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158 BETTINA.
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
«> ^ In One Of Our Late Numbers We Gave ...
sunk in deep melancholy , liad withdrawn herself from her . Bettina knew not whyand her appeals failed to move her friend ' s heart .
Suddenly Bettin , a heard of her death . This friend had formed an attachment for the well known Kreutzer , an attachment which
the latter either failed to reciprocate , or had trifled with , and hence the cause of her grief . In one of those momentswhich ,
, however strong a mind may be , will occasionally overwhelm it , when all past and present struggles appear concentratedand find
ex-, pression in a cry of mercy to the all loving spirit , she destroyed herself .
Bettina was deeply affected by her friend's fate , but her mobile and thoughtless mindwith its inherent love for enjoyment and
, harmless pleasure , helped her to overcome her sorrow . None could be better fitted as a companion for Goethe's mother , than Bettina ,
whose constant freaks and wilful fancies amused the worthy matron . Moreover , both entertained the same admiration for Goethe , and
while Frau Hath was never tired of talking of her son , Bettina was always eager to listen . In March , 1807 , she travelled with her
sister and Savigny , her brother-in-law , to Weimar . Her happiest dreams were about to be realised : she was to see Goethe . Hardly
arrived , she set off to visit him . She went to Wieland , feigned to be an old friend of hisand felt highly amused at his utter
astonish-, ment . But Wieland entered into the jest , and wrote the following letter of introduction to Goethe .
R of oche " Bettina ' s and grand asks Brentano -daug for this hter , Sop note , dear hia as brother ' s a talisman sister , wishes , Maximilian Althoug to see yon ' h s daug I . am She sure t says er , she Sop she is hia is making afraid de la
fun you of , me I must fulfil her request , and . am certain that you will have to do the same . "
With this letter , Bettina sallied forth to Goethe . Their first interview is well known , and it has often been described , how
in the ardour of her feelings she embraced him , sat on his knee , and , tired by her fatiguing journey , fell asleep . Goefche could not
help being pleased with the admiration of a being so ardent , peculiarand fanciful as Bettina . The subsequent correspondence , known
as " , Goethe's Briefwechsel mil einem Kinde" not only exhibits the glowing passion of which this child was capable , but also the entire
neglect of those conventionalities and forms , which she could not or would not understand . Goethe sent her only short notes , exhorting
her to continue her attentions to his mother , and expressing his great obligation to her for them . At a later periodhe seemed
, rather to ward off her affection , than to encourage it . Historically , this correspondence is of no value whatever , since it is proved , that
Goethe's own sonnets form the matter of most of Bettina's letters , while she was ingenious enough to pretend that Goethe had
translated , as it were , her letters into those sonnets . Notwithstanding , these letters will live in German literature , and remain for ever
connected with the names of Goethe and his mother . In all her pro-
158 Bettina.
158 BETTINA .
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), May 1, 1859, page 158, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01051859/page/14/
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