Philip.  The proceedings were at once brought to a close; and, without further examination, the prisoner was liberated, and ordered to quit the Venetian territory in three days.  He proceeded to Florence, where he was again arrested by command of the Grand Duke of Tuscany.  The reason for this harsh treatment is not very clearly apparent, but it was probably instigated by the Spanish representative at the Florentine court; for no sooner did the news that he was in confinement reach Philip, than he demanded the delivery of the prisoner to his agents.  The duke at first refused to comply with this request, but a threatened invasion of his dominions led him to reconsider his decision, and the unfortunate aspirant to the Portuguese sceptre was handed over to the Spanish officials.  He was hurried to Naples, then an appanage of the Spanish crown, and was there offered his liberty if he would renounce his pretensions; but this he staunchly refused to do, saying, “I am Sebastian, king of Portugal, and have been visited by this severe punishment as a chastisement for my sins.  I am content to die in the manner that pleases you best, but deny the truth I neither can nor will.”

The Count de Lemnos, who had been the minister of Spain at Lisbon when Sebastian was on the throne, at that time was Viceroy of Naples, and naturally went to visit the pretended king in prison.  After a brief interview, he unhesitatingly asserted that he had never seen the prisoner before; whereupon the pretended Sebastian exclaimed, “You say that you have no recollection of me, but I remember you very well.  My uncle, Philip of Spain, twice sent you to my court, where I gave you such-and-such private interviews.”  Staggered by this intimate knowledge of his past life, De Lemnos hesitated for a minute or two, but at last ordered the gaoler to remove his prisoner, adding to his command the remark, “He is a rank impostor,”—­a remark which called forth the stern rebuke, “No, Sir; I am no impostor, but the unfortunate King of Portugal, and you know it full well.  A man of your station ought at all times to speak the truth or preserve silence!”

Whatever the real opinion of De Lemnos may have been, he behaved kindly to his prisoner, and treated him with no more harshness than was consistent with his safe-keeping.  Unfortunately, the life of the ex-ambassador was short, and his successor had no sympathy for the soi-disant king.  On the 1st of April 1602, he was taken from his prison and mounted upon an ass, and, with three trumpeters preceding him, was led through the streets, a herald proclaiming at intervals:—­“His Most Catholic Majesty hath commanded that this man be led through the streets of Naples with marks of infamy, and that he shall afterwards be committed to serve in the galleys for life, for falsely pretending to be Don Sebastian, king of Portugal.”  He bore the ordeal firmly; and each time that the proclamation was made, added, in clear and sonorous tones, “And so I am!”