"3. It was published as having been found in the pocket of a dead soldier on the battlefield. It is more than probable that the dead soldier was a Federal, and that the poem had been clipped from _Harper's_. "4. I have compared the poem in _Harper's_ with the same as it first appeared in the Southern papers, and find the punctuation to be precisely the same. "5. Mr. Fontaine, so far as I have seen, has given elsewhere no evidence of the powers displayed in that poem. I, however, remember noticing in the Charleston _Courier_, in 1863, or 1864, a 'Parodie' (as Mr. L. F. had it) on Mrs. Norton's _Bingen on the Rhine_, which was positively the poorest affair I ever saw. Mr. Fontaine had just come out of a Federal prison, and some irresponsible editor, in speaking of this 'Parodie' remarked that the poet's Pegasus had probably worn his wings out against the walls of his Northern dungeon. "You probably know me well enough to acquit me, in this instance at least, of the charge of prejudice. I am jealous of Southern literature, and if I have any partiality in the matter at all, it is in favor of Major Lamar Fontaine's claim. I should like to claim this poem for that gentleman; I should be glad to claim it as a specimen of Southern literature, but the facts in the case do not warrant it." Mr. Alfred H. Guernsey, for many years editor of _Harper's Magazine_, bears testimony that the poem, bearing the title _The Picket Guard_, appeared in _Harper's Weekly_ for November 30, 1861. He further declares that it was furnished by Mrs. Ethel Lynn Beers, whom he describes as "a lady whom I think incapable of palming off as her own any production of another." Mrs. Beers was born in Goshen, New York, and her maiden name was Ethelinda Eliot. She was a direct descendant of John Eliot, the heroic apostle to the Indians. When she began to write for the newspapers she signed her contributions "Ethel Lynn," a _nom de plume_ very naturally suggested by her Christian name. After her marriage, she added her husband's name, and over the signature of Ethel Lynn Beers published many poems. In her later years Mrs. Beers resided in Orange, New Jersey, where she died October 10, 1879, on the very day on which her poems, among them _All Quiet Along the Potomac_, were issued in book form. There has never been any contest as to the music of the song, which was composed by J. Dayton, the leader of the band of the First Connecticut Artillery. [Illustration] [Illustration: _STEPHEN COLLINS FOSTER_] _THE OLD FOLKS AT HOME._ Way down upon de Suwanee ribber, Far, far away, Dere's wha my heart is turning ebber, Dere's wha de old folks stay. All up and down de whole creation, Sadly I roam, Still longin' for de old plantation, And for de old folks at home. All de world am sad and dreary, Eb'rywhere I roam. Oh! darkies, how my heart grows weary, Far from de old folks at home.