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    168 ELIZABETH VON RECKE.

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    ~*» ' Past I. There Are Some Individuals...

    her to her stern grandmother became more frequent and _odfous _. The bitterest of Ms complaints were on the subject of her invincible

    attachment to her stepmother and the other members of her family , an attachment which he pretended closed her heart against him .

    His hypocrisy wounded her even more than his ill-usage , and she was obliged to keep ever before her mindwhat seemed the only

    , redeeming trait in his character , that he was not a harsh master to his vassals .

    At length , after five years of unresisting endurance , Elizabeth _"foeg'an to think that she ought to make some attempt , not so much

    to alleviate her own condition as to improve her husband ' s dispositionandemboldened by an instance of virtuous courage "which

    , , she had met with in one of Lavater ' s works , she dared to open her heart to Herr von _Hecke in writingrepresenting to him , in the

    , gentlest of words , that , by jii » injurious conduct towards his wife * he was sinning yet more against himself than against her . His

    despotic spirit rose at once in revolt against this temerity , and , instead of replyshe received a command to withdraw herself , within

    , a given time , from his domain . Elizabeth obeyed the harsh order , and retired with her daughter to Mittau , the capital of Courland _,

    where she took an apartment in the house of her sister ' s motherin-law , who intended to make her dwelling an institution for reduced

    noble ladies . Here she had to endure the incessant storm of her grandmother ' s reproaches , and the disapproval of even- her beloved

    step-mother , her only consolation being occasional intercourse with her brothers and sister . A beautiful and accomplished young

    woman , still at the early age of twenty-one , the unfortunate baroness made a _determination to deny herself the enjoyments natural

    to her youth , and in monastic seclusion to live for her daughter alone ; a hard resolve , but one which she knew she had sufficient

    power over herself to adhere to . It was not for long , however , that the source of her deepest interest and comfort was spared to her ,

    for , six months after her removal to Mittau , her child died . Struggling against the loneliness of her heartthe bereaved mother j > edd

    , a daily visit to her brother , a youth distinguished for talent , who , sympathising with his sister , allowed her to share his studies ,

    acquainting her with classical literature , and translating to her the most profound and sublime passages of the Greek and Latin

    authors . But she was soon called upon to resign this dear companion , who in 1777 went to the University" of Strasburgh . A

    constant interchange of letters was some compensation for this absence , but the noble sufferer had not yet drained her cup of

    bitterness , and in the course of the next year this darling brother was carried off by fever . Childless and worse than widowed , with her

    brother she had still felt that one life-tie remained ; this was now broken . " The last blow that could- reach me has fallen , " she

    wrote to a friend , " I have _slied no outward tears , but my heart

    weeps . Nature itself seems dead to me , for all that was my life is

    168 Elizabeth Von Recke.

    168 ELIZABETH VON RECKE .

• Citation
  • English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), May 1, 1860, page 168, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01051860/page/24/