Dearest Eduard,
.—. The day after tomorrow I join the Duke of Weimar's party at Schloss Wilhelmsthal, and shall remain there several days. After that I should have liked to wait upon Cardinal Hohenlohe in Schillingsfurst; but His Eminence is at present at Bad Ragaz (Switzerland) undergoing some after-cure for a foot-trouble, the result of some accident he met with last winter. When I receive his answer I shall so arrange things that my visit to Schillingsfurst is paid as is agreeable in tempore opportuno.
From the 3rd to the 15th August I shall be in Bayreuth; after that I shall this year end with Weimar (without playing "Tannhauser" there, as a guest!) at the Carl-August Festival on September 3rd, for which I have written a short and simple chorus in popular style, the text of which is furnished by King David: "The Lord preserveth the souls of His saints, and light is sown for the righteous."
In contemplating this light in all humility,
I am, in true affection,
Thine,
F. Liszt
Weimar, July 17th, 1875
Enclosed are a few words for our Marie. If I had to choose a cousin I should choose her. Hence I confess my innermost elective-affinity with papa and daughter.
Lenbach's wondrously inspired portrait of Madame Moukhanoff will tomorrow be sent back to Vienna to the Countess Coudenhoven.