Meanwhile the reign of Dom Miguel had become a Reign of Terror; arrests and executions were frequent; thousands were deported to Africa, and in 1830 it was estimated that forty thousand persons were in prison for political offences. He ruled in absolute contempt of all law, and at different times English, French, and American fleets entered the Tagus to demand reparation for damage done to commerce, or for the illegal arrest of foreigners. The result of this conduct was that the country was hopelessly ruined, and the chartist and radical parties, who respectively advocated the Charter of 1826 and the Constitution of 1822, agreed to sink their differences, and to oppose the bigoted tyrant. The island of Terceira in the Azores had never recognized Dom Miguel, and it was there in 1829 that Palmella, Villa Flor, José Antonio Guerreiro and Quevedo Pizarro declared themselves a council of regency for Queen Maria da Gloria. On the 11th of August, 1830, they defeated a fleet sent against them by Dom Miguel in Praia Bay, and at this news all the chartists who could escape from Portugal, and the numerous Portuguese exiles in England and France, hastened to the Azores. Dom Pedro, who had devoted his life to the cause of parliamentary government, resigned his crown in 1831 to his infant son, and left Brazil to head the movement for his daughter’s cause. He first went to London, where he met with a good reception from the Liberal Cabinet of Lord Grey, and he there negotiated a large loan in his daughter’s name. He then hastened to the Azores with as many men as he could raise, most of whom were English soldiers, tired of peace, or adventurers of other nations, and on his arrival he appointed the Count of Villa Flor, commander-in-chief of the army, and Captain Sartorius, of the English navy, admiral of the fleet, of Queen Maria da Gloria.