Transcription:
Portage, Wis., Jan, 3, 1895. Dear brother John: Your generous and very acceptable New Year's gift came safely and reached
me just in time to cheer the close of New Year's day. I cannot express my appreciation of your brotherly kindness; for these
past few years, and especially the last, have been more heavily fraught with difficulty and trouble to us than any one, not
knowing the circumstances, can possibly understand. Walter's long, hard, unsuccessful struggle, with none of the cheer and
relaxation of home life, begins to tell very perceptibly on even his strong will and unflinching spirit, and I was glad to
cheer him with your word of remembrance to him. Such life experiences as these are, in their effect on our characters, like
the glaciers on the features of the Sierras -- grinding and chiseling out in one place, and building up and developing in
another. And as the great master builder of both human character and mountain scenery fully understands his work, and the
high results to be attained, we do well to submit ourselves to His Moulding, even though we feel sometimes that we shall be
ground out of existence in the process. We are enjoying your book more than I can tell. Even little Bessie exclaims at the
musical sweetness of some of its passages, and the call for Uncle John's book comes oftener than for any other. I am glad
you had so sociable a dinner party for Christmas. Ours was very quiet. Sarah was not well and we did not go down there as
usual. But I went down in the evening and Mother seemed in excellent spirits. The children unite with me in love to you and
the other Cal. friends. Affectionately yours, Joanna M uir Brown