Excerpt from The Open Court, Vol. 27: A Monthly Magazine Devoted to the Science of Religion, the Religion of Science, and the Extension of the Religion Parliament Idea

Veronica, a wicked woman and a hideous hag, dwells in a ruinous hut that squats at the foot Of a barren hill in the outskirts of a Flemish town. She is known among her neighbors as a witch, a compounder of philters and poisons, a caster of spells, and a servant of Satan. Midnight sounds: it is the hour of evil deeds and weird conjurations. The sorceress forms a magic ring on the floor, stands in the center and utters incantations. To accomplish the mystery, she casts her garments away and anoints her body with a black liquid. This unguent has the quality of removing marks of senility and of restoring the bloom and beauty of youth. After having trans formed herself into a marvellous young girl, the witch also changes her black cat, by means of her magic wand, into an elegant cavalier.

Veronica now transformed into Venus and escorted by her cava lier, whom she has named Don Juan, repairs to Leyden to win her laurels in the ballrooms of the national capital. This petticoated devil is the sensation of the hour. She overshadows all the women and turns the heads of all the men in town. No wonder! Her eyes made the flash of diamond's self grow pale; her teeth were fairer than pearls, and satin lost its gloss when near her skin. With her port so free, her teasing wit, her charms both coy and arch, she was in turns Camargo, Manon Lescaut, Philine - ih short, a ravish ing wretch! The men desert the society women and flock to the newcomer. Young and Old, lawyers in dusty wigs, dandies shedding around them the scent of amber, officers in gay uniforms, dragging their swords across the sounding floors, painters and musicians, all crowded to the stranger's rooms (xxix). The worthy Flemings renounce for her sake their gin and their pipe and stand round her. This sorceress filches the hearts of all men who come within the radius of her vision. Men drown themselves for her and fight duels on her account. The diva accepts their homage and their cash, but keeps them at a distance. She disdains all the gallants at her feet. But her day is to come, too.

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