taken in the hopes of relief, but in vain. It was even then so bad, that In the theatre I am forced to lean over the orchestra, in order to hear the actors speak. The higher notes of instruments and voices escape me at a short distance: in conversation it is marvellous that no one has yet observed it perhaps as I am apt to be absent, they account for it in this way. Often I can only distinguish the general sound, but not the words, of one who speaks low; and yet when people shout, I cannot endure it. What is now to become of me, Heaven only knows! I have already been often tempted to curse the day when I was born; but have learned from Plutarch* to practise resignation. If no better may be, I will defy my ill fortune; and yet many moments will come, in which I shall be the most miserable of God's creatures. I pray any one, not even to your wife! Resignation! a wretched resource, but the only one that is left me! you not to breathe a syllable of this affliction of mine to It will readily be considered why he thus jealously attempted to conceal an infirmity, of all others the most calamitous to a musician. This was one of the main reasons which made him withdraw from general society; and explains much that, at the time, was supposed to proceed from caprice and ill-humour only. In a paper written by him in 1802, during a serious illness, when he believed himself to be dying, and addressed to his two brothers, this is dwelt upon in a manner profoundly touching : My heart and soul were, from infancy, prone to kindly feelings; and my ambition was ever to accomplish what was great and good. But reflect that, for the last six years, an unfortunate ailment has fallen upon me; and, after hopes have been successively raised and defeated, I have been forced to contemplate the certainty of an abiding infirmity. Born with an ardent, lively disposition-susceptible of social enjoyments, I was condemned, thus early, to part from them, and wear out my life in solitude. If, now and then, I attempted to break through the prohibition, how bitterly was I then repulsed by the doubly-painful evidence of my dull hearing; and yet I could not bring myself to say to others "Speak louder; shout, for I am deaf!" Alas! how could I declare the feebleness of a sense which I ought to possess even in greater perfection than other men? I could not do it. Forgive me, then, if you see me often retire, when I would fain be amongst you. My calamity is doubly severe, because it condemns me to be misjudged. The delight of society, cultivated conversation, reciprocal confidences, are forbidden to me. I must appear in society almost absolutely insulated, and only when it is quite indispensable. I must live an exile. When I approach a circle, a burning anxiety comes over me, least I should run the risk of discovering my condition. It was thus during the past half-year which I passed in the country. What was my humiliation when the person at my side listened to a flute in the distance, or to the song of a peasant, and I could * Seyfried asserts that Beethoven was a thorough master of the Latin, French, and Italian languages. This appears to have been mistaken as to Latin; but there is no doubt of the eagerness with which he cultivated an acquaintance with the best authors in all languages, either directly or through translations. "He dearly loved the Greek and Latin classics, which he read in good translations; many of the former he knew as hear neither! Such occurrences brought me nearly to desperation: a little more, and I had ended my life by my own hand. This only-this art which I love-restrained me. It seemed as though I could not leave the world before I had produced all that I felt I was able to bring forth. Almighty Power! thou lookest into my inmost heart; thou knowest that love of my fellows, and the desire to do good, dwell there! know that you have thought wrongly of me; and that, You, my brother men, who shall one day read this, wretched as I am, it comforts me to feel that I have yielded to none in doing-in spite of every natural impediment all that lay in my power to place myself in the list of worthy artists and good men !" To a picture so graphic and affecting, nothing Ries, that this care was so far successful, that he can be added by the biographer. We learn from was not aware of the infirmity until after he had been for some months under Beethoven's tuition. It was in one of our walks in the country that he gave me the first striking proof of his want of hearingwhich had previously been named to me by Stephen von Breuning. I called his attention to a shepherd, who was playing in the wood, in a very graceful manner, on a rude flute made of the elder tree. Beethoven could not hear a note for more than half an hour; and although, at last, I assured him repeatedly that I had ceased to distinguish the sound (which was the fact,) he became extraordinarily silent and gloomy. From this period, 1800, the clouds began to gather on all sides more darkly around him. The pulses of that earthquake which convulsed Europe, had already begun to vibrate throughout Germany; and the arts, like scared birds, were about to fly from the approaching storm. Beet"Plato's comhoven was a declared republican. monwealth was incorporated with his very being;" and at such a time-as, indeed, throughout his after life-this peculiarity was