Was very glad to get y'r letter—(I return herewith the Nation criticism)—I have rec'd another letter from Tennyson—Rec'd to-day a letter from John Burroughs. He is rather blue—the boy Julian is his great comfort—the "domestic skies" (as he terms it) are not fair and happy—I hear from Kennedy—Rhys is there with him & they take to each other muchly—I am invited (by letter from Cortland Palmer, rec'd to day) to go to R's lect: before the Century Club, NY Feb 7, & say a word at conclusion—But of course cannot go—I have rec'd a nice letter from Whittier, thanking me, &c. I hear from Dr Bucke regularly & often—he is true as steel—
Has been very bleak & cold here but better & sunny to day—I am quite unwell, but keep up & around & eat my meals in moderation—(an old fellow who comes here said to me as I was eating my supper "No extremes any way—but eternal vigilance in eating & drinking is the only thing for a sick man or an old coon.")
I want to print a little 15 or 20 page Annex to L of G—Also a sketch of Elias Hicks—but don't know when—
Walt Whitman