Y'rs of 23d rec'd—many thanks for the invitation, & affectionate regards to you & to Messrs: Jefferson & Florence—But I am too dilapidated, & cannot think of trying to come over.
If you see Frank Carpenter tell him I am willing to sit for the picture, wh' is all I can do—& I send him my best compliments—am sitting here now in great arm chair with wolf-skin spread over back for warmth—cannot get across the room (f'm paralysis)—but fair spirits—just had a pleasant call f'm Jeannette Gilder N Y. & some charming girls—
Walt Whitman