Feinberg/Whitman Box 11 Folder 39 General Correspondence Johnston, John Apr.-June 189154, Manchester Road, Bolton, England. April 1st 1891. My Dear Old Friend, Thank you for your kind post card of March 19th wh: came duly to hand on Mar. 30th. Glad to hear that you were then "nothing worse at any rate" & that you find the talk & atmosphere of the Dr "cheering" - which is just what a Dr ought to be How I do envy that Dr his privilege of attending you and how gladly wd I help you if I could! But alas I must be content with saying this & repeating the expression of my personal affection & solicitude. I have recd a good letter from H. L. T. full of noble courtesy, [and] tender friendliness and warm fellowship. J.W.W. has also recd a letter from him. I had the pleasure of spending Sunday last (Easter Sunday) at Grange - a beautiful little villa- - town on Morecambe Bay, where my dear wife was at present staying for her health. It was a glorious spring day3) & greatly did I enjoy a tramp over the hills & fells in the stimulating & vitalising North East wind tempered by the benignant sunshine now daily gaining in power. If you continue better it will not be so long before you can get out of doors again; I am in good hopes that "Dr Air" will restore a great deal of your lost vigour & hearten you once more. We are glad to hear that the book continues to progress satisfactorily 4) though of course necessarily slowly. I am sure that H.L.T. must be of great assistance to you in this, now - What a dear good fellow he is! And how I wish I had seen him when I was with you! But we shall surely meet! Things are going on with us here much as usual. We hope the next news from or about you may be better - God bless you & Good night to you! My heart's best love & gratitude to you! Yours, affectionately, J. Johnston. to Walt Whitman[*see notes Aug 14 1891*] POSTAGE & REVENUE 2½d BOLTON 58 AP[?] 91 Walt Whitman 328 Mickle St Camden New Jersey U. S. AmericaNEW YORK A PAID APR E 11 ALL 91 CAMDEN,N.J. APR 11 9AM 1891 REC'D.[*see notes Aug 14 1891*] POSTAGE & REVENUE 2½d BOLTON 58 AP4 91 Walt Whitman 328 Mickle St Camden New Jersey U. S. America J J.ALL CAMDEN, N J APR 13 6AM 1891 NEW YORK APR 12 91 PAID K ALL54, Manchester Road, Bolton, England. April 4th 1891. Another post card from you, my dear, kind, old friend on the 2nd inst — the third I have received from you in four days! This embarras de richesse is truly overwhelming & your immediate kindness touches me very deeply indeed. My best thanks to you for it! We are heartily glad to know that at the time of writing yourWe have had a very stormy week here - bitterly cold, east winds, with snow, sleet & rain - quite a relapse into winter after the touch of spring we had. J .W.W. are both pleased to learn that you "have been much interested in the "Holland" book." Pardon my writing more at present. My horse is ill so I do most of my rounds on foot & I am tired tonight. I should be glad if you wd kindly convey my kindest regards to H.L.T. & to all the members of your household. Again thanking you for all your unique kindness to me & with my heart's best affection I remain Yours devotedly J Johnston To Walt WhitmanCondition was "no worse at any rate" tho' this last received p.c. was dated Mar 21 & that of the 24th (received before that of the 21st) said that you were "easier," and we hope sincerely that the improvement has continued up until now. I notice that one of your old friend, W. D. O'Connor's stories - "The brazen android" - is begun in this month's Atlantic. There is an extract from it in this week's Literary world which I send you. I also send you3) this week's Black & White wh: contains a portrait of and article on Bismarck - one of Europe's "Grand Old Men" - now in his 78th year and a number of The Young Man with portrait and notice of Rudyard Kipling - one of Europe's coming Grand Young men. At the next meeting of "The College" (Ap 6th) Fred Wild is to give us his "International Club" paper & read Ingersoll's oration on you; and on Ap 10th J.W.W.'s address upon your first Edition (1855) comes off at my house.P.S. I reopen my letter, at the last moment, to acknowledge the rest of your kind p.c. of Mar 24th - only 8 days ago! - which says:- "Still no worse & even suspicion of a shade easier, & the long & horrible drain, spell being broken - (that's the consummation most devoutly to be wish'd)." This is gladsome news indeed & gives me heart of hope that your long night of gloom is coming to a close & the dayspring is at hand. God grant that this may be so & that you may not only live to see your 73rd birthday - just two monthsoff now! - but many more Thanks & again thanks for this last act of thoughtful kindness. I will send the p.c. to J.W.W. at once & I know that he will be as rejoiced to read it as I am Good luck to you! Good health to you and Joy Shipmate Joy! Yours devotedly J. Johnston[*see note July 5 1891*] POSTAGE & REVENUE 2½d BOLTON 56 AP15 91 Walt Whitman 328 Mickle St Camden New Jersey U. S. America J. J.CAMDEN,N.J. APR 25 6 AM 1891 REC'D. NEW YORK A PAID APR H 24 ALL 9154 Manchester Road Bolton, England April 14th 1891. My hearts best gratitude to you beloved master & friend for your magnificent letter of March 30th & 31st which reached me on Sunday last (Ap 11th), & which I at once sent on to J.W.W. as you desired. What can we say to you or do for you in return for this overpowering proof of your affectionate regard for us? We find ourselves constantly marvelling at your unstinted generosity and 2) loving kindness toward us & we have of late been almost daily congratulating ourselves upon our good fortune in being favoured with so many communications from you; but that you should take the trouble of writing such a long & interesting letter to us not only fills us with wonder mixed with pride but affects us very deeply indeed. Thanks, & again thanks to you for a generous hearted benefactor! Your letter was especially welcome because of the 3) real good news it contained about you. For it is gladsome tidings for us to know that you are "getting along fairly, considering" that you "have no vehement pain night or day, that you make acc't of" that you can get 5 or 6 hours sleep & that