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217

[[clipping]] THE CENTRAL PARK PLAN.

MR. VAUX WISHES TO WITHDRAW HIS LETTER ABOUT MR. GODKIN——MR. OLMSTED, HE SAYS, SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO GO ON WITH HIS WORK "UNHAMPERED."

To the Editor of The Tribune.

SIR: Before writing my letter of the 18th, I had learned from Mr. Olmsted's family that he had received the accounts of the movement that had been made in his behalf here, and was gratified at the result. If I had thought, as I now think, that Mr. Godkin's letter containing the unqualified statement that Mr. F. L. Olmsted designed the Central Park, had not reached him, I should of course have waited as, through a long life, I have been in the habit of waiting——patiently. I desire to withdraw the injurious expressions used in my letter with reference to Mr. E. L. Godkin, as I learn that his neglect to give me due credit was entirely unintentional. Professional men will, however, at once see that when Mr. Godkin, however innocently, failed to accord to me the "common civility" of stating my connection with the Park Design in such a public letter as the one he wrote I could not "complain" to him or ask him for "concessions." When once written and printed and sent broadcast over the world, at one of the newspaper periods in the history of the Park development which only occur between long silences it was sure to be (as I have found it) to my serious detriment, and Mr. Godkin was no longer in a position to rectify the omission——although it is very clear as we all now see that he would have been extremely desirous to do so, had I spoken to him on the subject. I mention this so that the public may understand that, ungentlemanly as my course must appear to Mr. Godkin, he was the one man in New-York to whom I could not go.

My views in regard to Mr. Olmsted's claim to his position were well known to him before he left for Europe. The ground taken by the Department is, I think, untenable. Mr. Olmsted has for five years occupied a position which has secured to the Park that continuity of control which, as set forth in Mr. Sargent's masterly letter, can never be relaxed with safety, and the public interest will for this and a thousand other reasons be best served by his holding "unhampered," and for as long a period as he can be induced to stay, a controlling position in regard to the development of its manifold beautiful possibilities.

He sweated at the "labor" of it at the outset, and only half succeeded. We have worked and played together at the art of it for twenty years, and have only half succeeded. I trust that more than a half success awaits his attempt to develop the poetry of it; to have the right to do this is the romantic dream of a life so fully saturated with the capacity for hard work, that the few steps now intervening between the dream and the reality will be easy enough to take——so let the watchword of the future with all who are interested in the Central Park be "An unhampered position for Mr. Olmsted." Fair play for all concerned, and God's blessing on the work. Respectfully,
C. VAUX.

New-York, Feb. 21, 1878. [[/clipping]]

Friday Feb. 22. 1878. Calvert and During breakfasted with  me. Poor Calvert is nearly crazy over this Central Park business. The Park with all the [[?]] he bestowed on it has only been a source of annoyance to him. I advised him to let it drop now and go home and forget it which he said he would do. He does act so strangely when he gets into these moods. I am afraid I was impatient with him. I did not go out for my usual walk as it was raining violently and has rained all day but stretched my canvas, smeared it over with vermillion and cadmium and began painting into it. I worked mostly with the palette knife and tonight my canvas is covered and I hope my picture is assured. I dont know what will be said of it it is so entirely different from anything I ever did before. I used only white, Jaune brillant, cobalt and madder lake until I came to the foreground where I used a little vermillion and Vandyke brown. Had a letter from Gertrude My father is getting better but does very imprudent things in spite of them.

Tuesday 26. Went home Saturday by 4 o'clock train. Found my father improving a little but very weak but he seemed considerably better when I 

Transcription Notes:
. Jaune brillant oil color