The topic's such it looks like a delusion;
And next your candour, for I swear and vow,
Such an attempt I never made till now.
But constant laughing at the Desp'rate fate,
The bastard sons of Mars endur'd of late,
Induc'd me thus to minute down the notion,
Which put my risibles in such commotion.
By yankees frighted too! oh, dire to say!
Why yankees sure at red-coats faint away!
Oh, yes--They thought so too--for lack-a-day,
Their gen'ral turned the _blockade_ to a play:
Poor vain poltroons--with justice we'll retort,
And call them _blockheads_ for their idle sport.

Unfortunately, we cannot test the comparative value of satire as used
by Burgoyne and Mrs. Warren, because the Burgoyne play is not in
existence. But, undoubtedly, our Revolutionary enthusiast knew how to
wield her pen in anger, and she reflects all of the bitter spirit of
the time. Not only is this apparent in "The Blockheads," but likewise
in "The Group," a piece which holds up to ridicule a number of people
well known to the Boston of that day.

Mrs. Warren was the writer of many plays, as well as being noted for
her "History of the American Revolution" (1805), and for her slim
volume of poems (1790), which follow the conventional sentiments of
the conventionally sentimental English poetry of that time.

In "The Group" we obtain her interesting impressions, in dramatic
form, of North and Gage and, from the standpoint of the library, we
regard with reverence the little copy of the play printed on the day
before the battle of Lexington--a slim brochure, aimed effectively at
Tory politicians.[3]

In fact, mention the name Tory to Mrs. Warren, and her wit was ever
ready to sharpen its shafts against British life in America. That is
probably why so many believe she wrote "The Motley Assembly," a farce,
though some there be who claim that its authorship belongs to J. M.
Sewall. Dr. F. W. Atkinson asserts that this was the first American
play to have in it only American characters.[4]

The satirical farce was a popular dramatic form of the time. Mrs.
Warren was particularly effective in wielding such a polemic note, for
instance, when she deals with the Boston Massacre in her Tragedy, "The
Adulateur" (Boston: Printed and sold at the New Printing-Office,
/Near Concert-Hall./ M,DCC,LXXIII./). On the King's side, however, the
writers were just as effective. Such an example is seen in "The Battle
of Brookly