(To Mdlle. de Girardi, who had sung his praises in a poem.)

198. "It is my sincere desire that whatever shall be said of me
hereafter shall adhere strictly to the truth in every respect
regardless of who may be hurt thereby, me not excepted."

(Reported by Schindler, who also relates that when Beethoven
handed him documents to be used in the biography a week before his
death, he said to him and Breuning: "But in all things
severely the truth; for that I hold you to a strict
accountability.")

199. "Now you can help me to find a wife. If you find a beautiful
woman in F. who, mayhap, endows my music with a sigh,--but she
must be no Elise Burger--make a provisional engagement. But she
must be beautiful, for I can love only the beautiful; otherwise I
might love myself."

(In 1809, to Baron von Gleichenstein. As for the personal
reference it seems likely that Beethoven referred to Elise
Burger, second wife of the poet G. August Burger, with whom he
had got acquainted after she had been divorced and become an
elocutionist.)

200. "Am I not a true friend? Why do you conceal your necessities
from me? No friend of mine must suffer so long as I have
anything."

(To Ferdinand Ries, in 1801. Ries's father had been kind to
Beethoven on the death of his mother in 1787.)