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James W. Wallace to Walt Whitman, 20 November 1891

 loc_vm.01927_large.jpg Dear Walt,

I am sorry that circumstances have prevented my writing to you as I intended since my return home.2 But I have had very little leisure. Since Wednesday morning I have been living at Leigh—some 7 or 8 mile from Bolton—superintending some work which for a few days requires constant & careful supervision. And I have little convenient opportunity for writing.

I had a letter from Dr J.3 this morning in which he tells me that he sent you a long account of our spree last Monday evening.4 I need not go over the same ground. loc_vm.01928_large.jpg You will understand what a pleasure it was to me to meet old friends again, so warm hearted & loyal as they are. The Scotch proverb says truly that "there are nae freen's like auld freens,"5 for old associations & memories colour one's feelings very much.

Their welcome to me was very touching & kind—& like Coleridge's6 soup far "better than I deserved."7—I read them some of my notes of your talk, which, (the notes) though very poor & inadequate, were of course extremely interesting to them. And they fully appreciated not only your kind messages, but also your kindness to me which loc_vm.01929_large.jpg they felt to be a compliment to the whole College.

I distributed the photos you sent to each person present & the books which you kindly inscribed. They were very much gratified & pleased, & evidently felt your kindness very much. Altogether we had not only a pleasant & happy meeting, but a very memorable one too.

Fred Wild8 was at our house on Sunday, & I gave him his books &c then. He seemed quite overcome when I gave him the "Good-Bye"9 with your kind inscription "from his friend the author." He could only say "this is too much!" & look at it long & long. He had two or loc_vm.01930_large.jpg three unmounted photos of himself & family with him. I asked him to send one to you, & he said he would do so.

On Tuesday evening I called at Dearden's & gave them their copy of "Good Bye" with your inscription. They are good simple hearted souls & were very much pleased.—I was glad to find Henry Dearden10 looking much the same as when I left. He never knows day nor night of immunity from more or less of pain, but is patient uncomplaining & kind always. His wife11 often reads to him & at once said she would read "Good Bye" for him. Much of it, I know, will touch him deeply. loc_vm.01931_large.jpg I called at Greenhalgh's12 & Dixon's13 & gave them the little presents I had bought—In each case my chief pleasure was in seeing the delight of the children. One of the first questions that Dixon's eldest little girl14 asked me was "how Walt Whitman was?

I have had no opportunity yet of visiting the others.—But I expect to do so in a few days when I have finished here.

The weather here is typical English November weather, dull, showery, with a good deal of moisture in the air. But yesterday loc_vm.01932_large.jpg was a beautiful day—though of a different type to your clear skies & drier air.—And so far we have had little of the fog we often get this month.

I think I got a little cold in coming over (though nothing to speak of). I felt stiff & tired for 2 or 3 days after arrival. But it has pretty nearly worn off & I am feeling distinctly better for my trip. I hope with care to gain steadily for some time to come.

I have received a business offer today, which, if accepted, would result in my coming to live permanently in Leigh. I am not very willing to do so, however, loc_vm.01933_large.jpg & will consider it carefully before deciding.—

I need not say that I think of you continually. Your solitude impressed me very deeply, & as I think of your daily discomfort & frequent pain, my heart goes out to you with aching sympathy.—But I remember, too, your serene cheerfulness & acquiescence & your constant kindness & thought of & for others. I doubt not that you are cheered & sustained by the knowledge of the affection of friends, & their readiness to do what they can, & your faith in the perfection & loving kindness of the scheme which provides for us all. May God bless you is my constant prayer.

 loc_vm.01934_large.jpg

Please to give my affectionate regards to Mrs Davis.15 I got to know her kind warmhearted nature pretty well. "I like most everybody M Wallace," she once said to me & I thought it characteristic. I shall not soon forget her kindness to me.

And Warry16 too, please give my love to him. I will write to them both soon.

And now, dear Walt, once more good night & God bless you. My deepest love to you always.

J.W. Wallace  loc_vm.01925_large.jpg  loc_vm.01926_large.jpg see notes Nov 30 1891 J.W.W.

