst the Spaniards, who, with- 

 out resistance, entered Portugal with a considerable army, while a 

 body of French threatened it from another quarter. Some have doubt- 

 ed whether any of these courts, were in earnest upon this occasion, 

 and whether the whole of the pretended war was not concerted to 

 force England into a peace with France and Spain, in consideration of 

 the apparent danger of Portugal. It is certain, that both the French 

 and Spaniards carried on the war in a very dilatory manner, and that, 

 had they been in earnest, they might have been masters of Lisbon long 

 before the arrival of the English troops to the assistance of the Por- 



