Page:History of the Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella the Catholic Vol. III.djvu/207

181 HER CHARACTER. 181 Madrid, shows, by its irregular and scarcely legible chapter characters, the feeble state to which she was then __!^:_ reduced. ^^ She had now adjusted all her worldly concerns, and she prepared to devote herself, dur- ing the brief space which remained, to those of a higher nature. It was but the last act of a life of preparation. She had the misfortune, common to persons of her rank, to be separated in her last moments from those whose filial tenderness might have done so much to soften the bitterness of death. But she had the good fortune, most rare, to have secured for this trying hour the solace of disinterested friendship ; for she beheld around her the friends of her childhood, formed and proved in the dark season of adversity. As she saw them bathed in tears around her bed. Her resigna- she calmly said, " Do not weep for me, nor waste your time in fruitless prayers for my recovery, but pray rather for the salvation of my soul."^^ On receiving the extreme unction, she refused to have her feet exposed, as was usual on that occasion ; a circumstance, which, occurring at a time when there can be no suspicion of affectation, is often noticed by Spanish writers, as a proof of that sensi- tive delicacy and decorum, which distinguished her through life. ^^ At length, having received the sa- craments, and performed all the offices of a sincere '4 Clemencin has given a fac- ^^ Arevalo, Historia Palentina, simile of this last signature of the MS., apud Mem. de la Acad, de queen, in the Mem. de la Acad, de Hist., tom. vi. p. 572. — L. Ma- Hist., tom. vi. Ilust. 21. rineo, Cosas Memorables, fol. 15 L. Marineo, Cosas Memora- 187. — Garibay, Compendio, ubi bles, fol. 187. — Garibay, Compen- supra, dio, tom. ii. lib. 19, cap. 16. t ion, and dealli.