your most distressing symptoms are now so much relieved. The cheeriness which pervades your letter gladdens our hearts & inspires us with the hope that thanks to your originally superb physique & your noble & 4) indomitable fortitude & "pluck" you will yet weather this storm as you have done so many before After your long tedious seclusion you must be longing for the fresh air, the sunshine & the sense of freedom which out-of-doors influences inspire. What a joy it will be for you to awake from your hibernation & to get outside once more! Now I wish that I could be privileged to accompany you & Warry upon your first excursion down to the wharf5) (5 to participate with you in the pleasures of the delicious air, the sunshine upon the River, the groups of little children, the workmen, the teamsters, the ceaseless movements to & fro of the ferry boats & all the exhilirating sights & sounds of Camden Ferry. As I write this my mind reverts to that inexpressibly happy July evening of last year when I sat by your side facing the golden sunset, drinking in the varied delight of the place, enjoying your tenderly sweet companionship & listening 6) to the sound of your "valued voice." and I seem to live over again those two red letter - nay rather epoch- making days of my life which I spent with you my dear, old Comrade & Elder Brother. Would that I were with you now! But alas! We are separated by 3000 miles of sea But we shall surely meet again! I am glad that you like Dr Longaker & "his doings" & I thank you for kindly favouring me with his address. I am writing a short letter to him7) by this mail Wed April 15th. We had another Whitman gathering at The College last night (April 14th) Some of the friends came to my house & J.W.W. read your "Lincoln" Lecture and "When lilacs last in the door yard bloomed" in his best style! We wondered under what circumstances you were reading the Lecture as we felt persuaded that you would not allow the day to pass without keeping up your hitherto annual custom in some fashion By this mail we are sending you the Review of 8) Reviews which contains several items which will interest you see pp 321- on which you are seen dancing hand in hand with Amelie Rives - 366 & 378. By the way I am sending a copy of yr last letter to Symonds. I also send you a copy of this weeks issue of Great Thoughts containing portrait of & article on Charles Berry - a Lancashire man stationed for sometime in Bolton, who had the courage to refuse [to succeed] the succession to your Henry Ward Beecher in Brooklyn. I had got thus far with my letter (3 20 pm) when the postman brought me a long & most interesting letter about you from "Warry," which9) confirms the previous good news about your improved condition. He says that Dr Longaker seems to have done you a great deal of good & that he hopes before long to be able to take you down to the wharf - [the] where I took your photo - Joseph & I had such a good time with you & him & the first place that he intends on taking you to - He also says that Dr Bucke intends paying you a visit, if he can, on your birthday. That 10) will do you good I am sure & I hope you will be able to stand the inevitable excitement of that event I took Warry's letter to J.W.W.S office Fortunately I found him in & upon reading the letter he exclaimed: - "Warry is a trump!" - and so say all of us. He is a a trump. His letter is full of his characteristic cheeriness bonhommie & warm-hearted friendliness, and we are glad!11) to know that you are attended by such a sincere & unaffected good young fellow as your "Sailor-boy" - bless him! But I must close as I have other duties awaiting my attention. Will you please kindly convey my warmest thanks to Warry for his kind letter & tell him that I will write to him shortly? With kindest regards 12) to HLT & to all the members of your household & with best heart-love to yourself I remain Yours affectionately J. Johnston. To Walt Whitman54 Manchester Road, Bolton, England. May 6th 1891 - My Dear Old Friend, Your kind post card of April 20th arrived here during my absence in Scotland & I thank you for your kindness in sending it. From it I was glad to learn that you have been out-of-doors again, & I hope that by this time you are beginning to feel better & stronger. It has been a hard pull for you, "no one knows how hard," as you said to Harry. Bravely indeed have you borne yourself during the struggle & H.L.T. tells me that you do not "give in" but retain all your pristine courage, that the "inner fire still burns." "Oh to struggle against great odds, to find out how much one can stand!" And you, my noble hearted Old Friend, have shown us how much you can stand, & given the world a lesson it should not soon forget. God bless you now and always, & grant you the "Peace which passeth all understanding!" When I think of you in your loneliness & feebleness3) my heart fairly yearns for you; & oh how I fret myself at my own inability to do anything for you! For what can I do except write you a letter now & again to re-assure you of my continued & ever-deepening personal affection & reverence & that we, on this side, are doing what little we can to extend your influence? What a dear, good fellow H. L. T. is to postpone his marriage simply because he could not get a house near you! But that is [simply] of-a-piece with all that we know of him. His 4) self-denying devotion to you is very touching indeed & we are glad to know that you have two such loyal & true hearted souls as he & Warry to be with and to minister to you. Last week I spent three days among my kinsfolk in the North; & a very heart- -gladdening time I had. The weather was almost typically spring-like in character --westerly winds with some rain & intermittent sunshine & the previously stagnant vegetation had made wonderful progress; the new corn shewing above the brown earth & the trees & hedgerows tipped with delicate green, feathery tufts.5) At Corby—a pretty little Cumberland village where my married sister lives— I saw my first swallows of this spring, darting high overhead or skimming the sunlit waters of the beautiful River Eden. The woods there are now all carpeted with daffodils & primroses; the greening meadows are bedecked with the yellow-starred celandine & the "wee, modest crimson-tipped flower," with its golden eye; & Nature is robing herself in her vernal mantle of "sight-refreshing green." 