DAUGHTERS OF THE
REVOLUTION AND
THEIR TIMES
1769-1776
A Historical Romance
BY
CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN
BOSTON AND NEW YORK
HOUGHTON, MIFFLIN AND COMPANY
The Riverside Press, Cambridge
1896
Copyright, 1895,
By CHARLES CARLETON COFFIN.
All rights reserved.
SIXTH THOUSAND.
The Riverside Press, Cambridge, Mass., U. S. A.
Electrotyped and Printed by H. O. Houghton and Company.
ELIZABETH HOOTON WARRENINTRODUCTION.
No period in the history of our country surpasses in interest thatimmediately preceding and including the beginning of the RevolutionaryWar. Many volumes have been written setting forth the patriotism andheroism of the fathers of the Republic, but the devotion of themothers and daughters has received far less attention. This volumeis designed, therefore, to portray in some degree their influence inthe struggle of the Colonies to attain their independence. Thenarration of events takes the form of a story—a slight thread ofromance being employed, rather than didactic narrative, to morevividly picture the scenes and the parts performed by the actors inthe great historic drama. It will not be difficult for the reader todiscern between the facts of history and the imaginative parts of thestory.
Eminent educators have expressed the opinion that history may be moresuccessfully taught through the medium of fiction than by any otherform of diction. The novels of Sir Walter Scott, notably “Waverley,”“Ivanhoe,” are cited as presenting pictures of the times moreeffectively than any purely historic volume. The same may be said of“Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” as illustrating the state of affairs in our owncountry preceding the War of the Rebellion. It may be questionedwhether any work of fiction in [Pg iv]the world’s history has been sofar-reaching in its influence as that portrayal of the institution ofslavery by Mrs. Stowe. Believing that the spirit of the times can bebest pictured by the employment of romance, I have adopted that formof narrative.
The story opens in the fall of 1769. The Stamp Act had been repealed,and the irritation produced by that act had been allayed. It was aperiod of quiet and rest. The colonists still regarded themselves asEnglishmen and loyal to the crown. Information came that His MajestyGeorge III. was determined to maintain his right to tax the Coloniesby imposing an export duty on tea, to be paid by the exporter, who, inturn, would charge it to the consumer. The first resistance to thatclaim was the agreement of all but six of the merchants of Boston notto import tea from England, and the agreement of their wives anddaughters not to drink tea so imported.