I have decided to apply to the King of Saxony for a pardon, and to do so by means of a document in which I shall frankly confess my too great precipitancy and moreover assert, giving my exact motives, that my promise never in any way to meddle in political matters again is made from the very bottom of my heart. The regrettable aspect of the thing is that in case of determined hostility on the other side, such a letter might easily be made public in some way or other, in which event I might be forced to make public protest against some false and humiliating interpretation of my action, thus causing a disastrous breach which might render reconciliation impossible for all time. Upon mature consideration, therefore, I still think it would be best if my petition were to be conveyed to the King by word of mouth through some third person. But as far as my own ease of mind and my sole hope of success is concerned, this can only be done by yourself.
Accordingly I put the critical question to you to-day. Will you undertake to ask an audience of the King of Saxony, introduced by a letter from the Grand Duke of Weimar? I have no need to coach you in what you should say to the King at such an audience, but we should certainly agree that, in the plea for my pardon, all possible stress should be laid on the fact that I am an artist, in order to excuse and explain my political excesses on that ground, and upon that of my individual temperament as an artist, and have this taken into consideration as the only reason for my pardon. As to the act of excess itself and its consequences lasting over some years, I am ready to admit that I now feel myself I was in error and carried away by passion, although I am not conscious of having actually committed the crime attributed to me in the sentence passed by the Court upon me, and it must, therefore, be difficult for me to admit its justice.
As to my future conduct, however, I should be ready to make any binding declaration required of me in evidence of my purified and emended judgment, which at present shows me the things of the world in a light in which I did not see them formerly, and which is now in every respect my guide in matters of my art, but which will never more lead me into any field of political speculation. Apart from this, you might also have to give assurance that my return to Germany should not be the occasion of any kind of demonstration, a thing which, even should it be directed solely to the artist, might easily be interpreted by ill-wishers as being of a political nature. Fortunately, as an artist I have arrived at a stage at which I have in view only my art and its perfection and in no sense the applause of the mob. I should not even mind, in the event of one of my operas being performed, whether I conducted it personally, but should only care to ensure that the performers and the conductor had the right interpretation by assisting at rehearsals. For the rest, I undertake in my writings even in those of a purely aesthetic nature to avoid anything that might be misleading or even provocative, such as formerly may have escaped me in my excitability. Were the King to reject my petition, there still remains open the possibility of mediation through one of the Prussian ministers (who has been proposed to me for this eventuality); yet I do not rely much upon this, while I expect everything from you and your personal intercession.
Richard Wagner
Source: Letters of Richard Wagner, Volume 1, ed. Altmann/Hull (London: Dent, 1927), No. 299