Beethovens Letters 1790-1826, Volume 2 | Page 3

improve them. As for our juvenile Adjutant, I think I shall soon have hit on the right system for his education. Your
CONTRA FA,
Manu propria.
219.
TO THE HIGH-BORN HERR HASLINGER, HONORARY MEMBER OF THE H?FEN GRABENS AND PATER NOSTER G?SSCHEN.
BEST OF ALL PRINTERS AND ENGRAVERS,--
Be kinder than kind, and throw off a hundred impressions of the accompanying small plate.[1] I will repay you threefold and fourfold. Farewell!
Your
BEETHOVEN.
[Footnote 1: This is possibly the humorous visiting-card that Beethoven sometimes sent to his friends, with the inscription Wir bleiben die Alten ("We are the same as ever"), and on reversing the card, a couple of asses stared them in the face! Frau Eyloff told me of a similar card that her brother Schindler once got from Beethoven on a New Year's day.]
220.
TO BARONESS DOROTHEA VON ERTMANN.[1]
Feb. 23, 1817.
MY DEAR AND VALUED DOROTHEA CECILIA,--
You have no doubt often misjudged me, from my apparently forbidding manner; much of this arose from circumstances, especially in earlier days, when my nature was less understood than at present. You know the manifestations of those self-elected apostles who promote their interests by means very different from those of the true Gospel. I did not wish to be included in that number. Receive now what has been long intended for you,[2] and may it serve as a proof of my admiration of your artistic talent, and likewise of yourself! My not having heard you recently at Cz---- [Czerny's] was owing to indisposition, which at last appears to be giving way to returning health.
I hope soon to hear how you get on at St. Polten [where her husband's regiment was at that time quartered], and whether you still think of your admirer and friend,
L. VAN BEETHOVEN.
My kindest regards to your excellent husband.
[Footnote 1: It was admitted that she played Beethoven's compositions with the most admirable taste and feeling. Mendelssohn thought so in 1830 at Milan, and mentions it in his Letters from Italy and Switzerland.]
[Footnote 2: Undoubtedly the Sonata dedicated to her, Op. 101.]
221.
TO ZMESKALL.
DEAR Z.,--
I introduce to your notice the bearer of this, young Bocklet, who is a very clever violin-player. If you can be of any service to him through your acquaintances, do your best for him, especially as he is warmly recommended to me from Prague.[1]
As ever, your true friend,
BEETHOVEN.
[Footnote 1: Carl Maria Bocklet, a well-known and distinguished pianist in Vienna. He told me himself that he came for the first time to Vienna in 1817, where he stayed six weeks. On April 8th he gave a violin concert in the Kleine Redoutensaale. He brought a letter of introduction to Beethoven, from his friend Dr. Berger in Prague.]
222.
TO STEINER & CO.
The Lieutenant-General is desired to afford all aid and help to the young artist Bocklet from Prague. He is the bearer of this note, and a virtuoso on the violin. We hope that our command will be obeyed, especially as we subscribe ourselves, with the most vehement regard, your
GENERALISSIMUS.
223.
TO G. DEL RIO.
I only yesterday read your letter attentively at home. I am prepared to give up Carl to you at any moment, although I think it best not to do so till after the examination on Monday; but I will send him sooner if you wish it. At all events it would be advisable afterwards to remove him from here, and to send him to M?lk, or some place where he will neither see nor hear anything more of his abominable mother. When he is in the midst of strangers, he will meet with less support, and find that he can only gain the love and esteem of others by his own merits.
In haste, your
BEETHOVEN.
224.
TO G. DEL RIO.
I request you, my dear friend, to inquire whether in any of the houses in your vicinity there are lodgings to be had at Michaelmas, consisting of a few rooms. You must not fail to do this for me to-day or to-morrow.
Your friend,
L. VAN BEETHOVEN.
P.S.--N.B. Though I would gladly profit by your kind offer of living in your garden-house, various circumstances render this impossible. My kind regards to all your family.
225.
TO G. DEL RIO.
HOUSE OF GIANNATASIO!--
The treatise on the piano is a general one,--that is, it is a kind of compendium. Besides, I am pleased with the Swiss [probably Weber, a young musician who had been recommended to him], but the "Guaden" is no longer the fashion.
In haste, the devoted servant and friend of the Giannatasio family,
BEETHOVEN.
226.
TO G. DEL RIO.
You herewith receive through Carl, my dear friend, the ensuing quarter due to you. I beg you will attend more to the cultivation of his feelings and kindness of heart, as the latter in particular is the lever of all that is good; and no matter how a man's kindly feeling may be ridiculed or depreciated, still our greatest authors, such as Goethe and