s, and the wife of General James Warren, was in her own name a most
important and distinct literary figure during the Revolution.

So few women appear in the early history of American Drama that it is
well here to mention Mrs. Charlotte Ramsay Lennox (1720-1804) and Mrs.
Susanna Rowson (1762-1824). The former has the reputation of being the
first woman, born in America, to have written a play, "The Sister"
(1769). The author moved to London when she was fifteen, and there it
was her piece was produced, with an epilogue by Oliver Goldsmith. She
is referred to in Boswell's Life of Johnson.

Of Susanna Rowson, whose Memoir has been issued by Rev. Elias Nason,
we know that, as a singer and actress, she created sufficient
reputation in London to attract the attention of Wignell, the
comedian. (Clapp. Boston Stage. 1853, p. 41.)

With her husband, she came to this country in 1793, and, apart from
her professional duties on the stage, wrote a farce, "Volunteers"
(1795), dealing with the Whiskey Insurrection in Pennsylvania, "The
Female Patriot" (1794), "Slaves in Algiers; or, A Struggle for
Freedom" (1794), and "Americans in England" (1796). All of these were
produced. Her literary attainments were wide, her most popular novel
being "Charlotte Temple, a Tale of Truth" (1790). She likewise
compiled many educational works. (See Wegelin.)

The picture conjured up in our mind of Mrs. Warren is farthest away
from satire. To judge by the costume she wore when she sat to Copley
for her portrait, she must have been graced with all the feminine
wiles of the period. Behold Mrs. Mercy Warren, satirist, as the
records describe her:

Her head-dress is of white lace, trimmed with white satin
ribbons. Her robe is of dark-green satin, with a pompadour
waist, trimmed with point lace. There is a full plait at the
back, hanging from the shoulders, and her sleeves are also of
point lace. White illusion, trimmed with point lace, and
fastened with a white satin bow, covers her neck. The front of
the skirt and of the sleeves are elaborately trimmed with
puffings of satin.

But however agreeable this picture may be, Mrs. Warren, on reading
Burgoyne's farce, immediately sharpened her pen, and replied by
writing a counter-farce, which she called "The Blockheads; or, the
Affrighted Officers."[2] It was in the prologue to this play that the
poet-dramatist wrote:

Your pardon first I crave for this intrusion.