FOUNDED ON
AN INCIDENT OF THE REVOLUTION
BY
DELIA BACON
I am extremely anxious to guard against any misconceptionof the design of this little work. I thereforetake the liberty of apprising the reader beforehand,that it is not a Play. It was not intended for thestage, and properly is not capable of representation.I have chosen the form of the DIALOGUE as bestsuited to my purpose in presenting anew the passionsand events of a day long buried in the past, butit is the dialogue in scenes arranged simply withreference to the impressions of the Reader, andwholly unadapted to the requirements of the actualstage. The plan here chosen, involves throughoutthe repose, the thought, and sentiment of Actual life,instead of the hurried action, the crowded plot, thetheatrical elevation which the Stage necessarily demandsof the pure Drama. I have only to ask thatI may not be condemned for failing to fulfil the conditionsof a species of writing which I have not attempted.
The story involved in these Dialogues is essentiallyconnected with a well-known crisis in our NationalHistory; nay, it is itself a portion of the historic record,and as such, even with many of its most triflingminutiae, is imbedded in our earliest recollections;but it is rather in its relation to the abstract truth itembodies,—as exhibiting a law in the relation of thehuman mind to its Invisible protector—the apparentsacrifice of the individual in the grand movements forthe race,—it is in this light, rather than as an historicalexhibition, that I venture to claim for it, as herepresented, the indulgent attention of my readers.
THE AUTHOR.
New-York, July 7th, 1839.
British and American officers and soldiers.
Indians employed in the British service.
ELLISTON—A religious missionary residing in the adjacent woods.
GEORGE GREY—A young American.
LADY ACKLAND—Wife of an English Officer.
MARGARET—Her maid.
MRS. GREY—The widow of a Clergyman residing near Fort Edward.
HELEN, and ANNIE,—Her daughters.
JANETTE—A Canadian servant.
Children, &c.
PART I. THE CRISIS AND ITS VICTIM