6) But my greatest Heart-Joy was at Annan— my native place— with my Father—my life-long exemplar of Truth & Righteousness—my Mother —dearest & best of woman— Kind in all the world to me-- my dear Brother & my old schoolfellows & the friends of my boyhood. The first market-day in May is the "Fair-Day" at Annan & I was present at this Fair— the first time for about 15 years. It is a relic of olden times & still preserves its primitive character— shows, merry-go-rounds, conjurors, cheap Jacks, sweetie, toffee & toy stalls, farm produce, shooting galleries, &c &c all in the streets.7/ But the peculiar feature about it is the Hiring system. The farmers & the servants all congregate on a certain portion of the High St. & when the master sees a servant whom he thinks likely to suit he acosts him or her & by a series of questions & answers an agreement is come to, the bargain being clinched by the giving & receiving of some money - generally a shilling or two which is called the "earles" - this constituting a legal contract binding upon both parties . I took some photographs of some of the street 8/ scenes & if they turn out successfully I may send you or or two. After enjoying "all the fun of the fair" I strolled along the banks of my beloved "Annan Water" - a really beautiful river. which meanders its way from the Moffat hills past the town & on to the Solway Firth referred to by Scott in the line :- "Love flows like the Solway but ebbs like its tide." This little river is associated with the happy days of my childhood & it was with a swelling heart that I again looked upon the dear old spots where we used to play, run races, 9 gather wildflowers (- why there is the very bank where we used to pluck primroses! -) bathe, boat, fish, slide &c. What a hold these old days have upon one, & what a host of heart-stirring, & oh so sweet & sacred memories, does the sight of the old, familiar places & faces arouse within us! And with what a mighty & irresistible force does our old Home & its dear associations pull at our heart strings! You wd realize all this the last time you visited your dear old Home at "West Hills" with Dr Bucke where I spent such a blissfully happy time 10 last summer - never to be forgotten by me. = I am looking forward with a curious interest to seeing the N.E. Mag with H.L T's article on you & some of my photographs, & I hope that the tempering with the INS - a most indefensible proceeding - will not materially injure the article. = Since my return I have been kept extra busy owing to a renewed outbreak of the Influenza in Bolton in common with other towns in England, & I am now single handed as my assistant has gone up to Edinburgh for his final 11/ Examination this week = I notice that John Burroughs is announced to contribute an article on "Wild Flowers" to St. Nicholas soon. = This has been a truly magnificent day - soft balmy airs, brilliant sun shine & Spring's benignant presence evident everywhere = I quite enjoyed my long round of visits this morning & especially the drive in the country where the gardens are now all radiant with blossom - the white bloom of the cherry & the plum (- the plum blossom appears before the leaves) & the sweetly delicate pink & 12/ white apple blossom than which, I think, there is nothing prettier. = I saw Geo W at noon today. He seems to be better again. = I send you a little book of photo's of Annan with a small local guide attached, wh may interest you, both on a/c of my connection with the place & because your old friends, the Romes, are Annan men. I will send Andrew a copy too, I think. With kindest regard to HLT & all your household & with best heart love to yourself I remain yours affectionately J Johnston 54 Manchester Road Bolton, England May 13th 1891 8 30 pm My Dear Walt Whitman I have just finished the work of a busy day & I thought I would write you a line or two by this mail (which goes in half an hour) just to send you a word of affectionate sympathy & loving greeting. Two hours ago I received another good Kind letter (of May 2nd) from our mutual friend H.L.T. in which 2/ he tells me that there was then "no change" in you, & that you had not been out, of late. This we are sorry to hear & it grieves us much to know that you are not gaining strength as we expected. But as that letter was written 11 days ago it may not represent your present condition by any means; & we devoutly hope that by this time things are better with you, that the weather & other circumstances have favoured you & allowed you to get out a little now & then. God grant that this 3/ may be so, my dear brave old Friend! I met Wallace in the street this afternoon & we had 10 minutes' talk - a good deal of it about you, wondering how you were &c. = I send you a Manchester paper in which you will see your name quoted. = There is nothing very new[s] with us here. The weather keeps very changeable - one day bright sunny, warm & genial & the next cool dull, - but the vegetation is progressing wonderfully; the beautiful green fans expanding and 4/ covering the bare branches, the grass greening, [&] the flowers opening & the birds carolling in vernal-born ecstasy. If only we could be assured of your recovery how glad our hearts would be today! But we cease not to think of you & to hope for you. Good night to you & God bless you now & always! is the heartfelt & oft repeated prayer of Yours most affectionately & devotedly John Johnston. To Walt Whitman[*see notes May 22 1891*] BOLTON 56 MY13 91 POSTAGE AND [I?ND] REVENUE ONE PENNY POSTAGE & REVENUE One HALFPENNY Walt Whitman 328 Mickle St Camden New Jersey U. S. America J J.NEW YORK A PAID MAY D 22 ALL 91 CAMDEN,N.J. MAY 22 4PM 1891 REC'D. 54 Manchester Road Bolton, England May 16th 1891 My Dear Old Friend, My warmest thanks to you for your kindness in sending [me] us news of you by your p.c of May 5th which I received on May 14th We were grieved to hear of your condition being "bad all around" in spite of which however you had been out the previous day. We still keep hoping