1. The sermon was delivered at the Wesleyan Methodist Church in Richmond on Sunday, 29 October 1876. The church was located on the corner of Kew Road and Evelyn Road. See David Bruxner, ‘Van Gogh’s sermon’, Country Life, 11 November 1976, pp. 1426-1428.

8. Hymn 7:4. Van Gogh varies the text in l. 54 by writing ‘helpen’ (help) instead of ‘redden’ (save).

9. Rhy. ps. 42:1. Cf. Pabst 1988, p. 62.

10. Rhy. ps. 42:7. Cf. Pabst 1988, p. 62.

11. Isa. 66:2.

12. Van Gogh must have gone to both Richmond and Turnham Green on the same evening (cf. ll. 354-355).

13. Hymn 180:5.

14. This talk was to take place on Thursday, 16 November. During the next Turnham Green teachers’ meeting, held on Sunday, 19 November, Van Gogh was officially accepted as a co-worker at Turnham Green. See Taylor 1964, p. 419.

15. Acts 2:47.

16. Regarding John and Theagenes, see letter 89, n. 2.

17. An allusion to The pilgrim’s progress (1678) by John Bunyan. The complete title reads: The pilgrim’s progress from this world to that which is to come. In his sermon, Van Gogh referred to this image a number of times. Cf. also his appreciation for the book, as expressed in letter 99. The pilgrim’s progress was very popular among English Protestants. It recounts the journey of the protagonist, Christian, whose goal is to reach the city of Zion. On the advice of Evangelist, he embarks on a journey that takes him to a series of allegorical places – the House Beautiful, the Valley of the Shadow of Death, Doubting Castle and so on – on his way to the sought-after Celestial City. Each character and place in the dream is given an appropriate name: thus Christian meets the goodly Hopeful and Faithful, the cheating Mr Legality and the evil Giant Despair. The second part is the story of Christiana, Christian’s wife, who is moved to undertake a similar pilgrimage.

18. John 14:2.

19. Cf. John 16:21.

20. 2 Tim. 4:7.

21. John 11:25.

22. The apostle John in Rev. 14:13.

23. Cf. Eccl. 7:3. Van Gogh varies the text in l. 120 by writing ‘joy’ instead of ‘laughter’.

24. Cf. Prov. 14:13 and Eccl. 2:2.

25. Eccl. 7:2.

26. Eccl. 7:3.

27. 2 Cor. 6:10. Vincent quotes this passage incorrectly by writing ‘always’ instead of ‘alway’.

28. Cf. John 3:3 and 1 Pet. 1:23.

29. 1 Pet. 2:9.

30. Heb. 11:13.

31. Heb. 13:14.

32. Excerpt from the second verse of ‘Tell me the old, old story’ by Arabella Catherine Hankey; see letter 82, n.1.

33. 1 Cor. 13:13. Cf. Pabst 1988, p. 63.

a. Read: ‘lose’.

34. Heb. 11:13.

35. 1 John 2:17. Van Gogh changed ‘lust’ to ‘glory’, just as he did in the Dutch by changing ‘begeerlijkheid’ to ‘heerlijkheid’; cf. letter 90.

36. Cf. the first verse of hymn 291 by Henry K. White; see letter 54, n. 19

37. Matt. 22:37 and 22:39; Mark 12:30-31; Luke 10:27.

38. Phil. 4:13.

39. Ps. 119:19 and Ps. 119:18.

40. Ps. 143:10.

41. 2 Cor. 5:14.

42. Taken from the hymn ‘Precious promise God has given’ by Nathaniel Niles: ‘All the way from earth to Heaven / I will guide thee with Mine eye’. See, for instance, Salvation Army songs, by the authority of the General. London 1930, p. 549, no. 747.

43. Taken from the first verse of hymn 196 by Peter Willkims or Peter Williams: ‘Guide me, O Thou great Redeemer, / Pilgrim through this barren land; / I am weak, but Thou art mighty; / Hold me with Thy powerful hand: / Bread of heaven, / Feed me now and evermore’. See, for example, Salvation Army songs, by the authority of the General. London 1930, p. 552, no. 771.

44. Translation of a quotation from Emile Souvestre, Les derniers Bretons; see letter 93, n. 25.

45. Cf. Ps. 107:23-30.

46. John 6:17-19 and 21. Van Gogh omitted ‘It is I, be not afraid’ here but quoted it a bit further on (see l. 196).

47. Isa. 9:6 and Acts 5:31.

48. John 6:20.

49. Biblical.

50. John 14:1 and John 14:27.

51. Cf. Prov. 1:27.

52. John 21:17.

53. 2 Cor. 5:14.

54. Ps. 130:6.

55. Ps. 123:1.

56. Acts 9:16.

57. Cf. Matt. 6:22 and Luke 11:34.

58. Cf. the phrase quoted earlier in letter 92: ‘Sometimes hearts that are drooping (fainting)’, cf. letter 92, n. 1.

59. Ps. 30:5.

60. For this quotation from Longfellow, see letter 92, n. 1.

61. John 14:27.

62. Cf. Ps. 23 and Luke 22:35.

63. Mark 9:24.

64. Matt. 9:24, Mark 5:39 and Luke 8:52.

65. Biblical.

66. 1 Cor. 13:13.

67. Biblical. For the concept of the ‘Christian Workman’, which is derived from the text De christen-werkman als zendeling by Ottho Gerhard Heldring, see letter 109, n. 15.

68. Luke 9:62.

69. Cf. Matt. 13:47 and John 21:6.

70. Ps. 100:3.

71. Matt. 6:32.

72. Cf. Luke 8:11-15.

73. Cf. 1 Cor. 10:13.

74. Cf. John 17:15.

75. Prov. 30:8.

76. Cf. Ruth 1:16.

77. 2 Cor. 5:14.

78. Ruth 1:16.

79. Van Gogh gave the same description of this work by G.H. Boughton in letter 89.

80. 2 Cor. 6:10. Vincent writes ‘always’ instead of ‘alway’.

81. Adaptation of a verse from the poem ‘Up-hill’ by Christina Georgina Rossetti; see letter 54, n. 1.

82. 2 Cor. 6:10. Vincent writes ‘always’ instead of ‘alway’.

83. Translation of a verse from Stichtelijcke rijmen by D.R. Camphuysen, which Van Gogh quoted earlier; see letter 95, n. 31.

84. Cf. the Dutch saying ‘het water komt hem tot de lippen’ (the water comes up to his lips), which is used to describe someone in great distress.

85. Hymn 277.

86. Ps. 146:9.

87. Matt. 23:8.

88. 2 Cor. 13:14 (in SV 2 Cor. 13:13).

89. The poem ‘It is I; be not afraid’ by Elizabeth Rundle Charles published in The three wakings. With hymns and songs. New York 1865. (Reprinted in The women of the Gospels. The three wakings and other verses. New York 1867.) Van Gogh appears to have known the version in the edition London, Edinburgh and New York 1868, pp. 213-214. He reverses the order of the fifth and sixth couplets; the final couplet is missing: ‘Clothed with all might and majesty / Gently He’ll lay His hand on thee, / Saying, “Beloved, lov’st thou Me? / ’Twas not in vain I died for thee; / ’Tis I; be not afraid.”’ The verse is based on Matt. 14:27.

90. The novel Felix Holt, the radical by George Eliot; see letter 66, n. 1.

91. Syon Park in Isleworth.

92. The little church at Turnham Green was ‘not so much a wooden building as an iron one’; see Taylor 1964, p. 420 and exhib. cat. Nottingham 1974, p. 43. Cf. letter 93, n. 19.