The day after I left you I went to see your exhibition.... To-day I
assure you that in spite of knowing your studies of Auvergne and those
earlier ones, I was struck once more in seeing them all together by the
fact that a force is a force from its first beginnings.
With the very earliest you show a freshness of vision which leaves no
doubt as to the pleasure you took in seeing nature, and one sees that
she spoke directly to you, and that you saw her through your own eyes.
Your work is your own _et non de l'aultruy_, as Montaigne says. Don't
think I mean to go through everything of yours bit by bit, down to the
present moment. I only wish to mention the starting point, which is the
important thing, because it shows that a man is born to his calling.
From the beginning you were the little oak which will grow into a big
oak. There! I must tell you once more how much it moved me to see all
this.
_Millet._