Anecdotes of Great Musicians/Anecdote 78
78.—AN EPISODE IN THE LIFE OF AN ARTIST.
Carl von Weber, after passing through many trials and hardships during his youthful years of theatrical wandering with his ill-tempered old father, finally settled down as private secretary to the brother of the king, Frederic of Wirtemberg. Now, the Duke was considerable of a spendthrift, and when he got "hard up" it was Weber's duty as secretary to go to the king and try to secure the reckless Duke Ludwig another appropriation. Not a very enviable mission was this, as the king was a man of coarse manners and violent temper, of which the poor secretary got the full benefit.
One day, after some particularly insulting treatment at this unworthy monarch's hands, Weber left the room in a white heat, declaring he would never go back. As he went out into the passage way he met a dilapidated old woman who asked him to direct her to the royal washerwoman. Weber, still boiling with the rage which policy compelled him to conceal in the king's presence, pointed to the door of the king's private apartment, saying, "There."
So in walked the old dame; and, not recognizing the monarch, she told him the young man outside had said she would find the washer-woman there. This so enraged the king that he poured forth a torrent of abuse on her, and summoning an officer, ordered Weber thrown into prison.
In a short time he was released, but the king's wrath followed him. Some time afterward, just as Weber was about to bring out his opera of "St. Sylvana," and as he was on the eve of a gratifying success, this royal rascal had both Weber and his father imprisoned. After a farce of a trial at which the king presided, sentence of banishment was pronounced on them. Weber gladly left Wirtemberg, and after this unpleasant "episode in the life of an artist" gave himself up to composition and the production of those romantic operas which have made his name famous.