Such were the continual insults and opposition borne by the father and son, each on behalf of the other. "I hope" wrote Wolfgang, "that you are less annoyed than when I was in Salzburg, for I must acknowledge that I was the cause of it. I was badly treated; I did not deserve it. You naturally took my part, but too strongly; I assure you that was the chief reason that I hurried out of Salzburg." To this his father answers (November 17, 1777): "You are quite right as to my extreme annoyance at the tyrannical treatment you received; it gnawed at my heart, and prevented my sleeping; it was always in my thoughts, and would in the end have destroyed me. My dear son, when you are happy, I am happy; and your mother and sister—we are all happy; and this happiness I hope for, by the grace of God and my confidence in your own good sense." L. Mozart saw from the beginning that Wolfgang would never fill a position worthy of him in Salzburg; and he exerted himself in vain to procure a post for him at some other court. The greatest caution was necessary to keep his negotiations a secret at Salzburg; for his PLANS FOR MOZART'S FUTURE. enemies would not fail to seize the opportunity of injuring him, perhaps of displacing him altogether. Aware of the folly of endangering his assured position, uncomfortable though it might be, he strove to allay the growing impatience of his son. The latter desired that the whole family should gain their livelihood by a grand professional tour, until they could find a secure and happier position in some place or other. His father, wiser and more experienced, pointed out to him (December 18, 1777) how entirely their circumstances had altered since his childhood, how hard it would be to gain subsistence for a whole family journeying about, how uncertain their means of maintenance would be; Leopold duly appreciated also the cares and dangers of a nomadic life. Nor was he more inclined to trust his son entirely alone. He knew Wolfgang's incapacity in all the concerns of practical life, particularly in travelling, since he "did not know the differences of coinage, and had no conception of packing up, or anything of that sort." He saw the hindrances which envy and mistrust would be sure to lay in the path of a young man who was striving to win his way by surpassing talent and great doings. Above all, he feared the temperament of his son, knowing that his careless frankness and good nature, coupled with his excitability and proneness to hasty rejoinder, would make him the easy prey of any one who might wish to use or to injure him. He addresses Wolfgang in words of warning (February 16, 1778):—
My dear Son,—You are too hot and hasty in all your affairs. Your character has entirely changed since your childhood and boyhood. You were grave and earnest as a child; and when you were busy over your music, no one might venture the least jesting with you. Even your countenance was so grave that many people in different countries believed that your precocious talent and serious face betokened an early death. Now, on the contrary, it appears to me that you are far too ready to answer jestingly on every occasion, which is the first step to a kind of familiarity which one should eschew if one desires to win respect in the world. It is your good heart which causes you to see no fault in a man, to give him your full confidence, provided he only extols you to the skies; whereas, as a boy, your excess of modesty made you cry when people praised you too much.
L. Mozart knew also that Wolfgang would be so engrossed in his art as to forget everything else, more especially whatever would be to his own advantage. He trembled for the dangers which would beset the inexperienced youth, leaving the narrow sphere of provincial life to encounter the temptations of the great world. He strove with all his might, therefore, to instil patience into his son, and represented to him that his probation in Salzburg was a necessary preparation for the tour, which would have far more certainty of success when he was somewhat maturer in age and education.
But even this patience had its limits. Wolfgang had not left Salzburg since he had produced the "Finta Giardiniera" at Munich, in 1775; if he did not wish to be altogether forgotten, he must again display his powers as a composer and executant. He had prepared himself for such a tour as he proposed by prolonged study and solo compositions. The numerous fair copies in the little books we have named had been made with the same object in view; they could be readily packed, and always at hand for performance, or to be copied again as presents. When everything was ready, the father and son applied to the Archbishop for permission to travel; this, as well as a petition for an increase of salary, was roundly refused; the Archbishop giving as his reason that he would not have his subjects "going on begging expeditions."
But the cup was now full to overflowing; Wolfgang begged leave to resign his post at Salzburg, and the Archbishop, enraged at having the tables turned upon him, accepted the resignation in the most ungracious manner. It was even expected that his anger would extend to the father, and that he had given orders to strike L. Mozart's name off the list of his musicians. This, however, was not the case; with an ungracious remark the Archbishop allowed him to retain his place.
