 Complete the following phrase:  Meanwhile, the situation in Portugal was by no means tranquil. Absent its monarch and devastated by the Peninsular War and the consequent mass hunger and enormous exodus of emigrants, the country became a de facto British protectorate upon the final expulsion of the French. It was administered by William Carr Beresford, who took a high hand in his dealings with the Portuguese government. From the time John ascended the throne, the Portuguese pressed for his return, initiated liberal rebellions, and formed secret societies with the objective of bringing into session the Portuguese Cortes, which had not met since 1698. Similar liberal agitation occurred in Brazil. In 1817, the Pernambucan Revolt broke out in Recife, a republican movement that established a provisional government in Pernambuco and spread into other Brazilian states; it was put down severely. Back in Portugal, the 