and three times to Malchus (afterwards Westphalian Minister of Finance),
but no answer. Tell her that if she does not choose to write herself, I beg
that she will at least urge Malchus to do so. At the close of my letter I
venture to make one more request--I am anxious to be so fortunate as again
to possess an Angola waistcoat knitted by your own hand, my dear friend.
Forgive my indiscreet request; it proceeds from my great love for all that
comes from you; and I may privately admit that a little vanity is connected
with it, namely, that I may say I possess something from the best and most
admired young lady in Bonn. I still have the one you were so good as to
give me in Bonn; but change of fashion has made it look so antiquated, that
I can only treasure it in my wardrobe as your gift, and thus still very
dear to me. You would make me very happy by soon writing me a kind letter.
If mine cause you any pleasure, I promise you to do as you wish, and write
as often as it lies in my power; indeed everything is acceptable to me that
can serve to show you how truly I am your admiring and sincere friend,

L. V. BEETHOVEN.

P.S. The variations are rather difficult to play, especially the shake in
the _Coda_; but do not be alarmed at this, being so contrived that you only
require to play the shake, and leave out the other notes, which also occur
in the violin part. I never would have written it in this way, had I not
occasionally observed that there was a certain individual in Vienna who,
when I extemporized the previous evening, not unfrequently wrote down next
day many of the peculiarities of my music, adopting them as his own [for
instance, the Abbé Gelinek]. Concluding, therefore, that some of these
things would soon appear, I resolved to anticipate this. Another reason
also was to puzzle some of the pianoforte teachers here, many of whom are
my mortal foes; so I wished to revenge myself on them in this way, knowing
that they would occasionally be asked to play the variations, when these