by, the other day an ecclesiastic called on me.  He is the leader of the choir at St. Peter’s, in Salzburg, and knows you very well; his name is Zendorff; perhaps you may not remember him?  He gives lessons here on the piano—­in Paris.  N. B., have not you a horror of the very name of Paris?  I strongly recommend him as organist to the Archbishop; he says he would be satisfied with three hundred florins.  Now farewell!  Be careful of your health, and strive to be cheerful.  Remember that possibly you may ere long have the satisfaction of tossing off a good glass of Rhenish wine with your son—­your truly happy son.  Adieu!

20th.—­Pray forgive my being so late in sending you my congratulations, but I wished to present my sister with a little prelude.  The mode of playing it I leave to her own feeling.  This is not the kind of prelude to pass from one key to another, but merely a capriccio to try over a piano.  My sonatas [Kochel, Nos. 301-306] are soon to be published.  No one as yet would agree to give me what I asked for them, so I have been obliged at last to give in, and to let them go for 15 louis-d’or.  It is the best way too to make my name known here.  As soon as they appear I will send them to you by some good opportunity (and as economically as possible) along with your “School for the Violin,” Vogler’s book, Hullmandel’s sonatas, Schroter’s concertos, some of my pianoforte sonatas, the sinfonie concertante, two quartets for the flute, and a concerto for harp and flute [Kochel, No. 298, 299].

Pray, what do you hear about the war?  For three days I was very depressed and sorrowful; it is, after all, nothing to me, but I am so sensitive that I feel quickly interested in any matter.  I heard that the Emperor had been defeated.  At first it was reported that the King of Prussia had surprised the Emperor, or rather the troops commanded by Archduke Maximilian; that two thousand had fallen on the Austrian side, but fortunately the Emperor had come to his assistance with forty thousand men, but was forced to retreat.  Secondly, it was said that the King had attacked the Emperor himself, and entirely surrounded him, and that if General Laudon had not come to his relief with eighteen hundred cuirassiers, he would have been taken prisoner; that sixteen hundred cuirassiers had been killed, and Laudon himself shot dead.  I have not, however, seen this in any newspaper, but to-day I was told that the Emperor had invaded Saxony with forty thousand troops.  Whether the news be true I know not.  This is a fine griffonage, to be sure! but I have not patience to write prettily; if you can only read it, it will do well enough.  A propos, I saw in the papers that, in a skirmish between the Saxons and Croats, a Saxon captain of grenadiers named Hopfgarten had lost his life, and was much lamented.  Can this be the kind, worthy Baron Hopfgarten whom we knew at Paris with Herr von Bose?  I should grieve if it were, but I would rather he died this glorious death than have sacrificed his life, as too many young men do here, to dissipation and vice.  You know this already, but it is now worse than ever.