a plain woman, since his affections would always
be in danger of straying when he met a beauty. This incident in Haydn's
career would seem to support the philosopher's contention. For the rest,
it was probably harmless enough, for there is nothing to show that the
severer codes of morality were infringed.
The biographers of Haydn have not succeeded in discovering how the
Schroeter amourette ended. The letters printed by Mr Krehbiel are all
confined to the year 1792, and mention is nowhere made of any of later
date. When Haydn returned to London in 1794, he occupied rooms at No. 1
Bury Street, St James', and Pohl suggests that he may have owed the more
pleasant quarters to his old admirer, who would naturally be anxious to
have him as near her as possible. A short walk of ten minutes through St
James' Park and the Mall would bring him to Buckingham Palace, and
from that to Mrs Schroeter's was only a stone-throw. Whether the old
affectionate relations were resumed it is impossible to say. If there
were any letters of the second London visit, it is curious that Haydn
should not have preserved them with the rest. There is no ground for
supposing that any disagreement came between the pair: the facts point
rather the other way. When Haydn finally said farewell to London, he
left the scores of his six last symphonies "in the hands of a lady."
Pohl thinks the lady was Mrs Schroeter, and doubtless he is right.
At any rate Haydn's esteem for her, to use no stronger term, is
sufficiently emphasized by his having inscribed to her the three trios
numbered 1, 2 and 6 in the Breitkopf & Hartel list.
Haydn's Note-Book
Reference has already been made to the diary or note-book kept by Haydn
during his visit. The original manuscript of this curious document
came into the hands of his friend, Joseph Weigl, whose father had been
'cellist to Prince Esterhazy. A similar diary was kept during the
second visit, but this was lost; and indeed the first note-book narrowly
escaped destruction at the hands of a careless domestic. Haydn's
autograph was at one time in the possession of Dr Pohl. A copy of it
made by A. W. Thayer, the biographer of Beethoven, in 1862, became,
as previously stated, the property of Mr Krehbiel, who has printed
the entries, with running comment, in his "Music and Manners in the
Classical Period" (London, 1898). Mr Krehbiel rightly describes some
of the entries as mere "vague mnemonic hints," and adds that one entry
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