Content:
A fragmentary prose manuscript written on a leaf created from the reverse sides of an envelope and letter on letterhead from the Eastern Michigan Asylum, dated January 22, 1881. No direct connection to any of Whitman's published works has been established, although the main idea expressed here—that the union of the United States depends upon the English language as a shared legacy— was one that Whitman expressed several times throughout his life, beginning at least with the publication of "America's Mightiest Inheritance" in the April 12 1856 issue of
Life Illustrated
.
