famous book, 'Goethe's Briefwechsel mit einem Kinde' (Goethe's
Correspondence with a Child). She attached herself with unbounded
enthusiasm to Goethe, and he responded with affectionate tact. To him
Bettina was the embodiment of the loving grace and willfulness
of 'Mignon.'

In 1811 these relations were interrupted, owing to Bettina's attitude
toward Goethe's wife. In the same year she married Achim von Arnim, one
of the most refined poets and noblest characters of that brilliant
circle. The marriage was an ideal one; each cherished 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 gehört dem König' (This Book belongs to
the King), in consequence of which her welcome at the court of Frederick