that you will get a permanent turn for the better & we must not (2 be disheartened by the reports about & from you but keep on hoping that somehow things will come right with you. You have our warmest sympathy in your prostration & depression & our thoughts are often & often with you, especially now that your birthday is drawing so near when you will receive so many expressions of sympathy & messages of good cheer from your friends all over the world. We had a pleasant little College meeting at Wentworth Dixon's last night when J.W.W in your name & ours presented him BOLTON MY 16 91 Walt Whitman 328 Mickle St Camden New Jersey U.S. America NEW YORK MAY 27 CAMDEN, N.J. MAY 28 6 AM 1891 REC'D 3/ with the pocket L. of G. on which you had so kindly inscribed his name & on which some of us also inscribed ours. In his little speech J.W.W. made a comparison between the essential teachings of L. of G. & of Epictetus—the stoics are favourite studies of W.D's—& shewed [that] how L of G not only tallied all the cardinal doctrines of stoic philosophy but transcended them. The weather here today has been extraordinary even for an English May, alternating between brilliant sunshine & showers of snow—May wedded to Decr literally— & as I write this the air is thick with the 4 s[in]ging, dancing snowflakes where a few minutes ago the sunshine gleamed from the street cars. We thank you for your loving benediction & for yr kind promise to send us the photo you speak of. All good be with you, my dearest & best of friends & His Peace be yours! We shall be anxious till we hear some news [f] about you. With kindest regards to all your household & with best love to yourself I remain Yours affectly J. Johnston P.S. We send you the Review of Reviews & Black & White P.P.S. I have just recd a nice letter from Edward Carpenter in wh: he speaks of yr old friends Mr & Mrs Lay.54, Manchester Road Bolton, Lancashire, England, May 19th, 1891. My Dear Old Friend, Just a line or two to acknowledge the receipt, this morning, of your kind p.c. of May 8th & to send you my heartfelt thanks for it. I took it to Wallace who shewed me a good long letter he had recd from Warry, in which he gives us some interesting details concerning you and suggests sending (2 your canary bird to him - That we should prize very highly indeed, as coming direct from you. It was with deep regret that we read on your p.c. of your "bad three weeks" & that the "same subject" was "continued"; but how like you to say that you are "still not dislodged" & that you have "hope of sending us better accts by & by"! From this p.c. & from Warry's letter we can partly realize how poorly you continue; but even3) that does not prevent your sitting "up in the big chair + writing" to us + sending your love + your benediction across the seas to us. in token of your abiding affection, for which we send you our warmest appreciative thanks + our loving greeting. Warry tells us that you will probably have a few friends with you on your birthday + that you will [probably] not risk going out of your own house even tho' there may be a gathering (4 in your honour in the town. This, I think, is wise, under the circumstances, as the inevitable excitement would probably be injurious to you. I only hope that you will be no worse for what the day will entail upon you even at home. I have no doubt that the numerous messages of love + sympathy from your "dear friends, your lovers," in all parts of the world will hearten + cheer you in no ordinary way. I hope Dr Bucke will be able to be with you. 5) If so will you please convey my kindest regards & best wishes to him? We hope most earnestly that the 31st will find you in better health than you have had lately & that you may have a truly happy birthday. We shall not allow the occasion to pass without special recognition and observance tho' the fact of it being on a Sunday this year will compel us to modify our usual custom. But whatever we do the day will be 6 full of tender & loving thoughts of you. May 20th, 5 p.m. At noon today my eyes were gladdened by the rect of a copy of the New England Magazine for May containing HL Traubel's most interesting article upon you "to date", & I thank you most heartily for your kindness in sending it. Later I recd the ordered copies from H.L.T. himself. It is a great pleasure to me to see some of7 my photographs reproduced in an article by such a warm-hearted friend & such a ready penman as our dear H. L. T. And it is an honour too of wh: I am indeed proud, because it associates me with you in a permanent form. The article itself is characterised by all the graphic power, enthusiastic fervour, & literary skill of pourtrayal which distinguishes H.L.T.'s work. But I fear this letter is already too long—at a time too when you will 8 be burdened with an extra heavy mail. I send you a copy of "Pictures of 1891" which it may interest you to look through sometime. At page 106 is a reproduction of Whistler's portrait of Carlyle. With kindest regards to all your household —please thank Warry & Mrs Davis for their kind remembrance of me in Warry's letter—& with best love to yourself I remain Yours affectionately J. Johnston. To Walt Whitman [*see notes May 30 1891*] BOLTON 56 92 MY20 91 Walt Whitman 328 Mickle St Camden New Jersey U. S. America J J.NEW YORK D PAID MAY C 27 ALL 91 CAMDEN,N.J. MAY 28 8AM 1891 REC'D.Cross Reference GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE Johnston, John, May 27, 1891 See Verso GENERAL CORRESPONDENCE Wallace, J. W., May 26, 1891, 30 x 18Manchester Road Bolton. England May 23rd 1891. 