another impediment to his worldly success in the Austrian capital. He pursued the opening career of Napoleon with the eagerest hope; and had composed his majestic Sinfonia Eroica, as a tribute to the First Consul, when the news of his proclamation as emperor reached Vienna; and the intended dedication was thrown with disgust and disappointment into the fire. Nor was he reconciled to his former idol, until after his tragic end in St Helena had expiated, as he thought, the crime of rising on the ruins of the republic. From the period of the empire, he appears to have cared little for the politics of the day-preserving, to the last, the sturdy independence of his own opinions, which were, perhaps, founded on little knowledge of real life, but cannot be noticed without respect, as they deprived him of all chance of advancement, or advantage, from the court-which, in Germany, is the chief hope of the musical artist. Without intending to attempt any catalogue of his many works, we may here mention that his grandest compositions begin to date from the commencement of the new century in 1800, we find thoroughly as his own scores: the same with Shak-him busy with "The Mount of Olives," the Symspeare. Any companion who was not pretty familiar with these favourite authors, soon became wearisome to him."-Schindler. It will not surprise any one who is conversant with the poetry and imagination displayed in Beethoven's works, to learn that his chosen authors were among those of the highest class of intellects, like his His leisure was divided between these and com own. position, phonies began to appear in 1803; in the following year, also, he commenced “ Fidelio," which was unfortunately represented, for the first time, during the occupation of Vienna by the French in 1805; and, owing to this circumstance chiefly, was wholly unsuccessful; the disgust which he conceived from this failure, as it deterred him from resuming the composition of opera, (although in after years he was repeatedly urged to undertake it, when "Fidelio," revised and reproduced in better times, had had its deserved triumph on the stage,) is one of the greatest misfortunes that has ever befallen this branch of the art. Later, he composed his great masses; and the series of his great instrumental works, with solo, piano-forte, and chamber-music, continued in unbroken succession to the close of his life; these, with an exception to be mentioned hereafter, having, to the last, furnished his principal means of subsistence. His fame, which was now spread throughout Germany, had already brought to Vienna, in an evil hour for his happiness, his two brothers, Carl and Johann, in the hope of bettering their fortunes through his influence and aid. To these unworthy relatives who appear to have both been mean, selfish, and grasping, in no common degree-the great composer was generously attached; and most of his earnings were allowed, without any reserve, to fall into their hands. But this was not the worst. As his infirmities began to estrange him from society, the elder brother but too successfully, attempted to rule him for his own selfish purposes, and to secure this influence by turning him away from his real friends and patrons. This was, in some degree, controlled by the authority of the Prince Lichnowsky, as long as he lived; but, after his death, the mischievous tyranny of the brothers was almost wholly unopposed. A complete stranger to the practical business of life, rendered suspicious by his growing deafness, and leaning for advice and support on these selfish relatives-who sought only to extort from his labours some profit for themselves-Beethoven was rendered an object of pity to his better friends, and of dislike to many; while his scanty earnings were plundered, and every unworthy contrivance that meanness could suggest was employed to prevent his escape from this miserable bondage. We are told by Ries :- His brothers took especial pains to alienate him from all his nearest friends; and yet, whatever wrongs they committed, although convicted of them, it needed only a few tears to make him forgive all. He would then say, "He is, after all, my brother ;" and the friend was then liable to reproach for his good-nature and frankness. A characteristic instance or two may suffice. This from Ries: Beethoven had promised his three sonatas (Op. 31) to Nägeli of Zurich; his brother Carl, in the meanwhile who unfortunately never ceased meddling with his affairs, having attempted to sell the work to a Leipzig publisher. This gave rise to several disputes between the brothers, as Beethoven resolved to keep the promise once given. When the sonatas were completed and ready to be despatched, the dissension between the brothers was renewed, and even proceeded farther than words. On the following day, he gave me the sonatas to forward immediately to Zurich, with a letter to his brother, enclosed in one to Von Breuning for the perusal of the latter. Nothing can be imagined more elevated in its moral tone, or more affecting for its feeling, than this lecture on his brother's conduct of the preceding day. He first displayed it in all its true contemptible aspect, and then concluded by forgiving him thoroughly, but with a serious warning to change his ill courses. There appears to have been no bounds to the At this time (1806-7,) Beethoven