Paris with the musicians Wendling and Ramen. In truth, perhaps,
his love affair with Aloysia Weber may have had something to do
with his resolve.)

247. "I prayed to God for His mercy that all might go well, to
His greater glory, and the symphony began....Immediately after
the symphony full of joy I went into the Palais Royal, ate an
iced cream, prayed the rosary as I had promised to do, and went
home. I am always best contented at home and always will be, or
with a good, true, honest German."

(Paris, July 3, 1778, to his father. The symphony in question is
no longer in existence, although Mozart wanted to write it down
again at a later date.)

248. "I must tell you my mother, my dear mother, is no more.--God
has called her to Himself; He wanted her, I see that clearly, and
I must submit to God's will. He gave her to me, and it was His to
take her away. My friend, I am comforted, not but now, but long
ago. By a singular grace of God I endured all with steadfastness
and composure. When her illness grew dangerous I prayed God for
two things only,--a happy hour of death for my mother, and
strength and courage for myself. God heard me in His loving
kindness, heard my prayer and bestowed the two mercies in largest
measure."

(Paris, July 3, 1778, to his good friend Bullinger, in Salzburg,
who was commissioned gently to bear the intelligence to Mozart's
father. At the same time Mozart, with considerate deception,
wrote to his father about his mother's illness without mentioning