Dr Johnston1 has told you about the
"Surprise Party" he received on his birthday—the 8th
inst!—I, myself, was unable to attend it, & Hutton2 is away from home at present, but all the rest of the
friends3 were there
& had a "good time"
loc_vm.02196.jpg One of our
friends—W. Dixon4—contributed two songs (with
choruses) of which I afterwards asked for copies. I received them today & read
them at noon for the first time. It occurred to me as I read them that they might
possibly afford you a slight momentary amusement, & I
will send them on with this.5
loc_vm.02197.jpg As you will see, they haven't much merit or value but you will
note the reference to Dr Johnston's visit to you.
One line saying that Dr. J. "triumphantly has shown us a hair from off your beard!" requires explanation. In a letter he received from you he saw (and appropriated) a white hair attached to the mucilage of the envelope.
I hope that you are better than when you last wrote,6 and am anxious to hear a better report.
The weather here has been very cold and frosty for a week back, and now threatens snow.
With love and best wishes always, Yours affectionately J. W. WallaceCorrespondent:
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).