was in the habit of receiving not a few presents, all of which, however, vanished utterly; and his friends asserted that the "evil genius" (his brother) was active in removing from his When Beethoven was asked, "Where is that ring, or reach, not only his well-wishers, but his valuables also. this watch?" he used, after a moment's pause, to reply, "I know not ;" although he knew right well how they had been abstracted, but was unwilling to accuse his brothers of such dishonesty. This is a topic on which it is hateful to dwell: we hasten therefore to say that Carl, the elder* brother, died in 1815, commending to his charge a son, of whom we shall have to speak hereafter,a legacy of trouble and bitterness; whereby he doubled after his death the mischief inflicted while he lived. The younger brother Johann was an apothecary, and became prosperous by the composer's aid; yet to the end of Beethoven's life, when sickness and want were gathering around him, the brother's selfishness was never for a moment relaxed, and far from giving, he still attempted to prey upon the failing sufferer, at the very time when he was insulting him with a vulgar parade of his newly acquired wealth. An instance, related by Schindler, must be preserved, for the sake of the contrast between the characters of the brothers which it exhibits. On New Year's Day 1823, as we were seated at table, there was handed to the Master a card+ from his brother, who lived in the next house, inscribed, "Johann van immediately wrote on the reverse," Ludwig van BeethBeethoven, Landed-proprietor (Gutbesitzer.)" Beethoven oven, Intellectual-proprietor (Hirn-besitzer,)" and sent it back to the landed gentleman. It had happened a few days before this ludicrous incident, that this brother, speaking of the Master, had boasted, "that he would may be imagined, Beethoven was infinitely diverted by never advance so far as he (Johann)' had done." As this piece of ostentation. It only remains to add, that this sordid "landedproprietor" survived the great composer, of whose name he was so utterly unworthy. In 1809, an offer was made to Beethoven of the post of Kapell-meister to the King of Westphalia, which, having still no certain maintenance at Vienna, he was inclined to accept it was indeed "the first and last opening ever presented to him of a secure subsistence;"-the last, because soon he became, by the increase of his deafness, wholly disqualified for the direction of an orchestra. On this occasion, however, three Austrian princes, the Archduke Rudolph, and the Princes Kiasky and Lobkowitz, "thinking it disgraceful for Austria to * He had obtained the post of cashier in the National Bank at Vienna; but died in embarassed circumstances: the widow was a woman of dissolute conduct. It is customary in Germany to send cards to acJohann had quaintances and friends at this season. shop and bought an estate, of which this was the anthriven so well in his trade, that he had given up the nouncement. A pupil of Beethoven's, and the only one of the imperial family who extended any patronage to him, and this in a manner more selfish than princely. Beethoven's political notions were a bar to all royal favour, which was reserved for other musicians, his inferiors in every respect, allow the great artist, who was the pride of the Not exceeding the middle height, thickset, and with large bones; full of bodily vigour, the very image of strength. Schindler adds to this: His head was unusually large, overgrown with long matted grizzled hair, which was rarely smoothed, and gave him rather a wild look, especially (which was not seldom the case) when his beard also had grown very long. His brow was lofty and expanded, his eyes brown and small, and when he laughed, quite buried in his head; on the other hand, they started out to an unusual size, and either rolled darting around, the pupil generally turned upwards, or were immovably fixed, whenever an idea had seized upon him. At such moments, his exterior at once underwent a striking alteration, and as doubt. One of the most valued ornaments of his and shall be: no mortal hath His love of reading, and the masculine and pure judgment that attracted him to the best writers, have been already described :—his favourite author was our own Shakspeare, a spirit akin to his own. His diligence was untiring; but he was incapable of system or order: "to address himself to a certain thing at a given time was impossible." Hence his dislike of giving lessons; even his dames de prédéliction were made to feel how he hated the task; and scolded him for his impatience, but in vain."