Beethoven apologizes for the delay in returning the proofs of the Variations WoO 67 to his publisher Simrock in Bonn and praises the good engraving. He also promises, as already announced, to send further works. He suggests Traeg as commission agent, saying that Simrock should now get in touch with him himself. (Traeg did actually sell the Variations from January 1795 onwards, as can be seen from an advertisement in the Wiener Zeitung.)
Beethoven tells him about the hot summer in Vienna and about the foiled rebellion of the Jacobite Franz Hebenstreit against the Emperor and the nobility. Beethoven's sober assessment of the population's view is, "I believe that as long as an Austrian can still have Braun's beer and sausages, he will not revolt".
Beethoven jokingly asks Simrock to fashion one of his daughters as his bride, as he will certainly not stay "unmarried" in Bonn for long. (At the time he wrote this letter Beethoven was still reckoning on returning to Bonn, as he had at first only come to Vienna to study.) He enquires after the situation in Bonn and after Ries, asking whether Simrock has already performed his "partie" (probably the Octet op. 103). Finally he asks for author's copies of WoO 66.
