in particular, used toward him.  Beethoven is on record as saying that he liked being with the aristocracy.  He seems to have had no difficulty in impressing on the Empress the right concept of his importance as man and artist.  In acknowledgment of the courtesies which he received from her, the master composed for her a Grand Polonaise (in C, opus 89) which, in company with the pianoforte arrangement of the Seventh Symphony he dedicated to her.

Shortly after the assembling of the Congress Beethoven gave a concert for his own benefit, at which the new Cantata as well as the Battle Symphony and the Seventh Symphony were performed.  The Riding Hall, an immense structure, capable of seating six thousand persons was placed at his disposal, for which, however, a large price, one-half the receipts, was exacted, so Frimmel states.  With sublime confidence Beethoven sent out invitations in his own name to the visiting sovereigns and other notabilities, all of whom responded, with the result that the hall was crowded and the concert proved to be a great success.

As a result of the winter’s activities, Beethoven’s finances were greatly improved.  He displayed a degree of business ability during this year, which was not to have been expected from a man of his temperament.  His profits from one source or another were such that he invested money to the extent of ten thousand florins, in shares of the Bank of Austria.  It was his first and only investment, undertaken as a provision for the future.

That Beethoven kept his head in the face of all this adulation is evident from a letter written at this time to a friend at Prague in which he says, “I write nothing about our monarchs and monarchies.  The intellectual realm is the most precious in my eyes, and far above all temporal and spiritual kingdoms.”

It was indeed a brilliant winter, but all this joy was suddenly changed to something akin to terror by the news of Napoleon’s escape from Elba in March of 1815, and that he was assembling his forces for another campaign.  The gayeties had to be discontinued, the members of the Congress confined themselves to the work for which it was convened, the result being that the treaties were signed by the eight powers on June 7, upon which the Congress disbanded.  This was just eleven days before the battle of Waterloo.

In November of this year Beethoven’s brother Karl died, leaving the composer as an heritage his son Karl, then nine years of age.  With the clairvoyance which approaching dissolution often brings, the father saw that the uncle would be a much better guardian for the boy, than the mother, and consigned him to Beethoven’s care almost with his last breath.  It was characteristic of such a man as was Beethoven, to accept the charge without hesitation, from an exaggerated sense of duty; to fight for its possession even, although it revolutionized his life and brought him face to face with all sorts of difficult and untried conditions.