Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh (7 October 1876) ... I should like to be with you both, my
boy. And thank God there is some improvement, though you are
still weak. And you will be longing to see Mother, and now that
I hear that you are going home with her, I think of the words
of Conscience:
“I have been ill, my mind was tired, my soul
disillusioned and my body suffering. I whom God has endowed at
least with moral energy and a strong instinct of affection, I
fell in the abyss of the most bitter discouragement and I felt
with horror how a deadly poison penetrated my stifled heart. I
spent three months on the moors, you know that beautiful region
where the soul retires within itself and enjoys a delicious
rest, where everything breathes calm and peace; where the soul
in presence of God's immaculate creation throws off the yoke of
conventions, forgets society, and loosens its bonds, with the
strength of renewed youth; where each thought takes the form of
prayer, where everything that is not in harmony with fresh and
free nature...
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh (13 October 1876) ... if Anna can go too, we might come together. And
now winter is slowly approaching again - try to be your old
self by that time. How welcome is that Christmastime in winter.
Oh! my boy, I look forward so much to the time when it will be
cold here and I shall have to make my rounds at Turnham
Green.
When I think of you as one “who comforts his mother,
and who is worthy to be comforted by his mother,” I
almost envy you. But try to get better soon. Yesterday, I asked
Mr. Jones to let me go to Holland, but he would not allow it,
and at last he said, “Write to your mother; if she
approves, I will too.”
What beautiful poems are De Genestet's 1
“On the Mountains of Sorrow” and “When I was
a Boy.”
A handshake for both of you and for the Roos family, and for
Willem and any others you see whom I know. And let me hear soon
from you again and believe me,
Your loving brother, Vincent
A popular Dutch preacher-poet....
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to His Parents (17-18 November 1876) ... Dear Father and Mother,
Thank God that Theo has almost recovered, and bravo that he
has already walked with Father in the snow to the Heike [a
hamlet near Etten]; how I wish I could have been together with
you both. It is already late, and early tomorrow morning I must
go to London and Lewisham, for Mr. Jones. I hope to visit the
Gladwells, and it will be late in the evening when I come
back.
Where do Mr. Jones and others get their incomes? Yes, I have
often thought about it myself. A saying here is: God takes care
of those who work for Him. I am longing to speak and consult
with you about this question.
And then you asked me if I still teach the boys; generally I
do so until one o'clock in the afternoon, and then after one
o'clock I go out for Mr. Jones, or sometimes give lessons to
Mr. Jones's children or to a few boys in town. And then in the
evening and between times I write in my sermon book.
Last Sunday I was at Turnham Green early to teach at Sunday
school...
Letter from Vincent van Gogh to Theo van Gogh (3 August 1877) ... me a very cheerful letter from
Helvoirt. I also heard from home that you had a 40-guilder bill
from Dr. Coster; that is a big sum, and paying it will remind
you of the feeling of having a tooth pulled. If only I could
help you a little, but you know that I possess neither gold nor
silver. I often have to resort to all kinds of devices to get
money for the collections in church - by changing stamps for
pennies in a tobacco shop, for instance. But, my boy, by
struggling we can keep on, and you know that it is written that
the poor will be blessed in the Kingdom of God.
Whenever I see Uncle Vincent, I am struck anew by something
indescribably charming and, I should say, something good and
spiritual in him; I do not know what to call it. Father has it
even more; Uncle Jan, in another way; and it is also in Uncle
Cor. Even in a hundred people you would not always find one
like them, so let us carefully treasure their memory and their
image. Can it be what Fénelon described in
...
