281.

PETITION TO THE MAGISTRACY.[1]

Oct. 30, 1819.

GENTLEMEN,--

My brother, Carl van Beethoven, died on November 5, 1815, leaving a boy
twelve years old,--his son Carl. In his will, by clause 5, he bequeathed to
me the guardianship of the boy, and in the codicil B he expressed a wish
that his widow, Johanna, should have a share in this duty, adding that, for
the sake of his child, he recommended her to submit to my guidance. This
explicit declaration of the father, added to my legal claim, I being the
nearest relative (clause 198), entitles me clearly to the guardianship of
my nephew, Carl van Beethoven; and the Court of Justice, by their Decree E,
committed to me, under existing circumstances, the guardianship, to the
exclusion moreover of Beethoven's widow. A journey on business having
compelled me to be for some time absent, I did not object to an official
guardian supplying my place for the time, which was effected by the
nomination of the Town Sequestrator, Herr Nussböck.

Being now, however, finally settled here, and the welfare of the boy very
precious to me, both love and duty demand that I should resume my rights;
especially as this talented lad is coming to an age when greater care and
expense must be bestowed on his education, on which his whole future
prospects depend. This duty ought not to be confided to any woman, far less
to his mother, who possesses neither the will nor the power to adopt those
measures indispensable to a manly and suitable education.