never consciously plagiarized a line, or borrowed an idea
or an image. Her measure, also, was the vibration of
her own exquisitely strung organization. A controversy
which arose in regard to the originality of " Over the
River " gave her great pain. The poem first appeared
in "The Springfield Republican," August 22, 1857, when
she was in her twenty-second year. The editor was in
formed that the reputed author, " Lizzie Lincoln," had
imposed upon him by sending him the production of
another writer. When the question was put to her as
to the originality of the poem, her reply was that she
could not tell : " she only knew that she had written it."
When the imputation of .untruthfulness and of literary
piracy first came to her knowledge, she burst into tears,
and " expressed regret that she had ever written a stanza." The editor of the Western paper who had started the accusation was obliged, on examination, to confess his
mistake. The reputation of the author was vindicated ;
but a wound had been inflicted which was never entirely
healed. She could not be persuaded to enter upon a
course of authorship, or even, except by strong persuasion, to write occasional pieces for the press.
The writer of these pages recalls a fact which fairly exhibits the extreme modesty of Miss Priest. In making preparation for the centennial celebration of the incorporation of the town of Winchendon in November,