3.20 p.m. My Dear Old Friend I have nothing particular to say but I cannot let the mail go without a word of greeting & cheer to you. My loving salutation to you, dearest & best of Friends! This is a glorious day here - warm, benignant sunshine & balmy zephyrs - the best we have had for weeks. I have just returned from a 2 long round of professional visits, had dinner & attended to my consultations in the surgery & snatch a few minutes of leisure while waiting for my horse, to write a few lines to you. During the past few days you have been much in my mind & I keep wondering how you are keeping, hoping you are better & sometimes fearing that you may be worse & I anticipate the next news about you with some anxiety3 This has been quite an eventful week for Wallace & me ⎯ a p.c. magazine from you a letter [& magazine] from you (to J.W.W) [a] [&] letters from Dr Bucke and Warry to J W W & a letter & parcel of magazines from H.L.T. to me all in week! This week and (what week) is a general holiday in Bolton ⎯ for everybody but the doctors! ⎯ & J.W.W is spending it quietly at home. (But there's my horse so I must stop a while.) Later. A sunless afternoon followed by a heavy shower of rain which the 4 thirsty vegetation has drunk up eagerly. Oh, how beautiful nature now looks robed in her garmenture of fresh, transparent greenery in all varieties of tints! Would that her resurrection from her hibernal sleep might be symbolical of your recovery from your long winter of depression & lethargy. It pained me greatly to read in your letter to Wallace that you were at "a very low ebb" & I sincerely trust that by this time the waters have begun to "come in again".5 Dr Bucke says that he will probably be in England in June or July & that he will come & see us. I need not say how glad we shall all be to see him & give him such a welcome as we can. His visit will be something to be remembered by us all. By the time you get this your Birthday will be over & we hope that you will be none the worse of the excitement attending it (probably glad it is over.).6) Pardon this scrappy letter which is simply sent as a token of my loving sympathy and affection greeting With kindest regards to all of your house & with best heart love to yourself I remain Yours affectionately J Johnston To Walt Whitman P.S. I have sent a copy of the NE Mag, my "notes" & some of my "Whitman" photos to the Editor of the Review of Reviews JJBOLTON 41 MY23 91 Walt Whitman, 328. Mickle St. Camden. New Jersey. U. S. AmericaNEW YORK B PAID JUN C 1 ALL 91 [CAMDEN,N.J.?] [JN1?] [?M] 1891 REC'D. [*see notes July 27 1891*] BOLTON 56 MY23 Walt Whitman 328 Mickle St Camden New Jersey U. S. America J JNEW YORK O PAID JUN H 5 ALL 91 CAMDEN,N.J. JUN 6 6AM 1891 REC'D.54 Manchester Road Bolton England May 30th 1891 My Dear Walt Whitman, Our best & warmest thanks to you for your kindness in sending us the advance copy of "Good Bye my Fancy", which reached us by last mail! As I was then overwhelmed with work I took the book out once to Wallace & he has had it ever since until today & tho' I am still without opportunity for 2 reading it ⎯ I have had a fearfully busy week ⎯ but I could not let the mail go without sending you my personal thanks for your generous gift which I shall prise very highly indeed & take time to absorb & assimilate. Meanwhile I take this opportunity of congratulating you upon the successful accomplishment of your life task ⎯ finis coronat opus ⎯ & the completion of your "carte de visite to posterity". It must be a great satisfaction to you3 to feel that you have finished your work, & to us it is matter for congratulation & gratitude that you have been permitted to so so. On this, the eve of your 72nd birthday, my thoughts have been much with you, & I am longing to hear some news of you & how you are keeping. Better, I sincerely hope & trust, my good kind old friend. I am looking forward to spending a pleasant afternoon tomorrow (Sunday 31st) with Wallace & a few of 4 the friends. It will be a sacred & blessed day with us, full of tender & loving thoughts of you I send you a copy of the Annandale Observer containing recent visit to my native place. Now as time presses I must close with kindest regard to all your household & with my hearts best love to you Yours affectionately J. Johnston[*see notes July 8 1891*] BOLTON 36 MY30 91 Walt Whitman 328 Mickle St Camden New Jersey U. S. AmericaNEW YORK F PAID JUN B 6 ALL 91 CAMDEN,N.J. Jun 7 4PM 1891 REC'D.facsimile letter to Dr Johnston Bolton Eng: Camden N J ⎯ U S America June 1 '91 ⎯ Well here I am launch'd on my 73d year ⎯ We had our birth anniversary spree last eving abt 40 people choice friends mostly ⎯ 12 or so women ⎯ Tennyson sent a short and sweet letter over his own sign manual ⎯ y'r cable was rec'd & read, lots of bits of speeches with gems in them ⎯ we had a capital good supper (or dinner) chicken soup, salmon, roast lamb &c: &c: &c: I had been under a horrible spell for 5 to 6, but Warry me got dress'd & down (like carrying down a great log) ⎯ & Traubel had all ready for me a big goblet of first rate iced champagne ⎯ ⎯ I suppose I swigg'd it off at once. I certainly welcom'd them all forthwith & at once felt If I was to go down I would not fail. without a desperate struggle must have taken near two bottles champagne the even'g ⎯ so I added ("I felt to") a few words of honor & reverence for our Emerson Bryant Longfellow dead ⎯ and then for Whittier and Tennyson "the boss of us all" living (specifying all) ⎯ not four minutes altogether ⎯ then held out with them for three hours ⎯ talking lots, lots impromtu ⎯ Dr B is here ⎯ Horace T is married ⎯ fine sunny noon ⎯ Walt Whitman [*From the Boston Eve'g Transcript, May 7, '91 ⎯ The Epictetus saying, as given by Walt Whitman in his own quite utterly dilapidated physical case, is, a "little spark of soul dragging a great lumux of corpse-body clumsily to and fro around."*]54 Manchester Road Bolton England June 3rd 1891 My Dear Old Friend and Master, We are wondering how your birthday found you, [y] how you stood the inevitable excitement of the day & are looking anxiously for some news about you. With us the day dawned gloriously fine & the sun shone resplendently the whole day long. It was a perfect 2 day here & we hope that it was as auspicious at Camden as it was at Bolton In the afternoon—after arranging for our cablegram to be sent off at 5 p.m— I went out to Anderton where I found Wallace & Greenhalgh. They had spent the morning in the fields with L. of G & together we all went out, &, selecting a shady nook on a grassy bank overlooking the lake we sat down for an hour & a half during which Wallace3 us what he calls one of his "informal talks" upon your attitude to Religion, with readings from L. of G & Good Bye My Fancy, which we both enjoyed greatly. We sat against a stone wall, beneath