to settle in England. "You shall have a house at Windsor
during the summer months," she said, and then, looking towards the King,
added, "We can sometimes make music tete-a-tete." "Oh! I am not jealous
of Haydn," interposed the King; "he is a good, honourable German." "To
preserve that reputation," replied Haydn, "is my greatest pride."

Most of Haydn's appearances were made at the concerts regularly
organized for the entertainment of royalty at Carlton House and
Buckingham Palace, and Haydn looked to be paid for his services. Whether
the King and the Prince expected him to give these services in return
for the supposed honour they had conferred upon him does not appear.
At all events, Haydn sent in a bill for 100 guineas sometime after his
return to Vienna, and the amount was promptly paid by Parliament.

A Valuable Parrot

Among the other attentions bestowed upon him while in London, mention
should be made of the present of a talking parrot. Haydn took the bird
with him, and it was sold for 140 pounds after his death. Another gift
followed him to Vienna. A Leicester manufacturer named Gardiner--he
wrote a book on The Music of Nature, and other works--sent him half a
dozen pairs of cotton stockings, into which were woven the notes of the
Austrian Hymn, "My mother bids me bind my hair," the Andante from
the "Surprise" Symphony, and other thematic material. These musical
stockings, as a wit has observed, must have come as a REAL surprise
to Haydn. It was this same Leicester manufacturer, we may remark
parenthetically, who annotated the translation of Bombet's Life of
Haydn, made by his fellow-townsman, Robert Brewin, in 1817.

Haydn's return from London was hastened by the receipt of a
communication from Esterhaz. Prince Anton had been succeeded by his
son Nicolaus, who was as fond of music as the rest of his family, and
desired to keep his musical establishment up to the old standard. During
the summer of 1794 he had written to Haydn, asking if the composer would
care to retain his appointment as director. Haydn was only too glad to
assent; and now that his London engagements were fulfilled, he saw no
reason for remaining longer in England. Accordingly he started for home
on the 15th of August 1795, travelling by way of Hamburg, Berlin and
Dresden, and arriving at Vienna in the early days of September.

Rohrau Reminiscences

Soon after his return he was surprised to receive an invitation to visit
his native Rohrau