One can never know if a child will grow into a man, and if so what kind of man; so I could not foresee when I introduced the promising boy Liszt and his father in 1823, to Beethoven, what kind of musical vandal would grow out of this young talent. Did Beethoven have a premonition? The reception was not the usual friendly one and I had reason at the time not to be particularly satisfied, since the prodigy had interested me in an unusual degree. Beethoven himself noticed that he had been somewhat lax in his interest in little Franz, which made it easy to persuade him to honor the concert of little Liszt with his presence in order to atone for the indifference he had first shown. In the third edition of his book (1860, Part II, p. 178) he says: The author knows of only one reception to which the term “friendly” can not be applied. It was in the case of little Franz Liszt, who, accompanied by his father, was presented by me. This unfriendliness grew out of the excessive idolization of this truly sensational talent; but chiefly it was due to the request made of Beethoven to give the twelve-year-old lad a theme for improvisation at his farewell concert--a request which was as indiscreet as it was unreasonable. But hyperenthusiasm always betrays a want of timeliness. It is not impossible that this enthusiasm, after Beethoven had declined the request with obvious displeasure, yet managed to secure from Emperor Franz, or at least Archduke Rudolph, a theme for the young virtuoso. The idolatry of the wonder-child gave the master, who had gone through so severe a school of experience, a text for many observations on the hindrances and clogs to the equable development of extraordinary talents as soon as they were made the darlings of the multitude. Sketches of the life of Liszt have stated that Beethoven attended the farewell concert of 1823; in Schilling’s encyclopædia it is added that Beethoven at this concert shook the hand of little Liszt and thereby designated him as worthy of the name of artist. Beethoven did _not_ attend the concert; nor any private concert after 1816.[91]