Camden New Jersey1
Sept: 20 '90
Dear friend J H J—
have just heard by Horace Traubel2 that (thro' you) Col.
Ingersoll3 favors the idea of a public meeting & address
ab't me4—(get the notion that he has been solicited or
even persuaded—wh' I don't like at
all—not warranted or authorized by me, at any rate—but let that
pass)5—If this is so ab't Col. I's design I
myself think the best place would be New York City, tho' I believe Horace & some
other friends believe Phila: best—Of course I dont know what Col I's drift
and vein may be, but I know it w'd be grand, & something I sh'd be proud
of—On the impulse of the moment I have gather'd these items enclosed &
send to you, to give all the note (with scraps enclosed all as it is) to Col. I with
my respects, thanks, & love6—I shall give the
whole proposed meeting, address &c: into his and y'r & the friends'
hands7—without any meddling by me—
Walt Whitman
Correspondent:
John H. Johnston (1837–1919) was a New York
jeweler and close friend of Whitman. Johnston was also a friend of Joaquin
Miller (Horace Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Tuesday, August 14, 1888). Whitman visited the Johnstons for the
first time early in 1877. In 1888 he observed to Horace Traubel: "I count
[Johnston] as in our inner circle, among the chosen few" (Horace Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden, Wednesday, October 3, 1888). See also Johnston's letter about
Whitman, printed in Charles N. Elliot, Walt Whitman as Man,
Poet and Friend (Boston: Richard G. Badger, 1915), 149–174. For
more on Johnston, see Susan L. Roberson, "Johnston, John H. (1837–1919) and Alma Calder," Walt Whitman: An Encyclopedia, ed. J.R. LeMaster and
Donald D. Kummings (New York: Garland Publishing, 1998).
Notes
- 1. This letter is addressed:
J H Johnston | Diamond Merchant | 150 Bowery cor: Broome St: | New York City. It
is postmarked: Camden, N.J. | Sep (?) | 6 AM | (?). [back]
- 2. 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]
- 3. Robert "Bob" Green Ingersoll
(1833–1899) was a Civil War veteran and an orator of the post-Civil War
era, known for his support of agnosticism. Ingersoll was a friend of Whitman,
who considered Ingersoll the greatest orator of his time. Whitman said to Horace
Traubel, "It should not be surprising that I am drawn to Ingersoll, for he is
Leaves of Grass. He lives, embodies, the
individuality I preach. I see in Bob the noblest
specimen—American-flavored—pure out of the soil, spreading, giving,
demanding light" (Traubel, With Walt Whitman in Camden,
Wednesday, March 25, 1891). The feeling was mutual. Upon Whitman's
death in 1892, Ingersoll delivered the eulogy at the poet's funeral. The eulogy
was published to great acclaim and is considered a classic panegyric (see
Phyllis Theroux, The Book of Eulogies [New York: Simon
& Schuster, 1997], 30). [back]
- 4. Whitman is referring to the
lecture in his honor, which would take place on October 21 at Philadelphia's
Horticultural Hall. Johnston and the Canadian physician Richard Maurice Bucke
planned the event, and Robert Ingersoll delivered the lecture. See Ingersoll's
October 12 and October
20 letters to Whitman. [back]
- 5. Whitman expressed his
conflicted feelings about the "Ingersoll affair" in his September 19 letter to Bucke. See also Bucke's September 22 reply. [back]
- 6. In a note on this letter,
Edwin Haviland Miller provides the following explanation: On October 3 Whitman
"sent copies of the big book [Complete Poems & Prose
(1888), Dr B[ucke]'s W[alt] W[hitman] and J[ohn]
B[urroughs]'s Notes [on Walt Whitman] (with portraits W W
in envelope) to Col: Ingersoll" (Whitman's Commonplace Book, Charles E. Feinberg
Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library of Congress,
Washington, D.C.). See Walt Whitman, The Correspondence,
ed. Edwin Haviland Miller (New York: New York University Press, 1961–69),
5:89n64. However, on September 23, Johnston says
he received the items that Whitman refers to here, suggesting that the October 3
gift to Ingersoll refers to another matter. [back]
- 7. Whitman later recorded in
his Commonplace Book his impressions of Ingersoll's October 21, 1890, speech:
"Well the Ingersoll lecture came off last evn'g in Horticultural Hall, Broad st:
Phila:—a noble, (very eulogistic to WW & L of G) eloquent speech, well
responded to by the audience. There were 1600 to 2000 people, (choice persons,)
one third women (Proceeds to me $869.45)—I went over, was wheeled on
the stage in my ratan chair, and at the last spoke a very few words—A
splendid success for Ingersoll, (& me too.) Ing. had it written, & read
with considerable fire, but perfect ease" (Whitman's Commonplace Book, Charles
E. Feinberg Collection of the Papers of Walt Whitman, 1839–1919, Library
of Congress, Washington, D.C.). [back]