the shade of some wide spreading sycamores & mountain ashes, overlooking a wide expanse of pastoral country dotted with old time, grey & white farm houses near which the sheep & cows were quietly feeding. On our right rose the grand outline of the rugged old Pike, grass clad to the top. 4 In the middle distance lay the lake, to purple waters sparkling in the sunshine & rippling in tiny white- crested wavelets to the banks. The weathercock of Rivington chapel spire caught the rays of the sun & shone like a star. At our feet lay the white roadway & the grey stone work of the low- arched bridge at one end of which a clump of prickly gorse flung out its golden bells. The birds sang & twittered joyously in the swaying & rustling trees overhead & a gentle breeze played5 5 around us, bending the blades of the new grass & dappling the greenery with ever shifting leaf shadows. Upon the lovely landscape the sun shone with dazzling effulgence from out the white-cloud-flecked empyrean. To me it was a sweetly sacred hour & my heart was full of the tenderest & most hallowed thoughts of you beloved Friend Benefactor & the day will be ever memorable to us all. Walt whitman 328 Mickle St Camden New Jersey U.S. America6 Wentworth Dixon joined us at tea after which I had to leave them to attend to some professional work in the evening I have read most of "Good Bye" now. It arouses emotions & thoughts too sacred & solemn for expression & its every line is precious to me. My heart's best love goes over the sea to you with a great & tender yearning. Heaven's best blessing be yours now & always! Yours, devotedly, J. Johnston. To Walt Whitman. P.S. The "British Prince"—my ship—sails from Liverpool today. How I wish I were going too! CAMDEN, N.J JUN 11 6 AM 1891 RECD NEW YORK JUN 1091 PAID D54 Manchester Road Bolton, England June 6th 1891 Just a line or two to send my loving salutation & cordial greeting to you, my dear, good old friend & to thank you for the good letter you so kindly sent to Wallace — a facsimile of which he kindly made & forwarded to me. Sorry indeed were we to learn that your condition at the time of writing (May 23rd) was "the same continued, bad, bad enough." In spite of the continued ill reports we keep on hoping for the best. Meanwhile we take every opportunity of writing to assure you of our heart- felt sympathy & affectionate solicitude for your welfare. Alas that we can do nothing more! Our best thanks to you too for kindly promising to send us a copy of that audacious photo. We are curious to know what it is & to see it3 This morning I recd a letter from Mr Stead (Editor of the Review of Reviews) in which he says: "I was not able to get the portrait in this month but I shall be delighted in noticing "GoodBye My Fancy" to use the portrait of Walt Whitman on Camden Wharf." I intend lending him the copy of "Good Bye" that you kindly sent to us in case he has not yet seen the book. I send you the third & concluding part of "Academy Pictures" by this mail 4 Pardon my writing more at present. I have had a fearfully busy week with Influenza cases—I have had a touch of the disease my self lately—and my horse—truest & faithfullest of friends—has been nearly run off his feet. We are anxiously awaiting some report of your birthday proceedings Please convey my kindest regards to Mrs Davis Harry & Warry Also to H. L. Traubel when you see him With best heart love to yourself I remain Yours affectionately J Johnston54 Manchester Road Bolton England June 10th 1891 My Dear Walt Whitman, As this is mail night I thought I would send you a word of greeting & cheer once more and I do this the more readily because in your last letter to Wallace —intended for Wentworth Dixon—you say that our letters "cheer" you. This is more than ample reward and encourages us to write 2 as frequently as we do for well do I know what a potent influence is "cheer" in a patient's convalescence: it is one of the most powerful in the physician's armamentarium. We are gratified to know that at this distance we can help you a little in this way. My thoughts are daily with you & I find myself often & often wondering how3 you are keeping. I am impatient at the unavoidably slow transmission of the messages from & about you, for you seem to be such a long, long way off. And yet not such a great distance after all!—for in a moment I can be with you, in imagination, [and] enjoying your dearly loved presence, & this I often am, Master, & Elder Brother dear! W D. is very proud of his letter & intended writing to you by next mail 4 I recd a [letter] p.c. from Edwd Carpenter yesterday asking me to send copies of my "Notes" to Ernest Rhys & to Miss Isabella Ford—both loyal friends of yours, he says. And now I hope this scrawl will find you rather better than you have been & free from your old discomforts still. God grant that this may be so & may His grace, mercy, & peace be with you now & always is the heartfelt prayer of Yours, affectionately, John Johnston.P S I believe J.W.W. has ordered two copies of "Goodbye." Please alter this order to six & I will remit the cash when I know the price. Also I would esteem it a favour if you wd kindly send me a copy of the "portraits from life" wh. J.W.W. has ordered & I will remit cash. The money order office is closed here tonight J J Walt Whitman 328 Mickle St Camden New Jersey U S America JJNEW YORK C PAID JUN H 18 ALL 91 CAMDEN,N.J. JUN 20 6AM 1891 REC'D.54 Manchester Road Bolton England June 11th 1891. My Dear, Good Old Friend, Yesterday was a real Jubilee day with us here, for the American mail brought us a good long letter from you with a copy of your latest portrait, a paper (Camden Post) from you and a good long letter & a paper from Warry for all of which we now desire to return [you] our warmest heartfelt thanks to you both The letters were the 2 more welcome because they came sooner than we expected them. That you should have taken the trouble to write to us on the morning after your Birthday, when you must have been suffering from the exhaustion consequent upon the excitement of the previous evening, affects us very profoundly: and I am personally proud of the honour of being entrusted with the privilege of facsimileing & distributing your letter to your friends upon both sides of the Atlantic—3 I accept the commission with genuine pleasure but as I am rather busy at present I have asked a friend to [repr] copy the letter for me & I hope to be able to send you some copies by the mail, tomorrow night. It was to us a matter of rejoicing that your Birthday Party was such an unqualified success How it must have gladdened your heart to see so many of your dear & familiar friends around you!