important document would be read in different parts of the city to the soldiers, and that, on the common,[1] the general of all the American forces, the gentleman from Virginia, would be present.
It was to be a great day for those who were in sympathy with the views entertained by the Sons of Liberty, and Dorothy Dean had her mother's promise that she should witness as much of the merry-making as might be possible. In addition to this, was she not to wear the new finery her mother had purchased or made, and which, at the very moment when Dorothy opened her eyes on this eventful morning, was spread out on the bed in the guest chamber, where it had been placed for the inspection of Mistress Lamb, she whose husband owned the shop on Old Slip, where he sold and repaired mathematical instruments?
By simply closing her eyes Dorothy could bring to view the new costume which was to be worn for the first time when she went to see General Washington sitting on his horse while the Declaration of Independence was being read.
There was the "frontage" or head-dress of plaited muslin in rows, stiffened with wire, and rising almost as high in the air as did her mother's head-covering. Then she had a "steinkirk," or neckcloth of silk, direct from China, which had
- ↑ Now City Hall square.
