Now, on the same night that she fled from her cell, Abraham had a dream; and he saw in his dream, a monstrous dragon, who came to his cell, and finding there a beautiful white dove, devoured it, and returned to his den. When the hermit awoke from his dream, he was perplexed, and knew not what it might portend; but again he dreamt, and he saw the same dragon, and he put his foot on its head, and crushed it, and took from its maw the beautiful dove, and put it in his bosom, and it came to life again, and spread its wings and flew towards heaven.

Then the old man knew that this must relate to his niece Mary; so he took up his staff, and went forth through the world seeking her every where. At length he found her, and seeing her overpowered with shame and despair, he exhorted her to take courage, and comforted her, and promised to take her sin and her penance on himself. She wept and embraced his knees, and said, "O my father! if thou thinkest there is hope for me, I will follow thee whithersoever thou goest, and kiss thy footsteps which lead me out of this gulf of sin and death!" So he prayed with her, and reminded her that God did not desire the death of a sinner, but rather that he should turn from his wickedness and live; and she was comforted. And the next morning Abraham rose up and took his niece by the hand, leaving behind them her gay attire and jewels and ill-gotten wealth. And they returned together to the cell in the wilderness.

From this time did Mary lead a life of penitence and of great humility, ministering to her aged uncle, who died glorifying God: after his death, she lived on many years, praising God, and doing good in humbleness and singleness of heart, and having favour with the people; so that from all the country round they brought the sick, and those who were possessed, and she healed them,—such virtue was in her prayers, although she had been a sinner! Nay, it is written, that even the touch of her garment restored health to the afflicted. At length she died, and the angels carried her spirit out of the shadow and the cloud of sin, into the glory and the joy of heaven.

Although the legend of Mary the Penitent is accepted by the Church, which celebrates her conversion on the 29th of October, effigies of her

must be rare; I have never met with any devotional representation of her. A print attributed to Albert Dürer represents the hermit Abraham bringing back his penitent niece to his cell.'

In the Louvre are two large landscapes by Philippe de Champagne, which in poetry and grandeur of conception come near to those of Niccolò Poussin; both represent scenes from the life of Mary the Penitent. In the first, amid a wild and rocky landscape, is the cell of Abraham, and Mary, sitting within it, is visited by the young hermit who tempted her to sin: in the second, we have the same wilderness, under another aspect; Mary, in a rude secluded hut, embowered in trees, is visited by pilgrims and votaries, who bring to her on their shoulders and on litters, the sick and the afflicted, to be healed by her prayers. The daughter of Champagne, whom he tenderly loved, was a nun at Port Royal, and I think it probable that these pictures (like others of his works) were painted for that celebrated convent.

St. Thais, a renowned Greek saint, is another of these "bienheureuses pécheresses," not the same who sat at Alexander's feast, and fired Persepolis, but a firebrand in her own way. St. Pelagia, called Pelagia Meretrix and Pelagia Mima (for she was also an actress), is another. These I pass over without farther notice, because I have never seen nor read of any representation of them in Western Art.

St. Afra, who sealed her conversion with her blood, will be found. among the Martyrs.

Poets have sung, and moralists and sages have taught, that for the frail woman there was nothing left but to die; or if more remained for her to suffer, there was at least nothing left for her to be or do: no choice between sackcloth and ashes and the livery of sin. The beatified penitents of the early Christian Church spoke another lesson; spoke divinely of hope for the fallen, hope without self-abasement or defiance. We, in these days, acknowledge no such saints: we have even done our best to dethrone Mary Magdalene; but we have martyrs,-"by the pang without the palm," and one at least among these who has not died

VOL. I.

Leben und Werke von Albrecht Dürer, No. 2067.

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without lifting up a voice of eloquent and solemn warning; who has borne her palm on earth, and whose starry crown may be seen on high, even now, amid the constellations of Genius.

By the same Author.

LEGENDS OF THE MONASTIC ORDERS,

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Forming the Second Series of SACRED AND LEGENDARY ART.- In 1 Vol., with illustrative Woodcuts and Etchings. Second Edition.

LEGENDS OF THE MADONNA.

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THE HISTORY OF OUR LORD AND OF HIS PRECURSOR ST. JOHN THE BAPTIST:

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