New-York tribune., 1881-12-12
MuSIC AND THE DRAMA.
THE BONDMAN.

Nj Mccullough will, as already annonhceu ",r"7 -,
forward Mr. Lewis Wngfelds new drama oi
Bondman" this evening at the fHVn n'o""D ",,
Theatre The piece has been prepaieu VIZ"
tborourh care and scenic pageant as wen a.
stirring melodralnatic play may be eApec'cu a"
account OF the plot has been furniShe" " '"'
author, as follows:
rIand n' an ia,an Ioctor with his only daughter
xbo shares his heart with the suffering comilohal'y
OF Enganda spritless mon pI,n, T6is doctor
by the tyranny of the feudai system ~ ms '1ja
c6ooses for his only friend WOTn-oht GRIPPE
named Gade last survivor ol once pIoIleISHuS S
family rooted out thirty years carrier oy Ino ,
nn',n lord of the manor the EGrl Of suffolk. The
cripple Oh that occasion, was spaIeu, III CThso
quence of ntrmty OF body me r9SI MJre 81 sam, ;
since been heard Of Suffolk, who is lhe queen
tavorite or lover, arrives at hls castle anu COMES
npon a village merTymaking to celebrate tue crown,
ing of the doctors daughter as the May Queen any
her marriage with young VIllageT named he"heH'
The Doctor betrays violent emotion at s.1nt o. tbe
tyTant, aud boldly boards him Wheh he takcS r rho
maldens hand and proposes TO dance WIN net ny
Earl to punish the haughty Doetor, carries tne g,It
10 his castle, out of bravado with sneerlhg leaiN
that her father may fetch her on the morrow. .h
In the second act the Doctor arrlI IeS 70 clai ,ns
fufmen Of his promise & pgt reSss eMs TO give her up
Harsh words are used on both sides ana lhe EaIt, ,
made furious by unaccustoned oPpoetton, G.uU,s .
the stranger to be hanged as preacher OF seullous
doctrines. Sufolks nurse recognizes iu tne uoIvoi
the child who escaped the massacre OF ms la'lll y
while the sanity brother ot the E0Tt, lot soluV
mysterious reason, takes hin under MS Specld P.o
lection, This brother is prIeSt-the &ggtV yIf4t.
,Joha's-a meek person. who does his Understanding
In the third act the Doctor is discovered kneeling
on The door OF the chapel The Prior interrupts MS
meditatons and explains To the prisoner ihe Gauss
OF his kindly interest. disclosing a plot against the
Kings life, and offering TO the DOCTOR means ol
escape, provided he will aid IL his schemes, me me
parties fail. however to come 70 Terms m anu .ne
lost and the doctor is chiding hInseu lot SacriJus
with his life the sacred cause he has AT STAKE, Wheh
another anu unexpected means oil escape presents
itself arranged by his sOn-n-law. with the help oil
The remorseful nurse The Doctor escapes car ing
With bm nroofs of the i-drected ambition of the
House of Suffolk, leaving the bdri and the frOr III
Consideration when they realize Their peril =, o..
In the fourth act the Prior follows the Doc,0' 10
Blackheath, where the latter commands the Iel eis
who have risen TO demand of the King Ielorm OF
laws; and there attempts to wheedle from hlm lhe
compromising proofs of the plot. he reDei con-
mander invites him, with grim pleasantry, 10 VIII
ness the stormlng OF London Bridge, when Is car
RED by assault. The bridge TAKEN London talls
into The hands of the insurgents; and, holding now
the kew of the situation, the rebel leader offers an
ultmatnm to the King, backing hls demand WIN
the proofs of SafoiPs treachery. Meahwhle' Lon
don beng at his mercy, lie pursues the EGTi 10 ms
palace ia the Savoy, where he has lucaTcerated Tue
doctors daughter. Perceving the hopeleSness OF
his plight, the Earl surrendeIs TO tie popular
leader. and is challenged to single combat Dy hls
enemy who reveals himself as Cddc-the chlid VINO
evaded murder thirty years before TO aVenge aG .og
Cade is about TO slay him when heRMeH returns
from court with message from the King to the
effect that the charter shall be granted IN exchange
for two living traitors The Earl and his brother
are accordingly delivered to the royal guards ana
CGde pr0ciaims to the delighted popuice that ther
emancipation from seridom is complete.
With regard to his treatment OF the character OF
Jack Cade Mr. Wingfeld says:
History tells us little concerning Jack Cades
career. Baker in his chronicle informs us that as
child he was transported to Italy where ne was
adopted by doctor. and reared in con fort; but
that, like Moses his prototype, he conceived MN,
self called to free his brethren from slavery. and
returned to England 10 raise the standard OF revolt
This and the that his effort resulted IN failure
is absolutely all that is known about him. Snake
speare drew a sketch of hiIa as "a low and vulgar
brawor who met a well deervei fate IN ditch
There is no reason for branding Cade with rldlcule
infamy. The author OF The Bondman' SUP
poses he was, more probably dreamcr-a man
educated above his class, who was distressed by an
acute sense of the misery and wrong under which
his fellows grOaned a single-mlnded and unselilSh
parsonage whO spurred to zeal by vIrtuOus enthus
iasm gloricd in risking all Tor the beneht OF the
holy cause. This Is no doubt an unusual view Oh
Cade's character, but there seems 10 exist no
authority to prove that it is an erroneous one For
dramatic purposes the author has interwoven with
his story the love-epsode between Queen Margaret
aud the wicked Earl of Suholk-a scandal which
we may assume not to have been the Invention OF
the enemy since we know that the lady was dis
tracted with grief when that willy nObleman WAS
murdered. Several ancient chrOniclers hunt, IN
guarded way, at an ambitious dream OF Suiiolks-a
plot whereby the student king was to be got rd OF.
that his assassin might marry bis widow: but what
part the Queen took il this dark scheme we are
left to imagine. We have no cleW rs 10 CaucS
reason foI assuming the title of Mortimer mo
tive for that proceeding had therefore TO be IN
vented. -
The Just limits OF poetic license" have vexed
the sous of dramatists and critics since the drama
came lnto being The author OF The Bondman,"
permitting poetic Justice to rule unchecked, has
allowed his hero to win his and retain his life
10 spite of the vague rumors which history has
caught in passing. Perhaps Cade did not die in a
ditch; perhaps he never lived at all. BE it remem-
bered that there historians whom the world
deems sane although they persist IN denying mat
Jane Shore ever starved in the snow, or that Joan
of Arc ever suffered at the stake or that Jack Shep
pard ever was hanged at Tyburn.