In its brief existence the movement attempted to introduce liberalism in Portugal, although it ultimately failed to do so.[3] In 1817 three masons, João de Sá Pereira Soares, Morais Sarmento and José Andrade Corvo, denounced the movement to the authorities, who arrested many suspects, including Freire de Andrade, who was charged with conspiracy against John VI, represented in continental Portugal by a regency, then overseen by the British military authority headed by William Carr Beresford.