I suppose John is in the West but I have not heard that he is or in any way from him for some time. I am trying to get ready to wind up here and go North. I have written, I believe, proposing arrangements for meeting in Washington and in Phila, New York and Brooklyn but have had no response & do not know at all what to calculate upon—What is wanted of me, or that anything is necessary. If I hear nothing before I leave I may come home as soon as I can without stopping in Phila, Washington or New York. I don’t think that I have command of the situations in either of those places adequately to the requirements of a visit, and rather than visit them with the chance of blundering on my way North, I shd prefer to come home, book up and return. But I think that, if practicable, it wd be better that Jno & I visited them together.

Matters here are not yet quite in a shape to be left. Mr V. is here with Hunt, Mrs Hunt and a number of Mr V’s relations. (Also, with the painter Sargent with whom I have had a sitting) I have not yet been able to confer with Mr V. on any of the important questions upon which his decision is wanted; nor have I with Hunt. There are several matters upon which I seem to be in disagreement with them besides that of the arboretum. I shall try to force conclusions tomorrow, and hope to get away in a few days. But I shall hope to hear from you when Jno is to be in Washington, (Phila, Brooklyn) before I leave. If nothing conclusive has been heard before I start I shall probably come to Brookline with my family as soon as I conveniently can. I do not want to see our clients in Washington, Phila or New York, alone, feeling that I have so little knowledge of any recent doings, reports or requirements of theirs. I believe that I have nothing of their situation or affairs for several months and I do not think it prudent to visit them alone when I feel so ignorant and so much a stranger to their immediate concerns. I shd prefer to come to Boston & return. If you think this would be wrong you must telegraph me on receipt of this, and write fully. If there is an extreme necessity write to Washington, Normandie Hotel, & telegraph me that you have done so and in such a manner that I can tell Mr V. that the necessity of my leaving is urgent. He seems not to be able to conceive that I can have any business more urgent than his. And from day to day, I cannot help feeling that the duty nearest at hand is the most urgent. And there is no end to perplexing duties here. I feel sometimes that the weight of them is a little too much for me. It is an epitome of our whole business, including the laying out and furnishing of a village, of villa districts, of gardens; of all sorts of streets and roads; of extensive water and sewer systems &c. &c. as well as of a great villa, forest &c. And I suppose that I feel the weight of it the more because of depression of health; also because the men with whom I have to deal are not easy to deal with. Some, while honest, are distinctly perverse & [923]self willed. I have heard not a word from John, & have not the least idea of his plans. But I don’t feel that it would be safe to try to get on without him at Washington & Philadelphia. I am sure that he ought to be and that I ought to be, if not you, more in rapport with what is doing on the works for which we are responsible in those places & that our clients & agents ought to be more distinctly dependent on us as to many matters of detail. Do you, does John, do I, feel a suitable personal responsibility as to them? Can we feel that it is right to trust so much as we have been to Manning? I have more confidence than you & John have in Manning, I suppose, but I know that he is by no means at one with us yet, in matters of taste, and I felt last year that we were hardly meeting our professional responsibility in the Phila work.

As I believe I have said, the new forester, who is living with us, promises well. He is a simple, naive sort of German gentleman. Contrary to my expectations he has had another house than that in which we live assigned to him, (Mr V. seems in his own mind to have assigned this permanently to us) and my wife and daughter are helping him plan the furnishing and management of it. He evidently needs such assistance very much, being a complete stranger to American arrangements.

The matter which gives me the greatest concern here is the Arboretum but I am trying to keep from thinking much about it till I can confer with you and, afterwards, with Profr Sargent. Before I leave, I shall {have} to take Mr. V. on the ground, and to directly order {certain} work to be done, being careful not to have anything done, however, that will stand finally in the way of a considerable revision of the plan in detail, as it has been prepared in our office. The problem of combining purposes of Science and purposes of Art on so large a scale as is here required, is a very difficult one and I fear requires more study, or a different kind of study, than is now had in our office.

Please telegraph & write at once something of what I must adapt my plans to, with reference to John’s probable movements. I am sure that we ought to meet if at all practicable in Washington, Philadelphia & Brooklyn. I will telegraph my plans when I am ready to go.

Faithfully.