But although the nobles were well content to believe that Sebastian
was dead, the mob were by no means equally satisfied that the story of
his fate was true, and were prepared to receive any impostor with open
arms. Indeed, in some parts of Portugal, Don Sebastian is supposed by
the populace to be still alive, concealed like Roderick the Goth, or
our own Arthur, in some hermit's cell, or in some enchanted castle,
until the fitting time for his re-appearance arrives, when he will
break the spell which binds him, and will restore the faded glory of
the nation. During the incursions of Bonaparte, his appearance was
anxiously expected, but he delayed the day of his coming. But if the
real Sebastian remains silent, there have been numerous pretenders to
his throne and his name.

In 1585 a man appeared who personated the dead king. He was a native
of Alcazova, and a person of low birth and still lower morals. In his
earlier days he had been admitted into the monastic society of Our
Lady of Mount Carmel, but had been expelled from the fraternity on
account of his misconduct. Even in his later life, when, by pretended
penitence, he succeeded in gaining re-admission, his vices were found
so far to outweigh his virtues and his piety that it was necessary
again to confide him to the tender mercies of a sacrilegious world. He
fled to the hermitage of Albuquerque, and there devotees visited him.
Widows and full-blooded donnas especially frequented his cell; and the
results of his exercises were such that the Alcalde threatened to lay
hands upon him. Once more he disappeared, but only to turn up again in
the guise of Don Sebastian. Two of his accomplices who mixed among the
people pointed out his resemblance to the lost monarch: the credulous
crowd swallowed the story, and he soon had a respectable following.
Orders from Lisbon, however, checked his prosperous career. He was
arrested and escorted by 100 horsemen to the dungeons of the capital.