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    112 DOMESTIC IJFE 6ir GERMAN^ LADIES

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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.

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    . Mam ^ The Roll Which The Muse Of Histo...

    set of chessmen made of amber ; she writes a grateful letter pf thanks to the Duke of Mecklenburg , on account of three pairs of

    sweet-scented gloves which he procured for her from France . Duke Albert might count himself a lucky man on the 1 st of January ,

    1564 : besides his Mecklenburg beer and the Thuringian drinking cup , he received from Sabinawife of the Elector of Brandenburg , a -

    , shirt , not of mail bear in mind , but the ordinary and familiar garment , made by her own fair hands . Mr , Thackeray , as we all

    remember , allows us a glimpse of pretty little Theo at -work on a shirt for one of her brothersand lets us see how our English ladies

    _, were not ashamed of making shirts a century ago . In those more primitive times , and among , as our readers will observe , a more

    primitive people , a high-bom lady could bestow no gift more honorable than a shirt of her own making . The active Duchess of

    Prussia stitches away at one destined as a new year ' s gift to her brother John of Schleswick Holstein , and at another for the Archbishop of

    Riga . The Duchess Anna Maria of Wurtemburg expresses in an autograph letter to Duke Albert , her thanks for a present of elks '

    hoofs and amber , and goes on to say " In return I beg your grace will wear this shirt for my sake , considering rather the good will of

    the maker than the fineness of the work , which in truth is not so perfect as I could have desired . " The beautiful Sidonia of

    Brunswick makes him a similar present , but apparently from interested motivesfor she begs at the same time " sufficient ermine for the

    , lining of a large mantle . " Finally , to close this -list of princely presents , in 1538 tlie Duchess Dorothea sends one of these

    indispensable garments as a token of sisterly affection to the 3 _£ ing of Denmark ; * _' also , " she says , " we beg your kingly dignity will accept

    this drinking cup , both because we know that you mil not often let it go unfilled , and also that you may see how deep we drink who . can

    empty such cups . Likewise we send a foot from a Prussian ox , that you may judge if your Danish cattle go on such large feet as ours . "

    We know that astrologers and alchemists nourished abundantly in Germany during this century , and it is not surprising that they

    found both dupes and pupils among the ladies , many of whom dabbled in the black arts . Catherine of Brandenburg , and her beautiful

    sister Elizabeth , wife of the Margrave George Frederick , had each her laboratory , and studied under Thurneisser , the famous magician

    of Thurn _, who it was believed could assume any shape he thought proper , fly through the air , and make silver and gold at will . We ,

    can easily credit the-power of this accomplished quack with respect " to the prodigy last mentioned , when we read the fabulous prices at

    which he dispensed "to his fair dupes aqua d ' oro , tinctures of pearl , amethystand emerald ; all specifics against disease * or , still more

    precious , , potent to restore to age all the beauty and graces of youth . Hardly less famous than Thurneisserwas Dr . John Meckabach ,

    , or " Megahachus" as he delighted to Latinise his name .

    Meckabach was so fortunate as to discover in 1545 a preventive and

    112 Domestic Ijfe 6ir German^ Ladies

    112 DOMESTIC IJFE 6 ir GERMAN _^ LADIES

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), April 1, 1860, page 112, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01041860/page/40/