My dear Friend!
How am I to thank you for all the good you are constantly doing for me? Just tell me that!
So I thank you now again for taking care of my poor finances, which, considering all the details, surely is often troublesome! As a reward for your sympathetic efforts, I express the hope that one day my affairs will bring both you and me satisfaction and joy through good prosperity.
For the time being I still find myself in such an exceptional situation that good may probably be expected from a calmer future. My immediate needs and the sacrifices which I still have to face are met by the encouraging prospects of not inconsiderable revenue from the management of my theatrical enterprises. Above all, that well known lawsuit is nearing victory, as I have gathered from official communications; and I hope it will give you some satisfaction that soon you may see my finances in an honorable state again.
However, friend, I really cannot accept that you continue to credit interest at a rate of 4 per cent to my account! I know from experience that nowhere do they compute it so favorably within a current account. Won't you rather distribute this surplus accrued by your exaggerated generosity among the young men of your office who have so much trouble with my affairs?
Source: Letters of Richard Wagner: The Burrell Collection, ed. John N. Burk (Macmillan, 1950), No. 320