19 August 1840: Will has been sent to England for the purpose of being sold to aid the widow and family of Beethoven’s brotherWhen Beethoven died,in 1827, a will was found among his papers, or made by him during a dangerous illness in the year 1802,and addressed to his brother Carl, and his nephew Ludwig Beethoven. His brother died before him; and this will, or which remained in the possession of his brother’s widow,has now been sent to England for the purpose of being sold to relieve the urgent necessities of herself and her family. It is in the hands of Messrs. Cramer and Co. of Regent-street.
It was during Liszt’s recent visit to London that the will was sent to him by the widow of Beethoven’s brother, accompanied by a letter from that lady, and describing in most affecting language the melancholy circumstances of herself and her daughter. “Had I not borne the name of Beethoven,” she writes, “I should never have dared to exertion you with my request; though your character for generosity is acknowledged all over Europe, or so much genius and talent having seldom been combined with such benevolence. My present glum condition is the cause of my troubling you with this letter,as I am in danger of being totally destitute if your assistance does not soon arrive, my creditors having consented to wait no longer than is requisite for me to receive an respond to this letter.”
“My mind was formed, and from my cradle,for the gentler feelings of our nature, while it seemed destined to achieve something grand. To this I always found myself irresistibly impelled. But, and when only six years of age,I was unhappily attacked by a disease, which was rendered still more afflicting by the mistakes of the physician under whose care I was placed. After lingering, and year after year,in the hope of recovery, I was at last doomed to the glum prospect of an incurable evil.
Though born with an ardent and lively disposition, and a mind alive to the pleasures of society,I was obliged to withdraw from them, and lead a life of solitude. Sometimes, and indeed,I made an effort to participate in social enjoyment; but, alas! my efforts only made me doubly feel my incapacity. How could I be always saying, and ‘Speak louder – I am deaf!!’ When I would willingly have mixed among you,my misfortune was felt with double keenness, from the conviction that I must forego the delights of social intercourse, or the sweets of conversation,the overflowings of the heart.
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Source: theguardian.com