-The same aversion to constraint made him reluctant to play in society, and his refusals, when pressed, were a frequent cause of offence to his admirers; many of whom, after a journey undertaken for the sole object of hearing him, were compelled to return unsatisfied. As his deafness increased, he would allow no one to be present while he played, if he could avoid it. His nature combined a singular frankness, with a tendency to mistrust of others, which amounted at last to a positive disease. In his cheerful moments, his spirits were high, not to say boisterous, and his conversation, when he unbent himself, while yet able to take a part in society, was animated, forcible, and abounding in pleasantry and sarcasm. He has been accused of haughtiness towards his brother professors; but this appears to have been often surmised when, in reality, his reserve arose from the consciousness of the infirmity which he tried to conceal. Of his generous deal sumed a visibly inspired and commanding aspect, which, to the bystander, made his short figure appear as gigantic as his mind. Such moments of sudden inspira-ings with many artists, we have sufficient instances, tion often surprised him in the midst of society, or while passing through the streets; and generally attracted the eager notice of all near him. From Ries we learn: That he was awkward and ungraceful in his gestures; seldom took any thing brittle in his hands that he did not break;-would frequently upset his inkstand into the piano-forte-tumbled, soiled, and damaged his furniture. And, in short, did every thing that a tidy person ought not to do. How he accomplished the task of shaving himself was always a mystery; but his wounded chin bore frequent witness to the risk he ran in the pro cess. and some of a characteristic plainness, which thoroughly bespeak the nature of the man. When Moscheles wrote, at the close of a work undertaken at Beethoven's request, and apparently in some anxiety as to its reception,-" Finis, with God's help!"-the master added the energetic comment, Man, help thyself!" 66 He rose early, and began to compose as soon as he was dressed. During the morning, he would twice or thrice leave his writing for half an hour at a time, run into the open air, whatever the weather might be, and return with new ideas, which were immediately transcribed. In eating he was moderate and frugal, but most irregular as to the hours of his meals:-his favourite drink was pure water, and his habit in latter years, of frequenting coffee-houses, which he generally chose where he was least likely to be disturbed or stared at, was pursued for the sake of reading the newspapers only-in which he greatly delighted. Although a thorough sloven in his dress-(Frau Streicher found him at one time "without either a coat or a shirt that were fit to wear," and comHe was educated a Catholic, but was not punc-pelled him, greatly to his advantage, to reform his tual in devout observances, although of the truly wardrobe)-he was a perfect Mussulman in the religious temper of his mind there can be no frequency of his ablutions; and was continually The anxiety and distress which he had endured had not yet bowed his frame; but the various eccentricities of manner and habit which characterized him, were, to some extent, displayed; and before proceeding to the next and darker epoch of his history, we may as well pause in this interval (between 1809 and 1815,)—which was not marked by any special event beyond the successive production of many beautiful works,-to describe some of these peculiarities, and look into the daily life of this remarkable being. dabbling in water, in the midst of which process | tions that beset him, he kept his purity unsullied, he often became absorbed by some sudden imagin- and was never accused of a base or mean action,— ation, and stood "in the barest negligé," dripping like a river-god, and utterly unconscious of his uncomfortable position-" murmuring to himself, and howling, for singing it could not be called," as the ideas occurred to him. In worldly matters he was as helpless as a child; of the use of money he had no notion; and was thus not only at the mercy of those around him, but wasted in a thriftless manner the sums he obtained. This kept him in constant embarrassments. Although never rewarded for his compositions to half the extent they deserved, he would have been maintained by them in comfort but for the little care he bestowed on economy, his liberality to his worthless relatives, and the robbery which they practised upon him, uncontrolled, but not unsuspected. In later years, as his means became more scanty, and sickness pressed upon him, he grew so suspicious (not surely without some reason,) that he would not trust any one, so far as even to pay the most trifling account for him. we shall in some measure have traced the outline of a character in which the elements of goodness and nobility, and the gifts of an exquisite genius, were mingled with many flaws and infirmities that may be lamented, but cannot deprive him of the strongest claims to love and admiration. And how few of those who have been endowed and afflicted like him, have left us so much to record with reverence, and so little to conceal or extenuate ! We must now hasten to the concluding period of his history. In the autumn of 1815, as we have already said, his brother Carl died, bequeathing to his care and guardianship a son about eight years old. Writing to Ries of this event, he says," that he had expended on his deceased brother, while alive, more than 10,000 gulden to relieve his wants and make his existence easier;" that his widow (which was too true) was "a bad woman;"" the son from that time he looked upon as his own ;" and devoted himself to the charge with a zeal and forgetfulness He was fanciful and restless beyond all measure of himself which deserved the best recompense, but as to his choice of a dwelling; perpetually chang- only were rewarded with loss, anxiety, and the ing his quarters, and for the most whimsical rea- vilest ingratitude. His first step, as the boy was sons. He