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Anderton, nr Chorley.
Lancashire, England
7. August 1891
My dearest Friend,
Yesterday morning I received a long & most kind & affectionate letter from our dear friend
Horace Traubel.1 When I got to Bolton I took an opportunity of calling in at
Johnston's,2 & asked if the American mail had brought anything. Johnston
hadn't returned (came back today) but his "locum tenens"3 shewed
me your postal of July 28th,4 & the parcel of
photos5 &c (which I
opened) & a
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short good letter from Traubel.
I at once appropriated the tomb6 photo. for myself & have it here.
I like the tomb itself very much—Its massive simplicity & woodland surroundings are
perfectly fit & appropriate.
But I cannot write the thoughts it arouses.—Too much love goes out to you,—you fill too
precious & dear & warm a place in my heart for me to think of it with equanimity.
Of course I know; & rejoice in the knowledge that you will not enter it,
but that
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for you is only joyful "transfer & promotion."7 But alas! for us whom
you will leave.
You said in a letter to Dr Bucke8 which he gave us, that
the response from Bolton "cheered & nourished your very heart."9 It was an inexpressibly deep &
sacred joy to me to know that. But it is impossible for you to know how the converse holds true, how
life giving & sacredly dear & sweet your more than paternal loving, kindness &
benefactions have been, & are, to me.
They are my chiefest treasure, the supreme joy & blessing of my life.
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May God bless you for all you have done for me, & for my friends. And how
many myriads more will have cause to love & bless your name!
I hope that our little band of friends in Bolton,10 may indeed prove a "church"—united in brotherly
love, & consecrated to the highest ends. May God help me, & help us all to realize that ideal
more & more! And so may our love to you, our exemplar & dearest
friend, increase & deepen as time goes on.
For a long time back now I have not been able to continue my old work in & for "the College."
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But I hope to resume my old place, & to do all I can to cement it more firmly together, & to
advance your cause, & continue (within our little sphere) your work.—
I haven't seen Johnston yet, but I partly expect him here tomorrow. I know he will be proud &
pleased to receive the portraits &c that you sent him.—And thanks to you, from our hearts,
from us all.
You have added a new & deeper value to our friendships. You have given us new friends (Traubel,
Dr Bucke Warry11 &c)
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who amaze us by the cordiality & affectionate warmth of their friendship & kindness, you have
given to us new & brighter hopes for the future—(friends increasing & love deepening)
& in your own love you have given us the supreme gift & blessing.
I feel very full tonight as I think of it all. For my lot is not without troubles just now, & it
stirs me with deep thankfulness to think how divinely & wonderfully they are off set &
recompensed. And thanks to you for it all, & to God through you.
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I cannot write any more tonight. I think of you sitting in your room, perhaps alone, unwell, with
sacred & solemn thoughts about the future & memories of the past, & with love in your
heart, deep & tender as a mother's, towards all your friends. & I could
kiss you if I were there, & had only courage to do it!
My best love to you anyway, & best wishes & prayers.
Yours filially
J.W. Wallace
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Saturday aftn.
A "Rose Festival" procession just passed here. Got up by the children of the village (assisted by
older people), & composed almost completely of children. All kinds of disguises,—the
most amusing, merry, & pretty thing of the kind I have ever seen.—Very cleverly done, too.
Correspondent:
James William Wallace
(1853–1926), of Bolton, England, was an architect and great admirer of
Whitman. Wallace, along with Dr. John Johnston (1852–1927), a physician in
Bolton, founded the "Bolton College" of English admirers of the poet. Johnston
and Wallace corresponded with Whitman and with Horace Traubel and other members
of the Whitman circle in the United States, and they separately visited the poet
and published memoirs of their trips in John Johnston and James William Wallace,
Visits to Walt Whitman in 1890–1891 by Two
Lancashire Friends (London: Allen and Unwin, 1917). For more
information on Wallace, see Larry D. Griffin, "Wallace, James William (1853–1926)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998).
Notes
- 1. Horace L. Traubel (1858–1919)
was an American essayist, poet, and magazine publisher. He is best remembered as
the literary executor, biographer, and self-fashioned "spirit child" of Walt
Whitman. During the late 1880s and until Whitman's death in 1892, Traubel visited
the poet virtually every day and took thorough notes of their conversations,
which he later transcribed and published in three large volumes entitled With Walt Whitman in Camden (1906, 1908, & 1914).
