to be erected over the
neglected grave of Washington's mother.

This was not the first time Bunce had appeared as a playwright. There
had been seen, on June 10, 1850, at the New York Bowery Theatre, a
tragedy entitled "Marco Bozzaris; or, The Grecian Hero," and in the
cast were J. Wallack, Jr., and his wife, together with John Gilbert.
It was not based on the poem by Fitz-Greene Halleck, but, for its
colour and plot, Bunce went direct to history. For Wallack he also
wrote a tragedy, entitled "Fate; or, The Prophecy," and, according
to Hutton, during the summer of 1848, the Denin Sisters produced his
"Morning of Life," at the New York Chatham Theatre.

Such was the extent of Bunce's drama writing. His life was not cast in
the dramatic field, but rather in the publishing world. The plays
were done in his early manhood. But he was pledged in interest to the
theatre, and there are many significant criticisms and descriptions
in print which convey an excellent impression of his attitude toward
plays, players, and acting.

Bunce was a self-made man, with an excellent grasp of literature,
which served him well in his various literary ventures. His mind was
cast in channels of originality, and the history of book publishing
in New York must needs consider the numerous suggestions, which,
as literary adviser at different times for the houses of Harper and
Appleton, he saw to successful fruition. In 1872, he became Editor of
_Appleton's Journal_, and it is to the files of this magazine we must
turn to extract his frank reaction to the theatre of his day. He wrote
novels, stories, essays, editorials, everything to win him the name of
journalist; once he had a publishing house of his own, doing business
under the firm name of Bunce & Co. He was always cordial toward every
move to further the literary interest of the country, and was among
the first to welcome the founding of the Authors Club. It may be that
his "Love in '76" was a by-product of a book written by him, in 1852,
and called "Romance of the Revolution."

Bunce wrote well on theatrical matters; he is much more vivid and
human than many a better-known critic. Here, for instance, is an
impression of the old Park Theatre, New York, in 1846.

"That was the time," he writes in "The Editor's Table" of _Appleton's
Journal_ for October, 1880, "when the theatre had a pit, where critics
and wiseacres were wont to assemble and utter oracular things about
the plays and the pe