The Cave of Adullam is the cave in which King David hid from King Saul: “David left Gath and escaped to the cave of Adullam.” Samuel 22:1. Hosmer, however, is referring to a speech by John Bright (1811-1889), MP of Birmingham, in the debates about the Reform Bill of 1866, meant to expand suffrage among working-class men. In a 1865 speech, Bright accused liberals who opposed the bill of hiding in the Cave of Adullam. The 1866 bill failed, but a more far-reaching bill passed the following year. (“John Bright MP and the 1867 Reform Act”; Winter). (Image: “A Block on the Line.”).
a play by Harriet Hosmer