MR. HACKETT'S KENTUCKIAN.
WE briefly noticed the success of Mr. Haman's personation of the Kentuckian, Nimrod Wildfire, at Covent Garden, on Satur- day; but we cannot rest satisfied with that passing wave of wel- come,—we must shake the American actor by the hand, though at the.risk of having our fingers disabled from holding a pen for the next week, by the grip of his grappling-iron. Mr. HACKETT is a fine manly fellow, with a frank look, a cor- dial smile disclosing a brilliant set of teeth, a sparkling eye, and immense heartiness of manner. He is none of your puny, sickly, cadaverous actors, whose pallor shows through the rouge and white lead ; but a stout healthy yeoman, with a bronzdcheek, a voice as clear as a bell, and lungs that crow like chanticleer. His animal spirits lend to his performance that gusto which is essential to the truth of the character, as well as requisite to qualify its hardness. Colonel Nimrod Wildfire is a sample of one of the primitive squatters of Kentucky—the Gascons of North America. His dress of ceremony is a close buttoned frock, nankeen trowsers, with top-boots over them, and a cap of wild cat skin, the head grinning over one of his shoulders and the tail dangling over the other. He describes himself as being " half horse, half alligator, with a touch of the earthquake;" one who can " jump higher, squat lower, dive deeper, and come up drier" than any fellor in Kentucky ; who has the fastest horse, the prettiest sweetheart, the surest rifle, and the ugliest dog in the States,' in a word, he is " a horse ;" and will back his preten- sions with his fist, his whip, or his rifle—for he can " whip his weight in wild cats." His sweetheart is nothing less than" a screamer:" as a specimen of her qualifications, we are told that she can pick off a wild cat or a squirrel with any of her sex, and at nine years old she shot a bear. The cap that the Colonel wears is a trophy of her skill. Nimrod' s stomach for fight is prodigious. He is a glutton both in attack and defence. With him "the pleasure is as great in being beaten as to beat," except as regards the honour of victory, of which he is greedy. Our Kentuckian, we should suppose, is to a Yankee what a Paddy is to John Bull; and the amusing character of Mr. HACKETT'S performance may be estimated by guessing the effect of POWER'S personation of one of the " boys" of the Emerald Isle, with his mirth, upon an American audience. The soil of Kentucky too seems to vie in fruitfulness with that of Ireland ; for, according to Ninzrod Wildfire," if you plant a crowbar at night, it will sprout tenpenny nails by the morn- ing." Nimrod, though somewhat of a savage, is not insen- sible to the charms of female society ; and his civilities to Mrs. Luminary, a tourist and a speculator, who visits America with the philanthropic intention of ameliorating the condition of its barbarous people, induce her to apply to him to subscribe to her projected "Academy of Refinement.' The ardent Nimrod, who interprets her billet according to his own wishes, mistakes it for an offer of marriage ; strikes the bargain, sends for a covered waggon and four to carry off his bride and the stuff, and enters dragging in a parson, who is " expeditious in linking teams, to hammer the two into one." Mrs. Luminary screams with dismay, and the gallant colonel finds out his mistake to his great disap- pointment.
Mrs. TROLLOPE is the prototype of Mrs. Luminary, but the sketch is a poor one. Mrs. Gums looked the character well. Mr. HACKETT has introduced to us one specimen of our Transatlantic brethren; the enthusiastic reception he met with, and the abundant laughter which he excited, will doubtless induce him to give us a further view of the American character in some other of its varieties.
Previous page
