CHAPTER IX. The Last Three Years of Beethoven’s Life

in Bonn--Gleanings of Fact and Anecdote--A Visit from Haydn--Merry Journey up the Rhine--Beethoven’s Meeting with Abbé Sterkel--He Extemporizes--His Playing Described by Carl Ludwig Junker--He Shows a Cantata to Haydn--The Extent of Max Franz’s Patronage of the Composer--Social and Artistic Life in Bonn--Madame von Breuning a Guardian Angel--The Circle of Companions--Friendships with Young Women--Jeannette d’Honrath--Fräulein Westerhold--Eleonore von Breuning--Beethoven Leaves Bonn Forever--The Parting with His Friends--Incidents of His Journey to Vienna 110