burned, and
that Dorothea should witness their torments. And she stood by,
bravely encouraging them, and saying: "O my sisters, fear not!
suffer to the end! for these transient pangs shall be followed by the
joys of eternal life!" Thus they died: and Dorothea herself was
condemned to be tortured cruelly, and then beheaded. The first part
of her sentence she endured with invincible fortitude. She was then
led forth to death; and, as she went, a young man, a lawyer of the
city named Theophilus, who had been present when she was first
brought before the governor, called to her mockingly: "Ha! fair
maiden, goest thou to join thy bridegroom? Send me, I pray thee, of
the fruits and flowers of that same garden of which thou hast spoken:
I would fain taste of them!" And Dorothea looking on him inclined
her head with a gentle smile, and said: "Thy request, O Theophilus,
is granted!" Whereat he laughed aloud with his companions; but she
went on cheerfully to death.

When she came to the place of execution, she knelt down and prayed;
and suddenly appeared at her side a beautiful boy, with hair bright
as sunbeams:

A smooth-faced glorious thing,
With thousand blessings dancing in his eyes.

In his hand he held a basket containing three apples, and three
fresh-gathered and fragrant roses. She said to him; "Carry these to
Theophilus; say that Dorothea hath sent them, and that I go before
him to the garden whence they came, and await him there." With these
words she bent her neck, and received the death-stroke.

Meantime the angel (for it was an angel) went to seek Theophilus, and
found him still laughing in merry mood over the idea of the promised
gift. The angel placed before him the basket of celestial fruit and
flowers, saying: "Dorothea sends thee this," and vanished. What
words can express the wonder of Theophilus? Struck by the prodigy
operated in his favour, his heart melted within him; he tasted of the
celestial fruit, and a new life was his; he proclaimed himself a
servant of Christ, and, following the example of Dorothea, suffered
with like constancy in the cause of truth, and obtained the crown of
martyrdom.

We have chosen this legend just because it is in itself as
superstitious and fantastic as any in the book. We happen to hold
the dream of "The Spiritual Marriage," as there set forth, in
especial abhorrence, and we have no doubt Mrs. Jameson does so also.
We are well aware of the pernic