1. Mr van Gogh wrote to Theo in the same letter (see Date): ‘You can imagine that we are eager for more news from Vincent. Yes certainly, you may say, he is a good person through and through! We saw that again the last time he stayed here. Oh, I do hope things go well for him over there. But I am not yet so easy in my mind about that. Twenty-four boy boarders is no small matter. Will he be able to win them over? It can certainly be a good apprenticeship for him, and being with boys, with a still merry heart, can also do him good. We must just wait and see’ (FR b2222). Vincent’s parents did indeed receive more news in the shape of letter 76.