This practical help was invaluable to Beethoven, for with the aid which he had from the Elector, it was almost enough to assure him independence.  It not only increased his opportunities for study, but, his mind being free from care, he was enabled to profit more by his studies.  The Lichnowskys were older than Beethoven and were childless.  He was allowed to do as he pleased; a privilege of which he availed himself without hesitation.  They entertained considerably and their social position was unexceptionable.  They maintained a small orchestra for the performance of the music he liked and for his own compositions.  He was always the honored guest, and met the best people of Vienna.  The devotion of the Princess, in particular, was always in evidence.

It can be readily understood that with such an original character as Beethoven, headstrong and impatient of restraint, a pleasant smooth life was not to be expected.  The arrangement would seem to have been an excellent one for him, but he did not so regard it.  Already at odds with the world, misunderstanding people and being misunderstood, he soon came to realize that a life of solitude was the only resource for a man constituted as he was.  He never considered himself under any obligation to the Prince, or rather, he acted as though he felt the obligation to be the other way.  He acted independently from the start, taking his meals at a restaurant whenever it suited his convenience, and showing an ungovernable temper when interfered with in any way.  But the kindness and patience of the Princess never failed her; after any trouble it was she who smoothed the difficulty and restored harmony.  She was like an indulgent mother to him; in her eyes he could do no wrong.

Prince Lichnowsky was wholly unaccustomed to this sort of thing.  It is certain that he never met with anything of the kind from Mozart, and there were times when his patience was sorely tried by Beethoven.  The Princess, with a sweetness and graciousness which Beethoven appreciated, always made peace between them.  He afterward said that her solicitude was carried to such a length that she wished to put him under a glass shade, “that no unworthy person might touch or breathe on me.”

Of course this kind of thing only confirmed the young man in his course.  It was kindness, but it was not wisdom.  Few people are so constituted as to be able to stand praise and adulation without the character suffering thereby.  Censure would have been much better for him.  When the individual is attacked, when he is made to assume the defensive, he first discovers the vulnerable points in his armor, and as opportunity offers strengthens them.  Beethoven’s ungovernable temper and apparent ingratitude are frequently commented on, but the ingratitude was only apparent.  When he came to a knowledge of himself and discovered that he was in the wrong in any controversy or quarrel, and it must be admitted they were frequent enough