[82] See Vol. II, p. 60, of the revised edition of “Ludwig van Beethoven’s Leben” by Thayer, 1910. Chapter XV General Bernadotte--His Connection with the “Heroic” Symphony--Rival Pianists--J. Wölffl--Dragonetti and Cramer--Compositions of the Years 1798 and 1799. Early in the year 1798, a political event occurred which demands notice here from its connection with one of Beethoven’s noblest and most original works--the “Sinfonia Eroica.” The singular tissue of error which, owing to carelessness in observing dates, has been woven in relation to its origin may be best destroyed by a simple statement of fact. The extraordinary demands made by the French Directory upon the Austrian government as preliminary to the renewal of diplomatic intercourse, after the peace of Campo Formio--such as a national palace and French theatre for the minister and the right of jurisdiction over all Frenchmen in the Austrian dominions--all of which were rejected by the Imperial government, had aroused to a high pitch the public curiosity both as to the man who might be selected for the appointment and as to the course he might adopt. This curiosity was by no means diminished by the intelligence that the new minister was Jean Baptiste Bernadotte, the young general who had borne so important a part in the recent invasion of Istria. He arrived in Vienna on February 5th, 1798. The state of the Empress’s health, who was delivered of the Archduchess Maria Clementine on the 1st of March, delayed the private audience of Bernadotte for the presentation of his credentials to the Emperor until the second of that month, and his public audience until the 8th of April. During the festivities of the court, which then took place, Bernadotte was always present, and a reporter of that day says both the Emperor and Empress held more conversation with him than with any other of the “cercle.” This familiar intercourse, however, came speedily to an end; for on the 13th Bernadotte had the rashness to display the hated tricolor from his balcony and to threaten to defend it by force. A riot occurred, and it was thought that in the extreme excitement of popular feeling nothing but the strong detachments of cavalry and infantry detailed for his protection saved his life--saved it to ascend the throne of Sweden on the twentieth anniversary of his arrival in Vienna! Since etiquette allowed a foreign minister neither to make nor receive visits in his public capacity until after his formal reception at court, the General, during the two months of his stay, except the last five days, “lived very quietly.” Those who saw him praised him as “well behaved, sedate and modest.” In his train was Rudolph Kreutzer, the great violinist. BERNADOTTE AND THE HEROIC SYMPHONY