had often to pay for three or four at a clever and promising, was to adopt him legally, time, one had too much, another too little sun; in order to withdraw him from the evil influence of in another the water was bad; and we read of his his mother; this she resisted, and a long and exgiving up a country lodging that pleased him "be- pensive contest at law, most distressing to Beetcause the baron, his landlord, annoyed him by hoven, and in which he met with some mortifications bowing too obsequiously whenever they met." that we cannot stay to relate, terminated in 1820 His summer was always spent somewhere out of in the full acknowledgment of his claim. From town; the fresh air seems to have been indispen- this time he took the nephew entirely to himself, sable to his existence; and most of his great com- became a housekeeper for his sake, watched over positions were designed and fashioned during his him like a father, provided him with the means of rambles abroad, either alone or in company. Need a liberal education; and during its progress refuswe remind the musical reader of the Pastoral Sym-ed more than one invitation to visit England, (where phony; in which the fresh spirit of nature, and the life that breathes in woods, and breezes, and running waters, are embodied with an animation and beauty borrowed from their immediate presence? Towards the close of his life his household arrangements became more and more uncomfortable and disordered, and in the sickness and mental distress of his latter years, he suffered all that can be imagined of trouble and neglect, in the solitary condition of a bachelor, infirm, deaf, untended save by hirelings, and utterly ignorant of the simplest economy of household comfort. The picture which is given of his domestic cares and confusions would be almost farcical, were it not darkened by regret that such miserable vexations should have harrassed a mind deserving of tranquillity and freedom, at the close of its marvellous and toilsome carcer. If we add that, however vehement in his dislikes, and almost capriciously irascible, he was equally quick to forgive, and to recall and atone for the utterances of his passionate moments; that, in a scene where sycophancy was the prevailing and profitable vice, he carried even to extremity the assertion of his rugged independence; that the main-spring of his exertions was a fervent desire to dignify and advance his beloved art, and to render himself worthy of its highest inspirations; and that throughout his career, amidst all the tempta the Philharmonic Society offered him terms most tempting in his straitened circumstances,) in order that he might not lose sight of the youth. As the latter grew older, various irregularities of conduct, and proofs of a passionate and unstable character, distressed his guardian; but his indulgence was extreme, he warned and forgave. In 1824, the youth was entered in the university, and Beethoven gave up his dwelling in the country in order to be near him,-at the cost of a severe illness from which he only partially recovered. Soon, however, the nephew indulged as a student with more liberty, although he displayed extraordinary talents, became more unsteady and vicious in his courses,—a settled habit of falsehood, neglect of his studies, and a proneness to bad company, daily became more inveterate, and repeated misconduct at length caused his expulsion from the university. This disgrace to his name, this disappointment of his hopes, this ungrateful return for so much love and care, bowed the failing composer to the earth. But still he again sacrificed and forgave; the nephew was placed in an institution for mercantile studies, as the learned professions were now closed to him. The affectionate and thoughtful admonitions which have been preserved in Beethoven's letters to his nephew on this occasion, display him in the most touching and elevated light, as the kind counsel lor, the indulgent father, and the grieved but still enduring benefactor. But these were in vain. A repetition of the same evil courses led to new embarrassments, and to the prospect of a second disgrace from his superiors; to avoid which the wretched youth attempted his own life, but unsuccessfully; and Beethoven had the misery of seeing his adopted son, in pursuance of the Austrian laws, imprisoned as a criminal, and, after a confinement of some duration, restored to his guardian, for one day only, before the fulfilment of the sentence banishing him from Vienna. By great exertions Beethoven succeeded in obtaining a commutation of this sentence, through Marshal Stutterheim, who consented to receive the youth into his corps as a cadet; and, before joining his regiment, he remained for a short time at Vienna, whither Beethoven, sick and worn down with affliction, had hastened from the country to receive him. This was in December 1826; and from this moment, the mortal illness which soon hurried him to the grave, and during which the most heartless neglect was exhibited by his nephew, seized upon him with painful and alarming symptoms. The circumstances, as related by Schindler, are too melancholy and remarkable to be passed over. His true friend, and patron, the Prince Lichnowsky, had died in 1814. The musical society which he had assembled around him, was transferred, in a great measure, to the palace of the