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. This letter is addressed: Walt Whitman | 328 Mickle St | Camden | New Jersey | U. S. America. It is postmarked: Chorley | N | NO 21 | 91; Higher Adlington | B | NO 21 | 91; Camden, N.J. | [illegible] | 9 AM | 91 | Rec'd; New York | Nov | 29; G | 91 | Paid | G | All. [back]
  • 2. At the time of this letter, Wallace had only recently returned to his home in Bolton, Lancashire, England, after spending several weeks traveling in the United States and Canada. During his trip, Wallace visited Whitman in Camden, and, after spending a few days with the poet, Wallace traveled with the Canadian physician Richard Maurice Bucke to Bucke's home in London, Ontario, Canada, where he met Bucke's family and friends. Wallace's November 14, 1891, letter to Whitman tells of Wallace's safe arrival at Liverpool the previous day, November 13, 1891. Wallace's account of his time with Whitman was published—along with the Bolton physician John Johnston's account of his own visit with the poet in the summer of 1890—in their memoir, Visits to Walt Whitman in 1890–1891 by Two Lancashire Friends (London: Allen and Unwin, 1917). [back]
  • 3. 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]
  • 4. Wallace is referring to Dr. John Johnston's letter to Whitman of November 18, 1891. Johnston and numerous members of the Bolton College group of English Whitman admirers had held a reception in Wallace's honor upon his return from traveling in the United States and Canada. Johnston provided a detailed account of the festivities in his letter to Whitman. [back]
  • 5. Wallace is referencing a Scottish proverb that means, "there are no friends like old friends." [back]
  • 6. Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834) was an English poet and literary critic considered one of the founding figures of British Romanticism. [back]
  • 7. In Wallace's account of the time he spent with Whitman at Camden, he wrote, "Coleridge once replied when some one said that his soup was cold: 'Well, whether it is or not, it is better than I deserve!'" See James W. Wallace and Dr. John Johnston, Visits to Walt Whitman in 1890–91 (London, England: G. Allen & Unwin Ltd., 1917), 133. [back]
  • 8. Fred Wild (d. 1935), a cotton waste merchant, was a member of the "Bolton College" of Whitman admirers and was also affiliated with the Labour Church, an organization whose socialist politics and working-class ideals were often informed by Whitman's work. A painter and scholar of Shakespeare, he was also a lively debater. With James W. Wallace and Dr. John Johnston, Wild formed the nucleus of the Bolton Whitman group. For more on Wild and Whitman's Bolton disciples, see Paul Salveson, "Loving Comrades: Lancashire's Links to Walt Whitman," Walt Whitman Quarterly Review 14.2 (1996), 57–84. [back]
  • 9. Whitman's book Good-Bye My Fancy (1891) was his last miscellany, and it included both poetry and short prose works commenting on poetry, aging, and death, among other topics. Thirty-one poems from the book were later printed as "Good-Bye my Fancy" in Leaves of Grass (1891–1892), the last edition of Leaves of Grass published before Whitman's death in March 1892. For more information see, Donald Barlow Stauffer, "'Good-Bye my Fancy' (Second Annex) (1891)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
  • 10. Little is known about Henry Dearden except that he was one of the members of the Bolton College of Whitman admirers. Wallace writes in his Visits to Walt Whitman in 1890–1891 about asking Whitman to inscribe a copy of Good-Bye My Fancy for "Henry and S. J. Dearden," and he says he gave Whitman an "account of Deardens, whom I said he would like." [back]
  • 11. Little is known about Henry Dearden's wife Esther. [back]
  • 12. Richard Greenhalgh, a bank clerk and one of Whitman's Bolton admirers, frequently hosted annual celebrations of the poet's birthday. In his March 9, 1892, letter to Traubel, Greenhalgh wrote that "Walt has taught me 'the glory of my daily life and trade.' In all the departments of my life Walt entered with his loving personality & I am never alone" (Horace Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Sunday, March 20, 1892). James Wallace described Greenhalgh as "undoubtedly a rich, royal, plain fellow, not given to ornate word or act" (Sunday, September 27, 1891). For more on Greenhalgh, see Paul Salveson, "Loving Comrades: Lancashire's Links to Walt Whitman," Walt Whitman Quarterly Review 14.2 (1996), 57–84. [back]
  • 13. Wentworth Dixon (1855–1928) was a lawyer's clerk and a member of the "Bolton College" of Whitman admirers. He was also affiliated with the Labour Church, an organization whose socialist politics and working-class ideals were often informed by Whitman's work. Dixon communicated directly with Whitman only a few times, but we can see in his letters a profound sense of care for the poet's failing health, as well as genuine gratitude for Whitman's continued correspondence with the "Eagle Street College." See Dixon's letters to Whitman of June 13, 1891 and February 24, 1892. For more on Dixon and Whitman's Bolton disciples, see Paul Salveson, "Loving Comrades: Lancashire's Links to Walt Whitman," Walt Whitman Quarterly Review 14.2 (1996), 57–84. [back]
  • 14. Wentworth Dixon and his wife Mira (sometimes spelled "Myra") Jane Gregory Gerrad (1857–1931) were the parents of at least four children: Myra Dixon, Nora Dixon, Wentworth Dixon, and Ellen Dixon. According to the 1891 England Cenus, the Dixons' oldest daugher was Myra Dixon, who was nine at the time. [back]
  • 15. Mary Oakes Davis (1837 or 1838–1908) was Whitman's housekeeper. For more, see Carol J. Singley, "Davis, Mary Oakes (1837 or 1838–1908)," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998). [back]
  • 16. 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]
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