rished and delighted in
the genius of the other, but in 1831 the death of Von Arnim brought this
happiness to an end. Goethe died in the following year, and Germany went
into mourning. Then in 1835 Bettina appeared before the world for the
first time as an authoress, in 'Goethe's Correspondence with a Child.'
The dithyrambic exaltation, the unrestrained but beautiful enthusiasm of
the book came like an electric shock. Into an atmosphere of spiritual
stagnation, these letters brought a fresh access of vitality and hope.
Bettina's old friendly relations with Goethe had been resumed later in
life, and in a letter written to her niece she gives a charming account
of the visit to the poet in 1824, which proved to be her last. This
letter first saw the light in 1896, and an extract from it has been
included below.

The inspiration which went out from Bettina's magnetic nature was
profound. She had her part in every great movement of her time, from the
liberation of Greece to the fight with cholera in Berlin. During the
latter, her devotion to the cause of the suffering poor in Berlin opened
her eyes to the miseries of the common people; and she wrote a work full
of indignant fervor, 'Dies Buch gehoert dem Koenig' (This Book belongs to
the King), in consequence of which her welcome at the court of Frederick
William IV. grew cool. A subsequent book, written in a similar vein, was
suppressed. But Bettina's love of the people, as of every cause in which
she was interested, was genuine and not to be quenched; she acted upon
the maxim once expressed by Emerson, "Every brave heart must treat
society as a child, and never allow it to dictate." Emerson greatly
admired Bettina, and Louisa M. Alcott relates that she first made
acquaintance with the famous 'Correspondence' when in her girlhood she
was left to browse in Emerson's library. Bettina's influence was most
keenly felt by the young, and she had the youth of Germany at her feet.
She died in 1859.

There is in Weimar a picture in which are represented the literary men
of the period, grouped as in Raphael's School of Athens, with Goethe and
Schiller occupying the centre. Upon the broad steps which lead to the
elevation where they are standing, is the girlish figure of Bettina
bending forward and holding a laurel wreath in her hand. This is the
position which she occupies in the history of German literature.

* * * * *

DEDICATION: TO GOETHE

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