
I must thank you very cordially for your great kindness in sending me the p.c. of Decr 19th 1890 which I received on New Year's Day.
I cannot tell you how heart-sorry I am to learn that at the time of writing it you
were so poorly, & I sincerely hope that by this time you are feeling better, & are
freer from the pain & distress of those internal complications which trouble you.
While I was saddened by the knowledge that you were suffering physical pain I was deeply touched by the
fact that in the midst of it all you should kindly think of me & write me such a
tender & loving note, and I thank you from the bottom of my heart for this act of
self-denying thoughtful friendliness which I regard as a signal proof of your
affection for me. God bless you for this & for everything else I owe to you!
The other day I received a letter from Mrs Harrison of Bideford to whom
I sent a copy of my "Notes"—she is a daughter of the late Charles Kingsley & writes under the nom de plume of
"Lucas Malet"—in which she says:—
"It is most interesting to get fresh, first-hand impressions of a
man whom one so deeply admires as I admire Walt Whitman. He is too big, too
unconventional, ever to become popular, I fancy, either here or in the United
States. But his thought, filtered through the minds of those few who admire & love
him, may help to 'leaven the lump,' I hope, as time goes on. I read him with
increasing sympathy &, I think, profit. But he writes in a language of his own &
must be understood in a sense of his own;"
I sent a traced copy of your p.c. to Mr. Wallace & he will probably write to you

By the way it may amuse you to know that in consequence of the extent of my "Whitman correspondence" he has jokingly dubbed me "Organising Secretary of the International Whitman Society"!
We had a pleasant New Year's Day here—a hard frost with crisp, clean
atmosphere. There is a great Carnival on New Year's Eve among the Bolton people who
assemble in thousands on the Town Hall
Square—the great central open space in the town—to listen to the band
which plays on the Town Hall steps from 11-15 pm until after midnight & upon the last
stroke of 12 everybody wishes
everybody else a "Happy New Year," the band then playing "Hail,
Smiling morn!" & afterwards "Auld Lang Syne," the "Hallelujah Chorus" & "God Save
the Queen." Then the "fair" begins and the Saturnalia last three days.
I hope you all received the Christmas papers I sent & that they afforded you a little amusement.
I notice a paragraph in this week's Academy (London) announcing that you are now engaged in the preparation of your new volume, Farewell, My Fancy!
There is a loan collection of pictures on exhibition at
a newly opened museum here & this afternoon our Librarian suggested that I
should send Sydney Sidney
Morse's large portrait of you to it.
In the syllabus of the "Bolton Internation Club" I notice that Mr Duncan is put down to give a paper on "Walt Whitman" in April next.
Mr Wallace has just been here for half an hour's chat after
posting his letter to you. He tells me that he has also sent you a copy of the Manchester Weekly Times containing an
article on Bolton which I intended sending to you.
And now as it is close upon mail time I must bring this letter to an end by again expressing the hope that you are keeping better & sending you my heartiest sympathy & good wishes & wishing you all a "Happy New Year"
With best regards to all your household & with heart-love to yourself
I remain Yours affectionately J Johnston

