Baron Blaze de Bury, in a musical feuilleton contributed to the _Revue
des Deux Mondes_, no doubt more in fun than ill feeling, wrote as
follows on Liszt and his Hungarian sword:
"We must have dancers, songstresses, and pianists. We have enthusiasm
and gold for their tour de force. We abandon Petrarch in the streets to
bring Essler to the Capitol; we suffer Beethoven and Weber to die of
hunger, to give a sword of honor to Mr. Liszt."
Liszt was furious when this met his eye, and wrote immediately a long
letter to the editor of the _Revue_, of which the following is the
essential passage:
"The sword which has been given to me at Pesth is a reward awarded by a
nation under a national form. In Hungary--in this country of ancient and
chivalrous manners--the sword has a patriotic significance. It is the
sign of manhood par excellence; it is the arm of all men who have the
right to carry arms. While six out of the most remarkable men of my
country presented it to me, with the unanimous acclamations of my
compatriots, it was to acknowledge me again as a Hungarian after an
absence of fifteen years."