Most Honoured Princess!
As the Prince’s Counsellor declared that my question could not be dealt with until a guardian had been chosen, but as I now hear that Your Excellency has assumed the guardianship yourself and yet does not receive anyone, I am enclosing my most humble petition in writing and at the same time begged that it may be considered very soon. For you can readily conceive that when one has been in the habit of counting on something for certain, it is painful to have to forgo it for such a long time, the more so as I have to support entirely an unfortunate sick brother together with his family, and, disregarding my own necessities, have spent all my available capital. For I was tempted to hope that by drawing my income I could at least manage to pay for my own support. In any case how justify my demands are you may gather from the fact that I loyally reported the 60 ducats which the late Prince advanced to me at Prague on my salary. Yet the Prince’s Counsellor himself declared that I ought to have kept quiet about that sum which I had received, since the late Prince had told neither him nor the Treasurer anything about it ––
Forgive me for troubling you with this matter, but necessity drives me to do so. In a few days I shall take the liberty of enquiring about my petition from the Princes Counsellor or whomsoever you will be gracious enough to refer me to ––
Most Honoured and Excellent Princess,
Your devoted servant
Ludwig van Beethoven