When the Peace of Westphalia brought an end to the Thirty Years' War in 1648, the Rhineland possessions of Elizabeth's father were restored to her oldest brother, Charles Louis. Two years later Elizabeth, returned to Heidelberg Castle from which she had been taken when a small child. How everything was changed! The war had brought ruin and desolation to the sunny valley.
Elizabeth's brother, Prince Edward, and her sister, Sophia, were also at the castle; but they were not congenial companions and their relationship was not at all pleasant. They complained that they had wanted her to cheer them and all her lively talk and merry ways were gone.
Charles Louis restored the old University of Heidelberg and desired to enlighten the students in principles of philosophy, so a dear friend of Descartes was brought to the university. Elizabeth welcomed him gladly and supplemented his classes with private instruction to the students. The lengthy letters she had received from Descartes served well in explaining many difficulties in the professor's lectures. She found a measure of solace and contentment in her work which she had not known. For ten years she continued thus, earning for herself such a reputation for learning that no other princess had equal fame among the wise and educated people of her day. Yet in spite of her fame she knew nothing of having her name written in the "Lamb's Book of Life" with out which her eternal destiny must be the "blackness of darkness forever." This reminds us of a stanza of the poem about the noble lady saved through the preaching of Mr. Brownlow North:
Then up spake the devil boldly,
“The kingdoms of earth are mine.
Fair lady, thy name, with an envied fame,
On its brightest tablets shall shine.
Only give me thy soul, and I'll give thee the whole,
Earth's honor and wealth to be thine.”
One day Elizabeth was invited to the home of her uncle at Krosse to attend the wedding of her beautiful cousin, Elizabeth Charlotte. There she saw some notes on Dr. Kock's lectures on the Song of Solomon. These belonged to her aunt who was a devoted believer in the Lord Jesus Christ. Elizabeth was very much interested in these notes and requested that a copy of them be made for her. Dr. Kock, hearing of this, published his lectures and dedicated the book to the princess. She was exceedingly interested and started to study the Bible in earnest. It was indeed to her "words of life and beauty.”
The princess saw the mystery of godliness. She recognized in the Lord Jesus Christ not only the Creator and Upholder of this marvelous universe, but the Author of Life. She heard Him say, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.”
At last Elizabeth had found the Truth. She had found real peace and rest. After her many years of questioning and wondering, after her many attempts to solve the perplexities and mysteries of life, how sweet it was to rest upon the unerring Word of the eternal God and to find perfect peace in Him! She found in Christ the peace which her religion failed to give her, the joy which she had not found in her vast learning, and the comfort which she could not receive from the philosophy of Descartes.
Elizabeth returned again to Heidelberg, but she found that accepting the Lord Jesus Christ as her personal Savior and giving Him His rightful place as Lord and Master in her life had changed her entire outlook. No longer could she teach young students that they could find ultimate peace and satisfaction in their own minds, for she knew that these were to be found only through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. She soon left Heidelberg and went to Cassel where her cousin, Hedwig Sophie, was rejoicing in like precious faith. Here she spent five happy years in fellowship with her cousin who had not only a great faith, but also a great mind and could study and converse with Elizabeth on the same plane.