cause of anxiety was now partially removed, this took its place and troubled me. The next circumstance took the spirits right out of me and made me about sick. It commenced to rain and kept it up constantly until I left, and it was the meanest, wetest, rain that I ever knew of, and when it didn’t actually rain it ‘fogged’ and drizzled which was nastier yet. The blank sheet of my drawing paper would have been the best sketch of landscape during those days, as I could see scarcely more than this would represent. Even in the rain I went out and made a few sketches of places already decided upon and finally left Providence in disgust, on my way home down Narragansett Bay. I stopped over night at Rocky Point where I made two sketches, leaving for Newport on the following day (Tuesday). On Wednesday I went to Narragansett Pier when I also made two or three sketches, thence homeward. “I came home with about twenty-two sketches. All here at the house thought them beautiful. Mr. Beard was perfectly surprised at their beauty and Mr. Bunce at Appleton’s pronounced them one of the ‘best lots of sketches he has yet had’ and complimented me on my ‘perfect success.’ He was very much pleased indeed, and admired them all, and gave vent to his admiration with loud praise; he called old and young Appleton and several other gentlemen to see them, all of whom pronounced them ‘very fine.’ I expected then that he would look them over and select about five of the prettiest for me to put on the wood. This was the most that I thought he would select. Mr. Beard, when I asked him, said that he thought they would select about five, as in other cases they had only taken about that number out of an equivalent stock of sketches. Judge of my complete surprise to see him select and count fifteen of them saying that he would have them all drawn for the ‘Picturesque America.’ This left only about six of the lot which he did not want, and he complimented me on the choice of my selections, saying ‘Generally a lot of sketches will come in, and I will look them over and reject two thirds of them, on account of the subjects not being interesting, the artists sketching whatever they come across that looks “pretty” and not hunting for the most interesting alone.’ This is the amount of what he said to me and finished it up by telling me that all of mine were of interest and composed well, which was the very thing I studied for and which most troubled me on account of the time it took and the consequent small number of my sketches. Mr. Bunce was perfectly delighted, and if I please him as well in my drawings on the wood, he will probably wish to send me off again, when I will in all probability receive ‘$40.00 per