
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 our warmest heartfelt thanks to you both The letters were the
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 facsimile-ing & distributing your letter to your friends upon both sides of the Atlantic—

I accept the commission with genuine pleasure but as I am rather busy at present I have asked a friend to 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,
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 time
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!

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 am
distributing thus:—5 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, to Warry, Mrs Davies Davis , 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.

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 & fondest heart love to yourself now & always
I remain yours affectionately John Johnston To Walt WhitmanP.S. I am sending Whittier a copy of your 1890 photo & of my "Notes"
JJ