Most Excellent Herr Schumann, I have been in Paris almost a year and a half, and it is magnificent that I have not yet starved to death. You will soon hear great things of me, for I am upon the point of becoming immensely famous. I hear that you have set Heine's Grenadiers to music and that the Marseillaise comes in at the close. Last winter I composed it too and I too introduced the Marseillaise at the close. I composed my Grenadiers straight away to a French translation, and it was sung here and there and brought me the Legion of Honour and a yearly pension direct from Louis Philippe's privy purse.
These honours have not made me proud and I herewith, quite privately, rededicate my composition to you, notwithstanding it is already dedicated to Heine. You will know how to acknowledge this distinction and how to make the necessary declarations. Similarly I may tell you that I enthusiastically accept the private dedication of your Grenadiers and await the dedication copy.
P.S. Do not pitch into Meyerbeer so vigorously. I have that man to thank for everything, and more especially for the fame so shortly to be mine.
Richard Wagner
Source: Letters of Richard Wagner, Volume 1, ed. Altmann/Hull (London: Dent, 1927), No. 52