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  Dear Walt Whitman

By this mail I am sending you the Christmas number of the Review of Reviews in which, at pages 581 & 592 you will find your beautiful poem "To the Sunset breeze" & your article "Old Poets" quoted—the no. is an unusually varied & interesting one.

I have forwarded copies of my "Notes" with short letters to all the friends whose names you gave me This morning I recd a letter of acknowledgement from R Pearsall Smith (London) in which he speaks of you as "the statuesque old man" & as "one of the landmarks of literary history."

Since receiving your last   letter I have been much troubled about you & am very anxious to learn how you are keeping. Better I hope. I sent a brief p.c. to Warry which I hope he will reply to immediately; & if it wd not be troubling him too much, I shd be greatly obliged if he wd kindly drop me a line or two if only on a p.c., say once a week, while your illness continues.

When I think of you, my dear old friend, prostrated by bodily illness, suffering physical pain &, for the most part, alone my heart yearns to ward you & I long to be able to do something to help you. But alas! I can do nothing but write & assure you of my tender sympathy & of my heartfelt & daily deepening affection for you. God bless & Keep you now & always and  give you immunity from pain! is the constant prayer of one who owe more to you than to any other man living or dead & who will ever hold you in the highest reverence & love.

This has been a disagreeable day here— the ground is thicker covered with snow, the wind is Easterly & cutting, there is a keen frost & the whole town & neighbourhood are enveloped in a thick fog. This morning I had [torn-away] hours driving in my open conveyance I cd not take my brougham—& the all-prevalent moisture condensed on my beard & moustache & froze into tiny icicles which had to be thawed off. It was about as unpleasant an experience as I ever remember but now that I have seen the last of the patients in the surgery & had a bit of dinner I am feeling warm & comfortable again & am writing this letter to you on my literary machine (the boys' present)  before a nice warm fire in an open fireplace & with my dear wife reading beside me.

I recd a letter from Mr Wallace in which he tells me that he has today written a letter to you & that he has previously sent you copies of the songs W. Dixon wrote for my birthday party.

And now I must bring this badly written letter to a close by wishing you the compliments of the festive seasons & a speedy return to health or some measure of health as may be expected at your time of life & under your circumstances.

With my kindest regards to all the members of your household & with my best heart's-love to you

I remain Yours affectionately J Johnston

P.S. JWW's birthday gift to me was a beautifully got up book—"Familiar Wild birds."  The presentation was made by J. W. Wallace in a graceful and appropriate speech in which he spoke of some of the qualities of mind and heart which have endeared Mr Hutton to us all and which he (J.W.W.) has referred to in one of his letters to you. He spoke of him as a man who instead of shirking the "spectres of the mind" as so many clergymen do has boldly faced & slain them & has emerged from the conflict strengthened & with a purer & loftier faith. He is an altogether splendid fellow & although he belongs to a class with whom we have not much sympathy we can talk to him quite  freely & unconstrainedly on any subject, conscious that in him we shall find true sympathy, comfort & help. He is by far the best "parson" I have ever known & his manly outspokeness his transparent sincerity, his broad-minded charity, his tender sympathy, his kind-heartedness, his high-mindedness and his deep & sincere love for his fellows have won for him the esteem & affection of troops of friends; & I think that the mere fact of his being such an honoured & trusted member of our little circle of friends composed as it is of such heterogenous elements speaks volumes of praise for this "Prince among parsons."  He has a genuine regard for you & frequently quotes from L. of G. in his sermons at the Parish Church.

In his reply to the presentation speeches he said that when he first saw J. W. W.'s pocket book copy he felt envious. A more acceptable present could not have been selected &, opening the book & turning over its leaves he said "this book seems to bring him (i.e. you) very near to me & there seems to be an air of himself about it." It was because we knew that you were with us in spirit & because the book had come straight from your hands that we ventured  to put "from Walt Whitman" upon it.

After the presentation I read aloud your kind letter to me also "Warry's" & Dr. Bucke's & conveyed to them your "loving salutation" to them all which they received with acclamation.

Your portrait was hanging in the room. So you see that you were really "one of us" & we feel sure that you were "one with us" too.

With love always Yours affectionately J Johnston To Walt Whitman