Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 08.djvu/267

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We have received from Rev. Hugh F. Oliver, of Augusta, Georgia, a lengthy communication in proof of the claim that the poetic gem, "All Quiet Along the Potomac To-night," was written by his father (Thaddeus Oliver), and we regret that our space will not allow us to publish the paper in full.

Mr. Oliver, after introducing two very sweet poems of his father to show that he was capable of writing this one, proceeds with the following proofs:

1. He gives incidents in early betrothal of his father to "Mary"—in his wededwedded [sic] life—and in the circumstances under which he left home for the army, to show that he had enacted the poem in his heart's experience long before it was actually written.

2. He gives copious extracts from his father's letters to his mother, to show that long before the poem was written he had put the same sentiments into prose—that he claimed the authorship of the poem before it was ever in print—and that after it was printed he again and again reiterated his claim to its authorship.

3. Mr. Oliver then gives, as settling the question, the following letters: