BEETHOVEN 473 temperament, and peculiarly susceptible to the pleasures of society, yet at this early age I must withdraw from the world and lead a soli- tary life. When 1 at times have determined to rise superior to all this, oh, how cruelly have I been again cast down by proofs doubly pain- ful of my defective hearing; and yet it has been utterly impossible for me to say to people, Speak louder, scTeam, for I am deaf! ' Ah, how could I proclaim the weakness of a sense which I ought to possess in a higher degree than others, which once I did possess in the highest perfection a perfection equalled by few of my profession ? Alas, I cannot do this ! Forgive me, then, if I draw back when I would gladly mingle with you. My misfortune in- flicts upon me a double woe in causing me to be misapprehended. For me there can be no recreation in social intercourse, no joining in refined and intellectual conversation, no mutual outpourings of the heart with others." Again : " But what humiliation, when some one stand- ing by me hears a distant flute, and I hear nothing, or listens to the song of the herdsman, and I hear no sound ! Such incidents have brought me to the verge of despair; a little more, and I had put an end to my life. One thing only, art this restrained me. I could not leave the world until that was accomplished which I felt was demanded of me." Upon his recovery from his illness, though he had little hope of ever recovering his hearing, he became more patient and cheerful, and again wrought out his musical inspirations with great industry. Among the numerous compositions of the few following years are several of his capital works. The "Heroic Symphony" was produced in 1804; "Fidelio" in 1805; the 4th, 5th, and 6th symphonies, and the mass in 0, during the four following years. It is a common impres- sion that the ill success of his opera " Fidelio" discouraged Beethoven ever after from attempt- ing dramatic composition. His negotiations with various poets, Korner, Rellstab, Grillpar- zer, Bernard, for a libretto, even down to the close of life, and especially a formal written proposition dated in 1807, and still in existence, to the management of the imperial theatres for an engagement as regular composer, show how erroneous is the impression. What prevented the acceptance of Beethoven's proposition by the managers is not now known. The music to Kotzebue's, "Ruins of Athens" was first performed in 1812; the "Battle of Vitoria" and the 7th symphony in the autumn of 1813; the cantata, "The Glorious Moment," at the Vienna congress in 1814 ; and the 8th symphony was written as early as 1816. The labors of the summer of 1815 were principally devoted to the arrangement of the Scottish songs for George Thompson of Edinburgh. From this period the works of Beethoven followed each other in still less rapid succession, not only from the grandeur and extent of their designs, but from the effects produced upon him by a I'.-giil process, which claimed much of his atten- tion and caused him the deepest anxiety. The last half dozen sonatas, those giants of piano- forte composition ; the grand mass in D, a three years' labor; the overture in C, op. 115; the 9th symphony, with chorus, completed in 1824; and the last grand quartets, were the principal productions of his last 10 years. The legal process above mentioned was too important in its influence to be passed over without some notice. His brother Karl had been unfortu- j nate in his marriage, and upon his death in 1815 had left his son to the special care and protection of the composer. The mother, al- though she soon became the kept mistress of ' a citizen of Vienna, refused to part with her son, and Beethoven was forced to bring the case before the courts. The will of the father was not sufficient ground by the laws of Austria for removing the child from his mother, nor for his legal adoption by his uncle. It became I necessary for Beethoven to prove the bad character of his sister-in-law, and show that the moral welfare of the boy demanded his re- moval from her influence. This, to a man who in the corrupt society of Vienna had lived a blameless life, and who had his friends and ac- ' quaintances principally among princes and the nobility, was in the last degree mortifying. Its effect upon him was so great that nothing but the necessity of meeting the large expenses entailed upon him by the lawsuit, and by his adoption of the boy, induced him to meet the demands of his publishers. During three years not one of his great works was produced. The suit was originally brought in 181f>, in the court in which the causes of the nobility were tried, and after two or three years, during which the boy was sometimes in possession of the mother and at others of the uncle, was de- cided in favor of the latter. The opposing counsel thereupon brought a technical objection to the proceedings, viz., that Beethoven was not of noble birth, and could not bring suit in this court ; that van in Holland was not equiv- alent to von, in Germany. The point was sus- tained, and the suit was transferred to the ! magistrates' court of the city, clearly the prop- j er place, as Beethoven had been made a citizen of Vienna some years before, as a mark of honor. The former decision was here reversed, and Beethoven was obliged to bring a new- action. It was not until some time in the year 1821 that he obtained full possession of the boy. In the mean time the nephew had fallen into habits of indolence, falsehood, and extrav- agance beyond the power of his uncle to restrain or control. Johann van Beethoven, the com- poser's younger brother, was mean, sordid, and vain, and married to a woman who brought her illegitimate daughter to his house, and not sel- dom received her own lovers there. For such a man Beethoven could have little fraternal affection. The nephew became all in all to him. Upon him he lavished all the rich affec- tions of his great heart ; no pains nor expense was spared on the young man's education ; tot
