Celebrated Claimants from Perkin Warbeck to Arthur Orton | Page 8

and carefully instilled into his mind a hatred of the
Paynim conquerors.
The lesson was well learnt, and from the moment King Sebastian
reached his 14th year (the period of his majority), it was evident that all
his thoughts centred on an expedition to Africa, to revive the former

glories of his house, and to extend his empire even beyond its former
limits. In 1574 he set out, not to conquer the land, but simply to view it,
and with youthful audacity landed at Tangier, accompanied by only
1500 men. Finding no opposition to his progress, he organized a
hunting expedition among the mountains, and actually put his project
into execution. The Moors, by this time thoroughly incensed by his
audacity, mustered a force and attacked his escort, but he succeeded in
beating them off, and escaped in safety to his ships, and reached his
kingdom unharmed.
This peculiar reconnaissance only strengthened his resolution to wrest
his former possessions from the Moslems; and although Portugal was
impoverished and weak, he resolved at once to enter on a crusade
against Muley Moluc and the Moors. The protests of his ministers were
unheeded; he laid new and exorbitant imposts on his people, caused
mercenaries to be levied in Italy and the Low Countries, and reluctantly
persuaded his uncle, Philip I. of Spain, to promise a contingent. His
preparations being at last completed, and a regency established, he put
to sea in June 1578. His armament consisted of 9000 Portuguese, 2000
Spaniards, 3000 Germans, and some 600 Italians--in all, about 15,000
men, with twelve pieces of artillery, embarked on fifty-five vessels.
On the 4th of August the opposing forces met. The Moorish monarch,
who was stricken with a fatal disorder, was carried on a litter to the
field, and died while struggling with his attendants, who refused to
allow him to rush into the thick of the fight. The Portuguese were
routed with great slaughter, notwithstanding the valour with which they
were led by Don Sebastian. Two horses were killed under the Christian
king; the steed on which he rode was exhausted, and the handful of
followers who remained with him entreated him to surrender. Sebastian
indignantly refused, and again dashed into the middle of the fray. From
this moment his fate is uncertain. Some suppose that he was taken
prisoner, and that his captors beginning to dispute among themselves as
to the possession of so rich a prize, one of the Moorish officers slew
him to prevent the rivalry ending in bloodshed. Another account,
however, affirms that he was seen after the battle, alone and unattended,
and apparently seeking some means of crossing the river. On the

following day search was made for his body, Don Nuno Mascarcuhas,
his personal attendant, having stated that he saw him put to death with
his own eyes. At the spot which the Portuguese noble indicated, a body
was found, which, though naked, Resende, a valet of Sebastian,
recognised as that of his master. It was at once conveyed to the tent of
Muley Hamet, the brother and successor of Muley Moluc, and was
there identified by the captive Portuguese nobles. That their grief was
sincere there could be no doubt; and the Moorish king having placed
the royal remains in a handsome coffin, delivered them for a heavy
ransom to the Spanish ambassador, by whom they were forwarded to
Portugal, where they were buried with much pomp.
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