The Women of the American Revolution. Elizabeth F. Ellet

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СКАЧАТЬ style="font-size:15px;">      " An inventory clear Of an she needs, Lamira offers here; Nor does she fear a rigid Cato's frown When she lays by the rich embroidered gown, And modestly compounds for just enough, Perhaps some dozens of more slightly stuff: With lawns and lutestrings-blond and mechlin laces, Fringes and jewels, fans and tweezer cases; Gay cloaks and hats, of every shape and size, Scarfs, cardinals, and ribbons of all dyes; With ruffles stamped, and aprons of tambour, Tippets and handkerchiefs, at least three score: With finest muslins that fair India boasts,

       MS Letter to Mrs. Warren, Dec. 26th, 1790.

      And the choice herbage from Chinesan coasts; (But while the fragrant hyson leaf regales, Who'll wear the home-spun produce of the vales? For if 'twould save the nation from the curse Of standing troops-or name a plague still worse, Few can this choice delicious draught give up, Though all Medea's poisons fill the cup.) Add feathers, furs, rich satins, and ducapes, And head-dresses in pyramidal shapes;* Side-boards of plate, and porcelain profuse, With fifty dittos that the ladies use; If my poor treacherous memory has missed, Ingenious T-I shall complete the list. So weak Lamira, and her wants so few, Who can refuse 1 they're but the sex's due. "In youth, indeed, an antiquated page Taught us the threatenings of a Hebrew sage 'Gainst wimples, mantles, curls and crisping pins, But rank not these among our modern sins; For when our manners are well understood, What in the scale is stomacher or hood? 'Tis true, we love the courtly mien and air, The pride of dress, and all the debonair : Yet Clara quits the more dressed neglige, And substitutes the careless polance; Until some fair one from Britannia's court

       It is mentioned in Sanderson's Biography of the Signers of Independence, that the Whig ladies of Philadelphia having adopted this tory fashion of high head-dresses, after the evacuation of the city by the British, some Whigs dressed a negress in the full costume of a loyalist lady, took her to a place of resort, where the fashionables displayed their towering top-knots, seating her iii a conspicuous place,and afterwards paraded her through the city. Nothing, however, could stop the progress of the fashion, which for a season became general in America.

      Some Jaunty dress, or newer taste import; This sweet temptation could not be withstood, Though for the purchase paid her father's blood; Though loss of freedom were the costly price, Or flaming comets sweep the angry skies; Or earthquakes rattle, or volcanoes roar; Indulge this trifle, and she asks no more; Can the stern patriot Clara's suit deny Tis beauty asks, and reason must comply."

      The powers of Mrs. Warren were devoted to nobler objects than chastising the follies of the day. She gave her tenderest sympathies to the sufferings of her friends, and poured the balm of consolation into many a wounded heart. The letters of Mrs. Adams show how much she leaned, amidst her heavy trials, on this faithful support. Nor was her kindness limited to the circle of her acquaintance. Every sufferer from this cruel war had a claim her heart acknowledged, and her benevolence went forth on its gentle mission among strangers. She addressed a letter of condolence to the widow of the brave Montgomery, Jan. 20th, 1776, in which the consolatory suggestions are those of a patriot and a Christian.

      "While you are deriving comfort," she says, "from the highest source, it may still further brighten, the clouded moment to reflect that the number of your friends is not confined to the narrow limits of a province, but by the happy union of the American Colonies, (suffering equally by the rigor of oppression,) the affections of the inhabitants are cemented; and the urn of the companion of your heart will be sprinkled with the tears of thousands who revere the commander at the gates of Quebec, though not personally acquainted with General Montgomery."

      Montgomery, as is known, married Janet Livingston, a sister of Chancellor Robert R. Livingston. Her life was a secluded one, and affords few materials for biography; but her letters expressive of her feelings have a deep interest. Mrs. Warren says with truth writing to her Nov. 25th, 1777:

      "The sensibility of soul, the pathos of grief so strongly marked in your letters, have convinced me that the brave Montgomery had a partner worthy of his character."

      The following is an extract from her letter in reply to Mrs. Warren:-- " My dear Madam, " The sympathy that is expressed in every feature of your letter, claims from me the warmest acknowledgments; and the professions of friendship from one who so generously feels and melts at the woes of a stranger, not only soothe but flatter me.

      "It is very kind of you, madam, to seek for alleviating consolations in a calamity (though of so much glory). I thank God I feel part of their force, and it is owing to such affectionate friends as you, that have lightened the load of misery.

      "As a wife I must ever mourn the loss of the husband, friend and lover; of a thousand virtues, of all domestic bliss; the idol of my warmest affections, and in one word, my every dream of happiness. But with America I weep the still greater loss of the firm soldier and the friend to freedom. Let me repeat his last words when we parted: 'You shall never blush for your Montgomery.'

      "Nobly has he kept his word; but how are my sorrows heightened! Methinks I am like the poor widow in the Gospel, who having given her mite, sits down quite destitute. Yet would I endeavor to look forward to the goal with hope; and though the path is no longer strewed with flowers, trust to the sustaining hand of friendship to lead me safely through, and in assisting me to rise superior to my misfortunes, make me content to drag out the remainder of life, till the Being who has deprived me of husband and father, will kindly close the melancholy scene, and once more unite me to them in a world of peace, where the tyrant shall nd more wantonly shed the blood of his innocent subjects, and where vice and virtue will receive their reward."

      All the letters of Mrs. Montgomery preserved in the correspondence of Mrs. Warren, dwell on her irreparable loss, breathing a tender sorrow, mingled with an ardent spirit of patriotism. She writes, Nov. 20th, 1780:

      "I have been interrupted. Another alarm of the enemy's being in full march for Saratoga, and the poor harrassed militia are again called upon. My impatient spirit pants for peace. When shall the unfortunate individual have the gloomy satisfaction of weeping alone for his own particular losses! In this luckless state, woes follow woes--every moment is big with something fatal. We hold our lives and fortunes on the most precarious tenure. Had Arnold's plan taken place, we could not have escaped from a fate dreadful in thought; for these polished Britons have proved themselves fertile in inventions to procrastinate [protract] misery."

      When going with her nephew to visit her husband's family in Dublin, her patriotic feeling is still fervent. "When I return," she says, "I hope to find my dear country, for which I have bled, the envy of her enemies and the glory of her patriots."

      The friendships formed by Mrs. Warren. were not short-lived. The letters addressed to her evince the warmth of attachment she inspired; and her own true heart never swerved from its faith. The interchange of sentiments was continued for years; and when interrupted, resumed with the same affectionate ardor as soon as the obstacles were removed. Mrs. Washington was one of her favorite correspondents. On her visit to head-quarters in Cambridge, Mrs. Warren invited her to her house, and paid her many attentions. Her letter from Valley Forge, describing their accommodations, and others have been elsewhere published. The Commander-in-chief joined in his wife's feelings of regard.

      Another of Mrs. Warren's intimate friends, was Hannah Winthrop, the wife of Dr. Winthrop, of Cambridge. Her letters discover a mind of no common order They corresponded sometimes under the signatures of Honoria and Philomela, the last name being bestowed on Mrs. Warren for her powers of song. The poetical signature assumed by Mrs. Warren was "Marcia," afterwards given at her request to a beloved granddaughter. But as the subjects became momentous on which the two wrote, the fanciful appellations were dropped. Some portions of Mrs. Winthrop's letters are so characteristic, that extracts will be interesting. She writes, in Jan. 1773, "I think one of the most extraordinary political manreuvres this century has produced, is the ministerial mandate to the Newportians for transporting them a thousand СКАЧАТЬ