Be thanked for the kindly friendship and care you bestow upon him.  I hope he will not only profit by them, but honour them.  The rare happiness of living near you, and of being distinguished by you, should form and mature him as an artist and as a man.

Ever thine,

F. L.

July 18th, 1858.

264.

Dearest Richard,

Before the 18th inst.  I cannot get away from here; the centenary celebration of Jena University will take place on the 15th, 16th, and 17th, and I have promised to take part in it.  Apart from this, I expect in a few days a visit, which is of importance to me.

It was my intention to see you at the beginning of September, but I will gladly undertake the journey a few weeks sooner.  You on your part must delay your journey by a fortnight, and write to me by return whether I shall find you at Zurich on the 20th instant.  I should, of course, not make this journey unless I could be certain of being a few days with you.  Trips of pleasure or recreation are not my affair any longer, and I could not consent to one.  On the other hand, I shall be genuinely pleased to see you again.

Your

F. Liszt.

August 6th, 1858.

265.

Geneva, August 20th, 1858.

Dearest Franz,

Kindly make inquiries whether I might stay a short time at Venice which does not belong to the German confederacy without being claimed, extradited and otherwise molested.  The vise of my passport I got from the Austrian minister without any difficulty.  I daresay the Saxon minister would have given me his vise too (in order to get hold of me).

If there is any danger, kindly let the Grand Duke intercede for me, so that I may stay at Venice without being bothered.

I should be very thankful to him, for that quiet, interesting city tempts me greatly.  I shall delay my departure till I hear from you; in any case I must wait till the heat is over.

Farewell, and be thanked for all your friendship.

Your

R. W.

Maison Fazy, 30 ETAGE.

266.

Geneva, August, 24th, 1858.

Dearest Franz,

Best thanks for your reply.  It somewhat startled me, and I made inquiries through a friend in Berne of the Austrian minister there.  I enclose his answer, from which you will see that for the present I have nothing to fear at Venice.  Whether they will allow me to stay there for any length of time is a different question which is of great importance to me.  I feel the necessity of living in strict seclusion for some considerable period, in order to devote myself entirely to my work.  The country will not, in the long run, do for this, and in an indifferent town I might, at last, be reduced to making acquaintance with commonplace people—­ the worst of all evils.  One of the interesting, large