Note 174 — Chapter IV · JOÃO IV TO JOÃO VI

[Pombal was born in 1699 of a wealthy and well-connected family, entered in the army as a private, but saw no service and retired; he then led a life of roistering notoriety, and had eloped with a niece of the count of Arcos. He was forty years old before he had an official position, and fifty-one before he became minister to the king.]