three separate actions: the conspiracy, the love-affair of Bertha and
Rudenz, the exploits of William Tell. All, however, contribute to the
common end, which is the triumph of the Swiss people over their
oppressors. The exposition is superb, there is rapidity of movement,
variety, picturesqueness, the glamor of romance; and the feelings
evoked are such as warm and keep warm the cockles of the heart. When
the famous actor Iffland received the manuscript of the first act, in
February, 1804, he wrote:

"I have read, devoured, bent my knee; and my heart, my tears, my
rushing blood, have paid ecstatic homage to your spirit, to your
heart. Oh, more! Soon, soon more! Pages, scraps--whatever you can
send. I tender heart and hand to your genius. What a work! What
wealth, power, poetic beauty, and irresistible force! God keep you!
Amen."

With _Tell_ off his hands Schiller next threw his tireless energy on a
Russian subject--the story of Dmitri, reputed son of Ivan the
Terrible. The reading, note-taking and planning proved a long
laborious task, and there were many interruptions. In November, 1804,
the hereditary Prince of Weimar brought home a Russian bride, Maria
Paulovna, and for her reception he wrote _The Homage of the Arts_--a
slight affair which served its purpose well. The reaction from these
Russophil festivities left him in a weakened condition, and, feeling
unequal to creative effort, he translated Racine's _Phèdre_ into
German verse, finishing it in February, 1805. Then he returned with
great zest to his Russian play _Demetrius_, of which enough was
written to indicate that it might have become his masterpiece. But the
flame had burnt itself out. Toward the end of April he took a cold
which led to a violent fever with delirium. The end came on May 9,