New-York tribune., 1876-04-22
WALT WHITMAN.
rs AZ PERsECUTED


vou and yonr statements ere in respects lnac-
curate but 1t is a legitimate attempt at critical esti-
mate Nor would l. perhaps, ASK leave, fortnight aeF
e. reply TO your editorials the subject Of March
% and 80 II I did not zee them, ike new kind OF
dragons teeth, sprnging gp widely, your exchanges
will show, IN the foul and oopious abuse and Insults
Journals Of every description in this country are not
ashamed to offer 70 great genius, even when age pow
erty, aud illness have drawn around him their SAD
sanctuary.
In Mr. Wbitman's case the admitted facts these
He is old even less with years than noble his
iabors aud emotions in the hospitals OF the war have left
him paralyzed; and he lives. wholly without personal
means In the hHmble dwelling OF o relative. under
these circumstances, see no reason for brealEg the
force OF any appeal might he made for him, however
mistaken or injudieiOusy wOrded. But you discourage
even sympathy when you represent and cite LORD
HoughtOn prove, that the state OF iunrltS ahu aS
pendence in which he lives is Of modest simplicity
but not OF discomfort" IL appears that Mr. conway
since his return to London has published card, taxing
the Arcadan view. never before heard the eou
tion of being old crippled H. aud without money char
scterized In terms like these aud strikes me hat fom
sucn modest simplicity" Lycurgus VITA all Sparta AT
his back might reco But you further, and In your
comments upon Mr. Buchanans letter you eaDoratcy
discedt the proposed purchase by friends in England OF
an edition the stricken poets works an assistance hhd
homage which the fully justihes while the same
splendid British testimonial, conceived In spirit ana
form worthy Of gentlemen, and as honorable in Mr. Wht
man to accept as for them TO bestow, your London
correspond ent ingenious in insult, and as delicate
as accurate, carefully degrades with the well
chosen epthets of charity" and aims"
good deal has been printed abroad upon this
matter but you ind only for excerpts from Mr
Buchsuans letter. which dSconneoton garoles and for
the despcabe paragraph in which the slick and ms0ent
swells of The Saturday RerieD uenton the movement
for relief as "a strangely impudent agitation" II seems
to me that the presence Of the unmistakaole shape
and shadows Of an august need TO which manly hearts
are every where responding, such an attitude III becomes
the foremost journal OF America.
At such time, too aud in such connection you re-
produce the small aud stale old surs and hgments
invented twenty years ago. and kept in constant nss by
the enemies poet In this there seems TO oe some
vague and grotesque intention to make hIn at once
criminal ard ridiculous never heard that Henry Helne
incurred nfsmy by being depicted in his shirt sleeves u
the engraving prefxed the Reisebder but the way
you handle the similar picture OF Walt Whitman Ill hs
typical mechanics costume in the old Quato OF 3D. does
not suggest equal good fortune. At all events since
this an affair of moral character, wo as chronicle
OF small beer let be exact, and not call the SHIRT III
the picture nznue" when 1t is linen. However, crue
In Appletos Journal whore article contains less truth
to the square than thought type capable or oudOes you
by malignly making the shirt "red flannel" and adding
"a blouse and tarpauln the favorite atre OF Mr
Whimanl II such things must bs cOnfuted, will say
that the uoets red flannel which he never
wears is known to his friends; and the "blouse and tar
pain he probably for his courtdress whsn
Mr.. Dana presents him to Queen Victoria
As for the letter wrote him. it was IN no
fust sense OF the term you charge private letter;
II WAC originally published in The TRIUUSE, and ut the
unfortunate and proracted solicitation of its editor and
III was private letter. and not proper for publication
how came TRIBUNE TO be concerned In the tan7ac
ton Tho truth is that the letter simply contained an
expresslsn OF opinion about book, and was no more
private reserved from print than scores of similar
nails from Victor Hugo, THEIRS Quinet, Car ye, Garoa
svnburne and other celebrities The fuss that has been
made out this document is preposterous; ana
tho engraving OF sentence from 1t the
cover OF the edition OF the book-what was IT, at
the utmost but logical step from the original pubca-
tou by THE TRIBUNE, and question, and very small
question of simply1 Furthermore the letter was
not as you alegs "impulsive" nor "extravagant nor
written after the perusa Of few pages OF Leaves o.
Grass" Mr.. Emerson, every one knows, is einlncnty
cool-hea ed and not Of impulse and ardor What
he wrote to Mr. whtnsn the letter itself shows, was
written after he had possessed and read the book foi
some time; and it was his deep and deliberate judgment
which, no matter what may be said, he has never r.
traeted. Tie further statement that MI Emerson
was mortified TO find that innocent purchasers
had been begued BY publication Of his Endorsement
of the volume taking home something impossbis
10 DO read aloud under the evening lamp" ind highly
comeal. imagine Mr.. Emerson's notification al the
discovery that some pretty lambs tempted fros
speare into taking thei families the volume OF
the mighty drAmatst, had found their purchase was
sonnet impossible to be read loud under the even
ing lamp p Fancy pater famas, BY that serene light
treating tho astouDdod circle TO a reading from Oheo
or "Troilus and Cressida :" Is the Inferno" for
all its iron music an evening lamp composition
II Mr.. Bayard Taylor has not gone on again
like WarIng, please ask him, fresh from his
fine translation, which so delights German scholars
whether Faust" writtentO readaloud under
the Argand. You viii excuse plain, un'ettered man
who ventures Rabesis good and great beyond
even the lofty praise OF COerdgo-bu under what even
ing lamp does the Stereoscope show views OF those
sublime farce-mounains. whose ranges of laughter and
grandeur overshadow ChristeudOnf Our translation %
the Bible is already expurgated yet even now 80 tts
is it t for reading aloud under the evening lamp that
DR. Noah Webster. acting Archbishop IIotsonssug
eestion tried 10 introduce a new version.
The idea! that the great boOksthe books OF nestima
BILE vslue-the seminal and yeopedc books that keep
the form and pressure the time and create new ages
should be brought " the test OF svcnnganp eOcloh
inever read expect to read book greater no
bier more useful Illuminated. than swedenDoFgs r
rsstise on the Organs Of Generation; :" and IT is TO be
condemned suppose not suited 10 the purpose
of the private @urdochs OF thc centerablel As Tor
Lcaves y Grass the happens TO be quite dherent
and assure you that have heard 1t read aloud very
often uuder the evening lamp" and in very high a%
pure society too; indeed IT may well be- Tor
A. does not contain, from title page 10 colophon,
one impure thought or indecent Woid-not one i-the
plan OF the having excluded those freedoms hG
fully permitted nevertheless art and need To all great
geniuses and practcod on occason by all nom
ehylus and Aristophanes 10 Shakespeare and NoheTe
and beg to add hst one Of the most nIs.hseht ana
appreoatiye tributes ever paid the book, which ycu
Imagine must hidden la darkness from 'Ae
eycs OF woman and youth is the srtiele entitled
Worlan's Estimate OF Walt Whitman" published ID The
Boston Rad,eal and written by An English 2dy' ss
.l.f ind nd gpUl2 il be-