Page:The Queens of England.djvu/532

 482 THE QUEENS OF ENGLAND. Regent of Portugal during his severe illness, and as such she conducted a war against Philip of Anjou, King of Spain, with so much ability, that the Portuguese armies were crowned with complete success. Little more remains to be said of Catherine : she had proved herself not only to be endowed with - the noblest affections of the heart but with superior mental qualifications. Her death was sudden, from an attack of colic, December 31st, 1705, she being rather more than sixty-seven years of age at the time. Her will, dated February 14th, 1699, made her brother Don Pedro her heir, and she not only richly endowed her relatives, but left many charitable bequests. By her own request her remains were removed to the monastery of Belem, and her obsequies were conducted with the greatest possible solemnity and grandeur by order of Don Pedro, who directed a suspension of all public business for eight days, and a general mourning during the space of a whole year, to testify his respect and that of the nation to the memory of the royal deceased.