stand on no ceremony, for it is
clear he means to pay.

Your letter has this moment come. So Holz is not to be here till Thursday,
and who can tell whether even this is certain? Your letter changes
everything, as Friday is now decided on. Holz can inform me whether we meet
here or in Vienna. Our main point now is with Schlesinger, for we must
delay no longer. If he is only waiting for the rehearsal, he certainly
shall not have it. He said yesterday that he would not publish the quartets
here; I told him it was a matter of entire indifference to me. May God
bless you and keep you!

Your attached

FATHER.

444.

TO HIS NEPHEW.

September.

MY DEAR SON,--

Do not forget to give Tobias [Haslinger] the receipt together with the
money. The gentleman ought to have come a little sooner; but as the affair
stands, you must do as he advises. I do not wish now that you should come
to me on the 19th of September. It is better to finish your studies. God
has never yet forsaken me, and no doubt some one will be found to close my
eyes. The whole thing seems to me to have been some artful collusion, in
which my brother (_pseudo_) has played a part. I also know that you have no
pleasure now in coming to me--which is only natural, for my atmosphere is
too pure for you. Last Sunday you again borrowed 1 florin 15 kreutzers from
the housekeeper, from a mean old kitchen wench,--this was already
forbidden,--and it is the same in all things. I could have gone on wearing
the out-of-doors coat for two years--to be sure I have the shabby custom of
putting on an old coat at home--but Herr Carl! What a disgrace it would be!
and why should he do so? Herr Ludwig van Beethoven's money-bags are
expressly for this purpose.

You had better not come next Sunday, for true harmony and concord can never
exist with conduct such as yours. Why such hypocrisy? Avoid it, and you
will then become a better man, and not require to be deceitful nor
untruthful, which will eventually benefit your moral character. Such is the
impression you have made on my mind--for what avail even the most gentle
reproofs? They merely serve to embitter you. But do not be uneasy; I shall
continue to _care for you_ as much as ever. _What feelings_ were aroused in
me when I again found a florin and 15 kreutzers charged in the bill!

Do not send any more such flimsy notes, for the housekeeper can see through
them in the light. I have just received this letter from Leipzig, bu