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228 ELIZABETH VON EECKEi
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
Part Ii. Great Misfortune, Which As Rare...
even pious an appearance tliey _mig-ht assume . This brief sojourn at "Weimar had , indeed , a deep influence upon lier whole being and
life . The winter passed delightfully at Wulferode , in the company of
Gloeke and his amiable wife , varied by a visit to Burger at _Gottingen . With the return of summer Elizabeth went to Pyrniont ,
where news reached her of the serious illness of her father ; on receipt of which she set off immediately for home , and in spite of
her weak state travelled night and day a distance of eight hundred milesin hopes to arrive in time to see him once more , but was met
, at Frankfort with the intelligence that he "was dead . Hearing that her sister and the grand duke were in Berlin , she hastened thither ,
and remained with them for a time . At this time all Paris was in the liveliest commotion on account
of the notorious necklace affair , in which Cagliostro was so deeply implicated . In the inquiry which ensued , he did not scruple to
uphold his pretensions by adducing his stay at Mittau in witness of his hih characterthus bringing discredit on the honorable names of
the g Duchess of , Courland and her sister . The latter could no longer keep silent . In the " Berlin Monthly Journal" she inserted a short _,
account of how the deceiver had beliaved _, adding a word of warning to any who might be in danger of being misled by him , or of falling
into the errors of mysticism . A reply appeared in the same paper from Prince Eugene , wherein he took , not Cagliostro indeed , but
the lofty themes , as he thought them , of magic and mystery under his illustrious protection . Frau von Kecke responded bj the candid
recital of a few facts drawn from her own actual experience . Having now fairly entered on the field of controversy , she felt
strongly that there was a call for her to bear witness boldly in the cause of truth . In February , 1786 , she returned to Courland ;
desolate as it was to her since her father ' s death , while it revived tearful memories of departed early joys , it reminded her also of the
cheating conjuror who had carried on his trickery there , and enticed princes and people into his snares . She spoke to several -who had
been members of the " Lodge of Adoption" at Mittau , but none of them would dare to come forth openly and bear witness against
the betrayer . What then remained to her ? To let the matter go on its own blind course seemed to her to be downright treachery to
reason and religion ; for she was convinced that true religion suffered _, greatly from such deceits , knowing , by experience , how mystical
dreams mislead from the true aims of life and interfere with real Christian , activity . She knew well tliat something was required to He
done , for Cagliostro had many followers in St . Petersburgli , Warsaw , StrasburghLyons , and Paris , and was still carrying on his
decep-, tions in London , where he had become closely connected with Lord George Gordon . She felt , too , that what she had to publish could
scarcely fail to be of use ; for however misjudged her motives might
be , God knew that her sole aim was to save poor souls from the
228 Elizabeth Von Eeckei
228 ELIZABETH VON _EECKEi
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), June 1, 1860, page 228, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01061860/page/12/
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