—Dr. Bucke Dr. Longaker, Horace Traubel & his bride (married in your room, Warry tells us) Talcott Williams, 4 David McKay, Dr Brinton & the others whose names we read in the Camden Post—while of the many messages of congratulation and cheer which flowed to you that day none would be more welcomed than the "short & sweet" letter from Tennyson—"the boss of you all," as you call him. But glad as we are to hear of the success of the Party—we are more than glad to learn that it had not apparently had any very serious after bad effects upon you, tho' these might not be apparent at the time5 of writing. Warry says that you seemed to be better on the evening following your birthday than you had been for two months. We accept this as a propitious omen —coming on the first day of your 73rd year—& devoutly do we hope that this improvement, if real, may continue; that your journey, commenced thus auspiciously, may be favoured with every benign influence. God grant that this may be so, my dearest & best of friends, & my life's Benefactor & Blessing! 6 My best thanks to you, too, for your kind gift of the "mask" photograph. It is an audacious thing, but a most striking likeness & altogether an admirable piece of work which I shall prize very highly indeed. I am having a facsimile made of it to give to each of the friends here. I shall send you one, too. I hope you liked the Birthday Letter of the friends & the copy of my "Notes." June 13th, 1891 I have just received 12 copies of the facsimile letter—all that I could get today which I am7 distributing thus:— 5 [6] to you, & one each to H. L. Traubel, Dr Bucke, John Burroughs, Whittier, Tennyson, Symonds & J. W. Wallace By next mail I hope to have a good many more & intend sending a few more to you & one each to the friends here, [John Burroughs] to Warry, Mrs Davies, Sloane Kennedy, Ed. Carpenter, Prof Dowden Ernest Rhys, Herbert Gilchrist Andrew Rome & the other friends whose names you formerly sent to me I must again express my gratitude to you at being selected by you for the high honour of distributing this "circular letter" of yours. 8 We have been favoured with delightful weather here this week—cloudless blue skies, glorious sunshine & mild, almost warm, breezes & the country is now looking at its best. I enclose p.o.o. value 30p—in payment—or perhaps part payment as I do now know the price—of these copies of "Good Bye" & the set of portraits I ordered. With kindest regards to Warry, Mrs Davis & Harry & with fondest heart love to yourself now & always I remain yours affectionately J Johnston To Walt Whitman P.S. I am sending Whittier a copy of your 1890 photo & of my "Notes" J J54 Manchester Road Bolton, England June 17th 1891 Just another word of loving greeting & good cheer, wafted from over sea to you my dear good old Friend & to send you a message of love & sympathy. I do hope you are keeping better now & that by this time you are able to get out & to enjoy the sunshine & fresh air. I herewith send [*pass to p. 5*]3) you a dozen more facsimiles of your letter. I am also sending ⎯ or have sent ⎯ copies to the following: The friends at Bolton Rossetti & Annan Pearsall Smith Tennyson Miss Ford Symonds H Gilchrist Whittier Talcot Williams Ingersoll O Dowd Dr Bucke Sarrazin Carpenter S Kennedy Dowden Miss Whitman Rhys Dr Longaker Mrs Harrison Capt Nowell Ed Mercer H.L. Traubel J Burroughs Warry A. Rome Mrs Davis 4 Should you desire a few more I shall be very pleased to supply you I have received a nice letter from Ernest Rhys in which he says that my Notes ⎯ sent to him at the request of Edward Carpenter ⎯ are most vivid & realistic & recall most suggestively his own adventures in Mickle St three or four years ago as his fortunate experience of you tallies mine very closely. He also kindly8 average of health. We still keep on hoping that despite adverse appearances you will yet recover something of your lost vigour & be spared to cheer & comfort us all by your dear sweet presence for sometime to come. We shall give Dr B a cordial welcome With kindest regard & best heart love I remain Yours affectionately J Johnston To Walt Whitman 5 offers to try & get me a copy of a defunct magazine ⎯ The Scottish Art Review ⎯ containing an article upon the Portraits of Yourself ⎯ Though we are now fast approaching Midsummer Day ⎯ my dear, old Mother's Birthday ⎯ we have had very little real Summer weather yet; & though the country is looking lovely still, on the whole, vegetation is very backward6) for the time of the year The hawthorne has just begun to sprinkle the hedges with its summer snow & the laburnum to droop its beautiful golden tassels __ Later Since writing the above I have received yr kind p c of June 6th for which I return you my sincere & heartfelt thanks I at once made a traced facsimile & [sent] took it to Wallace's office (I have not seen him for 3 or 4 days & did not today). I much regret (7 to note that you were "sick enough" on June 6th This looks as if there was not much real & permanent improvement in your condition tho' doubtless part of the depression is the inevitable result of the excitement from the Birthday "spree" _ Your "triumph over your infirmities", as Wallace calls it, has no doubt cost you some reactionary prostration & I sincerely hope that by this time you have got over that & resumed your normal[*Recd July 3/91. JJ*] PHILADELPHIA JUN23 1 11PM PAID CAMDEN,N.J. JUN23 2 8PM 91 Dr Johnston 54 Manchester road Bolton Lancashire EnglandCamden N J ⎯ U S America June 23 '91 ⎯ Tolerably fairly ⎯ (free from mark'd pain or bother) ⎯ b'kfast of raspberries b'd & coffee ⎯ warm weather ⎯ Dr Bucke leaving here July 8 in the SS Britannic ⎯ look out for July Lippincott's (I will send you one to make sure) H T is