with the highest offices in the department. His pen was continually
dedicated to the support of Democracy, and, during the years from
1832-1836, he figured as a contributor to many papers of the time on
political topics. He lived until March 9, 1858.

I have selected his play, "The Indian Princess,"[1] as an example of the
numberless dramas that grew up around the character of Pocahontas. The
reader will find it particularly of interest to contrast with this piece
G. W. P. Custis's "Pocahontas; or, The Settlers of Virginia" (1830), and
John Brougham's burlesque, "Po-ca-hon-tas; or, The Gentle Savage."

The Indian Drama, in America, is a subject well worth careful attention.
There are numberless plays mentioned by Laurence Hutton in his
"Curiosities of the American Stage" which, though interesting as titles,
have not been located as far as manuscripts are concerned.

Barker's "The Indian Princess" is one of the earliest that deal with the
character of Pocahontas. The subject has been interestingly treated in an
article by Mr. E. J. Streubel (_The Colonnade_, New York University,
September, 1915).

Barker had originally intended his play, "The Indian Princess," to be a
legitimate drama, instead of which, when it was first produced, it formed
the libretto for the music by a man named John Bray, of the New Theatre.
In his letter to Dunlap, he says:

"'The Indian Princess,' in three acts ... begun some time before, was
taken up in 1808, at the request of Bray, and worked up into an opera, the
music to which he composed. It was first performed for his benefit on the
6th of April, 1808, to a crowded house; but Webster, particularly
obnoxious, at that period, to a large party, having a part in it, a
tremendous tumult took place, and it was scarcely heard. I was on the
stage, and directed the curtain to be dropped. It has since been
frequently acted in, I believe, all the theatres of the United States. A
few years since, I observed, in an English magazine, a critique on a drama
called 'Pocahontas; or, the Indian Princess,' produced at Drury Lane. From
the sketch given, this piece differs essentially from mine in the plan and
arrangement; and yet, according to the critic, they were indebted for this
very stupid production 'to America, where it is a great favourite, and is
to be found in all the printed collections of stock plays.' The copyright
of the 'Indian Princess' was also given to Blake, and transferred to
Longworth. It