Public Ledger

Queen Mercedes' Death-Bed.

The Paris Univers gives the following details of the last moments of Queen Mercedes: It was daybreak. The Duke and Duchess de Montpensier, the Infanta Christina and the ministers assembled immediately. The royal chaplain was called in haste to administer the last sacrament: but Cardinal Moreno, confessor to the king, arrived at the moment, and he it was who gave the extreme unction to her majesty, who was perfectly conscious. The king. in despair, held the hand of the queen clasped in his, and addressed to her words of tenderness and consolation. The grief of the family added to this painful scene. The dying woman not only preserved the use of all her faculties. but also a great serenity of mind. The cardinal having asked her, according to the rites of the church, whether she regretted leaving this world, she replied, " Yes, for Alfonso and for my parents." In a moment of lucidity she succeeded in raising herself up in her bed. But science had already the previous day announced its final decree, and little hope remained.