National Republican., 1885-07-15
"LovE AND LAUGHTER"


wIioox.
To THE EDITOR returned last evening
from n ,yonlsis obeopoo In Wost Virorinia
MN Weeks uosenec III Wes1 virginia.
ana found TO my surprise letter In your
papor signed by Ella Wheeler-Wilcox
uenylng tnat wrote my roem Love ana
Laughter which she cl listens "Solitude.n
Tho ideo of tboso nc,,ns is tho somo and
nv iue" VI 'noso ~ .."S 10 Vlo SAINTS uhu
the words are almost identical. The letter
states TINT 7 hove.,,nn nroof,, tbot I ,vroto
tbc noem ''' Nv P''0i '""O "'o'0
Wy Puen'
wrote and composed the poem, love
and Laughter" for the late Geo. ID. Prem
tice In the wine room of the Gait House at
Louisville, KY, in january, 1863, being
then adiutant of the 94tb Kentucl,v
,Tba fniio,,it. t.Sr,,,s,, ~, .D,,f3i,, H.
r,,n nne NloI,owing proon was pq1gnlWlshesdi In
! ihh IA NArI0NAL a hEhuBLloAS, oil washing
'proof' articles that went the rounds Of
the press:
tdyES DESvER, Y COL, sept ~ lsI-MY DEAR
should have answered Il soyerai days noe, hpt
! have been neck-dcep in politics, which,
being new to me, is distractlng. As to your
poem ei nLoye "a ana M Leughter, am astonished
oT nosa,ov VI and Wiscnna u sS % VIZ sWJes % singer
remembor very we'll Whom We wore so,diers
together in old company I, in the winter of
1862 or -, in January, think that you wrote
the verses alluded TO, or, at least, something so
very much like them that | would have de-
have srcoiientiy seem IL sinca mrin,ed ee S,S.
moI,siy. md have Il pested IN m oia scro55.
book. and have often shown IL to friends tell.
ing them 1t was yours, and that you were my
friend in Childhood, manhood, and even to
snnv tn9e d9 wnem N.Y. your T. rs whlte WIN the
Norcayer is bad nn,vn voihin ", ,hn
thorship Of Love and Laughter / would
have declared II yours, on account of the ex-
pressions in 1t peculiar to yourself especially
Inc the eonoes pound 70 loyiui sound and
,yinnS irSiHS "ie hoho W uooiihe your hectareu
However. to bo very candid with Won T
think Love and Laughter" is fur behind many
other oil your poetic iancies which have seen,
tnndnnt u IN Svba Il, "cn aar nave peen your at
mon Won '0 ''''0' W P'O''o 'i"'"'' ""'
But, my dear boy, don't quarrel with any
one about such things. Life Is too short and
poetry is too plentiful, and 1t is wlthal the
most unmarketable article in all the booths Of
vanity fair. Yours, faithfully and fratcrnally.
WILL L. ylsscitER.
Comrade Visscher. the writer of the obove
letior wos tbn n,;vato vae r,oi que hDoES
GEORGE u prent,ca for a Lone fine ond -
n well-known Journalist. Lecturer and n
poet of eonsideroble renown' being at the
present time connected with The Cbeyenne
Demorr1t;c Ie1,icy I submit tbis inftor no
so,,o V,roofj; 20 ,, ,ttann,,J ~ ~ . ae
sonio pIooi Vi my authorship Vi INC poem
III dispute. ,
The author Of "Solitude" says It was
| written in February, 1888, and Judge
| Braley. of Wisconsin. her friend states that
| the poem was written I'm his library. and in.
ipS I % ,,a5 ~, hio "i,u ~,
sPHeu ny the SUI iace ana S0ieuln plack
uress Oh young wiuow." Ihls was two
| years ago last February, while "Love and
| Laughter was written by myself twenty
three yeors ago last January. sIiobt az.
| oronoHcv In dotos os ,,a,, ~, obsa,,5sa ,,in
ont classes and fbe insn,rafon DSorso a Mt i,ttiD
diiierent-one, the "sorrow' that funeral
| engendered, and the other, the 'ioyn that
| wine inspires,
| IToro is ono,hor h,, 90 ,.,,,,,o,, r,o,,,
~, iivio 10 another plI vi PROOF rom
| Bentlemun WHO WfOte 10 inc washington
REPUBLICAN,, and who was and is perfect
| stranger to mc
! AtTyANnnIA VA, oct 4 1ssi-ro rup r,.
mon NoticinI tho ariicic In Your nSnar 4, ro
gard to the authorship of the poem "iovo aud
Laughter, write simply 70 say that have In
clInnnd from ono pS the dofiv nonors mi,iVu nSori
| sent i6 1877 Tho nnihor's i,app,n ,yos no,
given, and it would be impossible for me tc
give II. Yours respectfully, W. l.. CLARK.
And here is another from the same gen
.Tudmn vi hraIoy m iepiy " "i' ilhpu'"'ion iro'n
s.' ...
"a, ALEyXSA,NDEA, yS,, Va, oct y, iSSi-Io THE EDI
Love and orHtery % y"I h w Wos 9G, not v GoiSGs
oi ehiherlng INTO controversy on the subject
ior nave no earthly Interest either in the
poem OF us auInofi Dut would say n answer
clipped from paper the poem in question ant
put Il in scrap-book in 1871 the statement
was not mere matter OF words, but mater
oi iaSt T., M Wnicn M ettn DC proved, ,.., A.
WiicoY t y ehc clsis III 10 hnye ri,in ME- w
poem only two years ago have this much II
say. in the face of Judge Braley's statement
that she did not compose 1t; nor do mean tC
say mat Vol Joyce qua; ... :.
~ @ 70 a@ateinTli.s @ i,i ,' ,ni9ne' ahcy amount t(
else can prodnoe better nroof tbsn their NOR, v,
statements they had better keep quiet for
sooner or later, they will be stamped as beint
20 use Judge Braley's words) "audaciously un
ruei f; ,,o oo,,,oror,,, oo,,,n. .r J., o
roctIv ,yfiIina 10 sho,D ~ o, t VII ~ Pii
scrai, book. though II is of n nrivete nature ''
W. /. CLARK.
| alec s,,,,,,, .,o ,o,,o,,,,,,o, ,o,.ou =,
unronS,, frn,' iE ,' ChnS TI rHSIo, ~ ~
no ,uo t,,ai, @ ILL On"ttoo a. SS
Wiso; muS e"erfe d es yes i; n alo u
,hat ~ dmdea RroIov,s .'i"''V' 10 10 S'ou ="
'rV ~, "a ,o,- -
fn,l, "fAsmIndI9N, On u; ~, Suiy I99o.Goi. yois s
called ~ The controvorsv over the onthor,bi,
of Love and Iaughter,h poem of much trutti
and beauty. At least five years ago heart
you recite the lines of that poem. and on sew
eTai occasions since. ! DO not undertake z
mo sa M lin s,,, no 1 e,ost ~ i,
statemeni ior Mi eoncerned Yours triiv 'i'
CHARLES A. EipREDGE.
gentIeman who orgues unon onv subiec,