Venice, presented himself at court, and declared
himself ready to prove his identity. The Spanish minister, acting upon
his instructions, denounced him as an impostor, and as a criminal who
had been guilty of heinous offences, and demanded his arrest. He was
thrown into prison; but when the charges of the Spanish minister were
investigated, they failed signally, and no crime could be proven
against him. At the solicitation of Philip, however, he was kept under
arrest, and was frequently submitted to examination by the
authorities, with a view of entrapping him into some damaging
admission. At first he answered readily, and astonished his
questioners by his intimate knowledge of the inner life of the
Portuguese court, not only mentioning the names of Sebastian's
ministers and the ambassadors who had been accredited to Lisbon, but
describing their appearance and peculiarities, and recounting the
chief measures of his government, and the contents of the letters
which had been written by the king. At length, after cheerfully
submitting to be examined on twenty-eight separate occasions, he grew
tired of being pestered by his questioners, and refused to answer
further interrogatories, exclaiming, "My Lords, I am Sebastian, king
of Portugal! If you doubt it, permit me to be seen by my subjects,
many of whom will remember me. If you can prove that I am an impostor,
I am willing to suffer death."

The Portuguese residents in Italy entertained no doubt that the
pretender was their countryman and their monarch, and made most
strenuous exertions to procure his release. One of their number, Dr.
Sampajo, a man of considerable eminence, and of known probity,
personally interceded with the governor of Venice on his behalf. He
was told that the prisoner could only be released upon the most ample
and satisfactory proof of his identity; and Sampajo, confident that he
could procure the necessary evidence, set out forthwith for Portugal.
After a brief stay in Lisbon, he returned with a mass of testimony
corroborating the pretender's story; and, what was naturally
considered of greater importance, with a list of the marks which were
on the person of King Sebastian. The accused was stripped, and on his
body marks were found similar to those which had been described to Dr.
Sampajo. Still the authorities hesitated; and explained that in a
matter of such importance, and where such weighty interests were
involved, they could not act on the repre