Wolfgang's resignation excited much notice in Salzburg; and the universal regret was shared even by those immediately round the Archbishop. Count von Firmian, who was extremely fond of Wolfgang, was rejoicing on his return from a journey (as L. Mozart relates, October 4, 1777) in RESIGNATION OF SERVICE AT COURT. the pleasure that a riding-horse he had purchased for him would give his young friend, when he was met by the lamentable intelligence. When he paid his respects to the Archbishop, the latter remarked: "We have one musician less since you left." He answered, "Your Grace has lost a great performer." "How so?" "He is the greatest clavier-player that I ever heard in my life; he has done your grace good service on the violin, and he is a first-rate composer." Whereupon the Archbishop was silent. Canon Count Jos. Starhemberg too, declared later (June 29, 1778) that Mozart's complaints were fully justified, and that all visitors to Salzburg had admired young Mozart, by whom he himself was quite captivated.
But this turn of affairs gave L. Mozart the deepest anxiety; all the difficulties and objections to the journey pressed upon him with redoubled force now that it was to be undertaken under such unfavourable circumstances. It was, however, rendered inevitable. It would be incompatible with pride or self-respect to purchase Wolfgang's continuance in his office at the cost of abject submission to the Archbishop. It only remained, by energy and foresight, so to make use of circumstances as to preserve their honour with the Archbishop, and to insure a fixed position for Wolfgang. The visits must be arranged to the larger towns, especially residences, where concerts might cover the cost of the journey, and commissions for compositions might render possible a lengthened stay, ending, perhaps, in a settled engagement. The tour was planned with these ends in view, and Leopold was never weary of impressing upon his son that his sole endeavour must be to win a name, to make money, and to obtain a position; personal gratification and mere amusement must be kept altogether in the background. "Money-making," he writes (October 15, 1777), "must engross all your attention, and economy must be all your care, otherwise a journey is of no profit; on the contrary, it brings a man into debt." And again (November 27, 1777): "The object of the journey is, was, and must be the acquirement of a fixed position and the making of money." His extensive connections and great local knowledge enabled him to trace his EARLY MANHOOD. son's path out, and to gain him excellent introductions, and his zeal and activity were indefatigable. Wolfgang was enjoined to become acquainted with persons and events, to grasp quickly his probable prospects in any place, and either at once to turn them to good account, or if unfavourable, to leave the place. But Wolfgang had neither the experience nor the practical shrewdness of his father; he felt secure of his art, in which alone he lived, and imagined the rest would come of itse(l)f. The prospect of at last escaping from detested Salzburg was apparently too engrossing to allow him to pay much heed to his father's warnings. The father knew all this, and knew that he must not go alone; he could not accompany him himself, and he therefore took the hard resolve of parting with his wife and sending her forth with their son.
He was quite aware that, as a woman, she could not occupy the same position towards Wolfgang as he himself; and he must have felt, too, that intense as her love for Wolfgang was, she had not the energy or superiority of intellect necessary to guide him. But she knew the world, and was an experienced traveller, and so he hoped that she would supply the carefulness and economy which Wolfgang lacked; she was specially enjoined to keep an exact account, and at once to inform her husband of any propositions that were made, that he might advise and direct. She does not seem, however, to have quite answered his expectations, partly because she could not always withstand her son's impatient restlessness, and partly because she yielded to her own inclinations, although she often declared "she was ready to drop with the fatigue of packing-up." But Leopold could rely on her influence on the most important point of all. The mother's presence was a guarantee that her tenderly reared and devoted son would be careful of his health. He hoped, too, that her presence would preserve him from any dangerous or immoral intercourse, on which point he gives Wolfgang the benefit of his own experience (February 16, 1778):—
I sought only the acquaintance and friendship of persons of the higher classes, and even among them I avoided idle young fellows, whatever their rank. I invited no one to visit me frequently, and always preferred visiting others when I pleased. For if I do not care for a man, or am PREPARATIONS FOR TRAVELLING. busy or engaged, I can stay away; but if he comes to me, I am at a loss to get rid of him; and, even if a pleasant visitor, he may hinder me at my work. You are a young man of twenty-two, so that it is not the gravity of your years which will prevent worthless fellows, old or young, from making your acquaintance and endeavouring to entice you to follow their example. One is led on irresistibly, and finds, when too late, that there is no return.
