Page:A story in verse from facts of the times (IA storyinversefrom00wash).pdf/8



There was no thought, at first, of this poem's extending over more than a few pages nor of its being published in the present form. But the real facts which underlie it were rather numerous, and in gathering them up as a foundation, the poem itself kept extending, till it assumed its present dimensions. If, as "Mark Twain" would express it, I could have "suppressed my facts," the result might have been characterized by more brevity. But I could not. They would "ooze out." Then the desire arose in the person most concerned to have those facts given to the public in the dress they assumed. And as they are facts, and as religious bigotry in milder aspect still holds too large sway in the minds of so-called religious people, no reason was seen why this should not, like other satirical writing, contribute its modicum of influence toward ridiculing out of existence a spirit that could hardly be reached by sober thought or Christian teaching.

A. L. W.

, July 17, 1883.