After his death, Traubel left behind enough manuscripts for six more volumes of
the series, the final two of which were published in 1996. For more on Traubel,
see Ed Folsom, "Traubel, Horace L. [1858–1919]," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 2. Dr. John Johnston (1852–1927)
of Annan, Dumfriesshire, Scotland, was a physician, photographer, and avid
cyclist. Johnston was trained in Edinburgh and served as a hospital surgeon in
West Bromwich for two years before moving to Bolton, England, in 1876. Johnston
worked as a general practitioner in Bolton and as an instructor of ambulance
classes for the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railways. He served at Whalley Military
Hospital during World War I and became Medical Superintendent of Townley's
Hospital in 1917 (John Anson, "Bolton's Illustrious Doctor Johnston—a man
of many talents," Bolton News [March 28, 2021]; Paul
Salveson, Moorlands, Memories, and Reflections: A Centenary
Celebration of Allen Clarke's Moorlands and Memories [Lancashire
Loominary, 2020]). Johnston, along with the architect James W. Wallace, founded
the "Bolton College" of English admirers of the poet. Johnston and Wallace
corresponded with Whitman and with Horace Traubel and other members of the
Whitman circle in the United States, and they separately visited the poet and
published memoirs of their trips in John Johnston and James William Wallace, Visits to Walt Whitman in 1890–1891 by Two Lancashire
Friends (London: Allen and Unwin, 1917). For more information on
Johnston, see Larry D. Griffin, "Johnston, Dr. John (1852–1927)," Walt
Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New
York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 3. The term "locum temens" is a
reference to the physician who was taking over Johnston's professional duties
while he was away. [back]
- 4. Wallace is referring to
Whitman's postal card to the Bolton physician John Johnston of July 28, 1891. [back]
- 5. According to Whitman's July 24, 1891, letter to Dr. John Johnston, Whitman
sent two photos of his tomb—an elaborate granite tomb of his own
design—that was then being constructed in Harleigh Cemetery in Camden, New
Jersey. One of the photos was intended for Johnston and the other was for
Wallace. [back]
- 6. Whitman was buried in
Harleigh Cemetery in Camden, New Jersey, on March 30, 1892, in an elaborate
granite tomb that he designed. Reinhalter and Company of Philadelphia built the
tomb, at a cost of $4,000. Whitman covered a portion of these costs with
money that his Boston friends had raised so that the poet could purchase a
summer cottage; the remaining balance was paid by Whitman's literary executor,
Thomas Harned. For more information on the cemetery and Whitman's tomb, see See
Geoffrey M. Still, "Harleigh Cemetery," Walt Whitman: An
Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 7. Wallace is alluding to
Whitman's "Song of Myself," Section 49: "O grass of graves—O perpetual
transfers and promotions. . . ." [back]
- 8. Richard Maurice Bucke (1837–1902) was a
Canadian physician and psychiatrist who grew close to Whitman after reading Leaves of Grass in 1867 (and later memorizing it) and
meeting the poet in Camden a decade later. Even before meeting Whitman, Bucke
claimed in 1872 that a reading of Leaves of Grass led him
to experience "cosmic consciousness" and an overwhelming sense of epiphany.
Bucke became the poet's first biographer with Walt
Whitman (Philadelphia: David McKay, 1883), and he later served as one
of his medical advisors and literary executors. For more on the relationship of
Bucke and Whitman, see Howard Nelson, "Bucke, Richard Maurice," Walt Whitman: An
Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York:
Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
- 9. Wallace is referring to
Whitman's letter to Bucke of June 25, 1891. [back]
- 10. This is a reference to the
"Bolton College," a group of Whitman admirers located in Bolton, England. The
group was co-founded by Johnston and Wallace. The members of the Bolton College
group corresponded with Whitman and Horace Traubel throughout the final years of
the poet's life. [back]
- 11. Frank Warren Fritzinger
(1867–1899), known as "Warry," took Edward Wilkins's place as Whitman's
nurse, beginning in October 1889. Fritzinger and his brother Harry were the sons
of Henry Whireman Fritzinger (about 1828–1881), a former sea captain who
went blind, and Almira E. Fritzinger. Following Henry Sr.'s death, Warren and
his brother—having lost both parents—became wards of Mary O. Davis,
Whitman's housekeeper, who had also taken care of the sea captain and who
inherited part of his estate. A picture of Warry is displayed in the May 1891
New England Magazine (278). See Joann P. Krieg, "Fritzinger, Frederick Warren (1866–1899),"
Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and
Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998), 240. [back]