Russian ambassador Rasumowsky - to whom Beethoven dedicated some of his latest and most beautiful chamber compositions. The Congress of Vienna brought hither many distinguished admirers of the artist; and he received, on this occasion, not only flattering testimonials of regard, but also considerable pecuniary gains. This was the last epoch of his appearance in general society: a few years later, and he had fallen, as it were, out of the knowledge of his townsmen, and was brooding over his many troubles in gloomy solitude. His reputation was, however, daily becoming greater abroad; and he was besieged with commissions for musical works: but his chief attention was devoted to the composition of his great symphonies and masses, which were successively performed at concerts-of which the risk was undertaken by himself, in default of the patronage which the court refused him. The gain from these was uncertain and scanty-except in reputation; and the expense of his nephew's education and of the long lawsuit, and repeated attacks of "It was not until after some days that I learned his illness, kept him for ever in straitened circumarrival, and the state of his health. I hastened to him; stances, and compelled him to toil unremittingly. and, amongst other circumstances of the most afflicting He had, in better days, invested a small fund, it nature, was informed that he had repeatedly, but in vain, is true; but this he was loath to touch-regarding sent to entreat the attendance of his two former physi- it as his last resource, in case of absolute helplesscians, Braunhofer and Staudenheim; the first excused himself on the ground of the distance being too great; ness-and as a deposit for his nephew. Offers and the other had often promised to come, but never were made to him to compose another opera; but appeared; and, that in consequence, a doctor had been he seemed unable to overcome the disgust caused sent to attend him, how or by whom he knew not, who, by the first failure of Fidelio-although, on a reof course, was quite a stranger to him, and to his consti-vival of this work, it had met with the applause tution. I afterwards heard, however, from the lips of the worthy doctor himself, (Professor Wawruch,) in what it deserved. On one occasion of its representation manner he had been directed to the sick-bed of Beet- in 1823, Beethoven, for the last time, was invited hoven. It is too remarkable, and affords a striking proof to conduct it in public. During the rehearsal, how utterly this man, so dear to his age and to posterity, however, it became evident that his utter deafness was neglected, or rather betrayed and destroyed, by his rendered it impossible; and the directors of the fessor informed me that he had learned from the marker theatre were compelled to convey to him, with the in one of the hotels, who had been brought to the hospi- utmost tenderness, this painful intimation. tal sick, that Beethoven's nephew, while playing at bil- instantly left the orchestra. The melancholy liards in the café some days before, had requested him which this mortification produced did not pass to go and seek a physician to attend his uncle, who was ill; and having been prevented by his own ill health away for the whole of that day; and at table he from fulfilling the commission, the man begged Dr Waw- remained gloomily silent." His deafness was now ruch to visit him, which was immediately done. He become so confirmed, that his friends were reduced found Beethoven lying without any medical attendance. to writing what they wished to convey to him. So that a marker in a billiard-room must fall sick, and be sent to an hospital, to give the great Beethoven the nearest relatives, who owed so much to him. The pro chance of obtaining medical help in his utmost need! The nephew set out to join his regiment before the end of December; and, from that moment, it seemed as if Beethoven was delivered from an evil genius, for he became again cheerful, and quite resigned to his misfortune, hoping and expecting a speedy recovery from the care of his physician. His attachment for his nephew was now changed into bitter animosity; and yet, as the moment of his departure from this world drew near, his former feelings returned, and he left this nephew his sole legatee. Before we pass to the closing scene thus distressingly introduced, it will be necessary to resume hastily the outline of Beethoven's general history from the year 1815, which has been suspended in order that the tale of his domestic troubles might not be interrupted. "He His grand mass, completed in 1823, was honoured by Louis XVIII., from Paris, with a gold medal, specially inscribed as the king's present. In 1822 he had been created an honorary member of the Society of Arts and Sciences in Stockholm: invitations to visit England, as we have already mentioned, reached him about this period; while, at home, his consideration began to give place to the new passion for Rossini, who had taken Vienna, as it were, by storm. Beethoven felt this severely, but made no complaint; and continued to pursue his high designs with as much zeal as if they had been received at home with the applause that greeted them elsewhere. One more event of his professional history must be recorded, for the sake of displaying what meanness can exist in titled patrons. In 1824, a com |