well & flourishing ⎯ Warry ditto ⎯ Wallace's and W Dixon's good letters rec'd my love to both ⎯ Walt Whitman54 Manchester Road Bolton England June 20th 1891 My Dear Old Friend My heartiest thanks to your for your letter with enclosures rec'd by last mail. How kind & considerate of you it was to write your letter upon Prof. Buckwalter's thereby endorsing the professor's eulogistic references to me & my "Notes," & (2 enhancing its value a thousand fold. My best thanks to you for that. I am sending the Profr a copy of the "Notes" with your photograph & a copy of your fac simile'd letter, as some slight acknowledgement of his kindness I was extremely pleased to note that on June 9th you were "more free from excessive lassitude" that you "retain pretty buoyant spirits" & were able to3) "sit up 2/3 of the day." This is certainly an improvement upon the former report & I sincerely trust that the advance has been maintained & that you can now get out into the benignant sunshine & fresh air. Wallace has shown me the really pretty sketches which A. H. Cooper has done of Rivington & which he is sending to you. I return H.L.T's most interesting letter, as I thought you wd like to keep it: but I retain the marriage announcement as a souvenir of the happy event. Pardon my not writing more at present — I have had a busy & tiring day in the heat of two tedious accouchements & two surgical operations in addition to a long list of cases) & I have still a letter to write to my dear old mother for her birthday tomorrow. My best love to you now & always & my warmest greeting! God bless you! Yours affectionately J. Johnston54, Manchester Road Bolton, England. June 26th 1891 My Dear Walt Whitman, Most heartily do I thank you for yr kindness in sending me the p.c of June 12th which I received on June 25th—the same day upon which Wallace recd yours of the 16th. This looks like another of the "faults of the p.o." of which you complain & thro' which I fear several of your communications have gone \2. astray. Yes, I recd your letter of June 1st & I trust that by this time you have read the two lots of the facsimile copies which I sent to you. I note that on June 12th you were "much the same" & that on June 16th you were standing the oppressively hot weather "pretty well, so far." This is welcome news for us but we hope to receive better before long. We too, have had a spell of hot weather3/ here lately. The glorious, sunshiney days of the beginning of the week were followed by severe storms of thunder + lightning with heavy rain—the lightning display being exceptionally brilliant + prolonged. Bolton is now having a respite from the Influenza scourge + I take every opportunity of escaping from the hot + noisy town into the refreshing country for an hour with nature, alone. One of these sweet hours I am now enjoying in 4/ Raikes wood—the nearest bit of natural wood to my house + one of my favourite haunts—where I draft this letter, sitting upon a fallen tree trunk. As I write the birds are singing blithely upon the sycamores, oaks and ash trees all around me—a blackbird + a thrush being especially vociferous with their melody; a bonnie wee bird is preening its feathers while another is cheeping plaintively beside it; a corncrake is crake crake-ing in the meadow across the brook5/ which inky black tho' it alas! is, mirrors the blue sky + [the] its own green tree-fringed banks, where a lot of sparrows are jabbering noisily; a butterfly (a "straw-coloured psyche") has just fluttered past me + a tiny ladybird is creeping along the tree trunk on which I am seated. The wood is carpeted with long slender grass— whose blades are now all diamonded with glistening rain drops— horsetails + wild rhubarb through which I have had 6/ to wade knee deep to get to my sylvan throne_ Here + there occur blue wreaths of wild hyacinths intermingled with the pretty, pink flowers of the "ragged-robin." There is no sun + hardly any wind to move the lovely arboreal screen which hides me + the air is fragrant with woodland scents so refreshing to a town dweller_ Here I spent a sacredly happy hour —"happiness pervades the open air"—until a sudden shower of rain7/ came pattering on the leaves, temporarily silencing the birds + sending me home. I send you a little souvenir of that visit to my wood. I also send you two copies of my facsimile of your mask photograph, which I hope you will like; as well as two papers in which your name occurs. Many thanks to you for telling us about the "fuller report of the Birthday Spree" that is to appear in 8/ Lippincott, which we shall read with great interest, + for your kindness in promising me the half dozen copies of "Good Bye", the price of which I expect you will let me know. June 27th, 1891 This morning I met with what might have been a serious accident. While driving in the phaeton one of the shafts became loose frightening the horse into running away + upsetting the coachman + me on to the pavement_ Fortunately beyond a severe shaking for us both9/ a cut arm & bruised shoulder for him & a bruised hip & leg for me we did not sustain any serious injury. The trap was damaged but the horse escaped unhurt & I am thankful things are no worse with us. I sincerely trust that the next news we hear of you will be favourable God bless you now and always! With kindest regards to all your household & with best heart love to yourself I remain Yours affectionately J Johnston PS I return H. L. J's letter, omitted from my last to you -P P S Please convey my Kindest remembrances to H. L. J. when you see him. JJ [*June 27, 91*] LORD TENNYSON AND PRINCESS CHRISTIAN. Yesterday afternoon, at Buckingham Palace, representatives of the matrons, sisters and nurses of the United Kingdom presented Princess Louise of Schleswig-Holstein with a diamond crescent and a set of the Poet Laureate's poems as wedding gifts. Lord Tennyson has written these lines in the first volume of his works:— Take, lady, what your loyal nurses give, Their full "God bless you," with this book of song, And may the life, which heart in heart you live With him you love, be cloudless and be long.[*see notes July 31 1891*] BOSTON 57 JU27 91 Walt Whitman 328 Mickle St Camden New Jersey US. America JJ.