by his appearance that it was said she was willing to break her vows for his sake, and to share his throne with him.  Unfortunately for the conspirators, before the plot was ripe, Spinosa’s indiscretion ruined it.  Having repaired to Valladolid to sell some jewels, he formed a criminal acquaintance with a female of doubtful repute, who informed the authorities that he was possessed of a great number of gems which she believed to be stolen.  He was arrested, and on his correspondence being searched, the whole scheme was discovered.  The rack elicited a full confession, and Spinosa was hung and quartered.  Miguel dos Santos shared the same fate; but the Donna Anna, in consideration of her birth, was spared and condemned to perpetual seclusion.

The list of pretenders to regal honours was not even yet complete.  In 1598, a Portuguese noble was accosted in the streets of Padua by a tattered pilgrim, who addressed him by name, and asked if he knew him.  The nobleman answered that he did not.  “Alas! have twenty years so changed me,” cried the stranger, “that you cannot recognise in me your missing king, Sebastian?” He then proceeded to pour his past history into the ears of the astonished hidalgo, narrating the chief events of the African battle, detailing the circumstances of his own escape, and mentioning the friends and events of his earlier life so fluently and correctly that his listener had no hesitation in accepting him as the true Sebastian.  The news of the appearance of this pretender in Padua soon reached Portugal, and spread with unexampled rapidity throughout the country.  Philip II. was gravely disturbed by the report, knowing that his own rule was unpopular, and that the people would be disposed to rally round any claimant who promised on his accession to the throne to relieve them from the heavy burdens under which they groaned.  He therefore lost no time in forestalling any attempt to oust him from the Portuguese sovereignty; and despatched a courier to Venice, demanding the interference of the authorities.  The governor of Venice, anxious to please the powerful ruler of the Spanish peninsula, issued an order for the immediate expulsion of “the man calling himself Don Sebastian;” but the “man” had no intention of being disposed of in this summary manner.  Immediately on receipt of the order he proceeded to 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