MY DEAR BOY,--
I did not wish to say anything to you till I found my health improving here, which, however, is scarcely even yet the case. I came here with a cold and catarrh, which were very trying to me, my constitution being naturally rheumatic, which will, I fear, soon cut the thread of my life, or, still worse, gradually wear it away. The miserable state of my digestive organs, too, can only be restored by medicines and diet, and for this I have to thank my faithful servants! You will learn how constantly I am in the open air when I tell you that to-day for the first time I properly (or improperly, though it was involuntary) resumed my suit to my Muse. I must work, but do not wish it to be known. Nothing can be more tempting (to me at least) than the enjoyment of beautiful Nature at these baths, but nous sommes trop pauvres, et il faut écrire ou de n'avoir pas de quoi. Get on, and make every preparation for your examination, and be unassuming, so that you may prove yourself higher and better than people expect. Send your linen here at once; your gray trousers must still be wearable, at all events at home; for, my dear son, you are indeed very dear to me! My address is, "At the coppersmith's," &c. Write instantly to say that you have got this letter. I will send a few lines to that contemptible creature, Schindler, though I am most unwilling to have anything to do with such a wretch. If we could write as quickly as we think and feel, I could say a great deal not a little remarkable; but for to-day I can only add that I wish a certain Carl may prove worthy of all my love and unwearied care, and learn fully to appreciate it.
Though not certainly exacting, as you know, still there are many ways in which we can show those who are better and nobler than ourselves that we acknowledge their superiority.
I embrace you from my heart.
Your faithful and true
FATHER.
351.
TO THE ARCHDUKE RUDOLPH.
August, 1823.
I am really very ill, and not suffering from my eyes alone. I intend to drag myself to-morrow to Baden, to look out for a lodging, and to go there altogether in the course of a few days. The air in town has a very bad effect on my whole organization, and has really injured my health, having gone twice to town to consult my physicians. It will be easier for me to repair to Y.R.H. in Baden. I am quite inconsolable, both on account of Y.R.H. and myself, that my usefulness is thus limited. I have marked some things in the Variations, but I can explain these better verbally.
[K.]