After this came a period of political grandeur under various rulers, notably Queen Christine, followed by what has been called the period of Liberty, or the Aristocratic Republic, under Queen Ulrica Eleonore, when literature and the arts and sciences flourished, and Swedenborg, Linnaeus, Dahlin, Tegnér, and many others came into prominence.

No one was present except Frau von Goethe, Fräulein Ulrica, and little Walter, and thus we were all very comfortable.

We had much lively chat about the theatre, young English people, and other topics of the day; Fräulein Ulrica was especially lively and entertaining.

His sister Ulrica accompanied him on a journey that began in April, 1801, and brought them, by a devious route, to Paris in July.

" Two months of intense mental exertion in the seclusion of his island left Kleist exhausted, and he fell seriously ill; whereupon Ulrica, on receiving belated news of his plight, hastened to Bern to care for him.

Arrived at Geneva in October, 1803, Kleist fell into the deepest despondency, and wrote Ulrica a letter full of hopeless renunciation.

With a group of friends he started on foot for Dresden, but was arrested as a spy at the gates of Berlin and held for months as a prisoner in French fortresses, before the energetic efforts of Ulrica and others procured his release.

The maniac figure of the Saxon Ulrica was for a long time visible on the lofty stand she had chosen, tossing her arms abroad with wild exaltation as if she reigned empress of the conflagration which she had raised.