The New York herald., 1922-05-21

room / found a great mass of flowers
and a scroll with their names welcom-
ing me to the English stage. They gave
me every encouragement. ! would
strongly advise any American player to
come to London without the slightest
apprehension. for he would get just as
fair chance here as he would at home
But would warn him that the blood of
the Missourians must have come from
the Mother Country. for the English
have got to be shown"
From the glowing press comments
of Mr.. Hackett's purity of English. that
can never have been discovered in any
American before / feared he had as
sunied an Oxford accent and been listen
ing to rumors that the ancient title OF
Lord Hackett Of Hackettstown might be
called out of abeyance for him. But
neither. He is still the hundred per
cent. American he has always been IN
private conversation there is, as ap-
parent as ever, that Yankee twang,"
as the English call it--whatever it may
be. He speaks English as cultured
Americans speak it. and uses American
words and phrases. When L aked hirn
for the secret of his English accent for
the stage. he laughed. and admitted lie
had been amused by the surprise occa-
stoned here because of his accent.
There is only one English tongue and
only one way to speak IL correctly he
said This so-called accent Is question
OF phraseology rather than intonation
In personal speech employ the phrase
ology of my country. when am on the
stage I read the classic lines of Shake
speare. If man reads those lines cor
rectly he speaks the purest English.
and that is all there is to II.
/ read them naturally. as
have always read them In America.
ard the English said they couldn't tell
that I was an American. / made but
one concession for my English audiences
I broadened my "a slightly. to conform
with the local practice. but ] do not ad-
nit that the broad "a is purer Engiisn
than our a. r.
About that title Mr.. Hackett becomes
very embarrassed when IL Is mentioned.
He has been asked many times II ne
would accept 1t and renounce his Ameri-
can citizenship If 1t were offered to him.
He tries not to answer. but II pressed
he will say that he never had any inten-
ton of ever renouncing his American
citizenship.
When in England the question OBJ
viously puts him at disadvantage, be-
cause he doesn't want to inJure the
feelings Of any one here and he doesn't
want ~ be misunderstood at home He
is, rightly enough, In the direct line ana
the sole survivor that might successfui-
ly claim the title. and he can prove 1t by
any authoritative work on ancient titles,
but he is quite content to let the title
remain where IL is and keep his friends
on both sides by not committing himself.
There is very little chance that the title
will ever be more than a subject OF an
noyanca to him, unless he personally
takes steps to claim it.'which he has no
intention of doing. .iW titf
Honor From French Also.
In his European experiences Mr..
Hackett is chiefly proud of two things.
One is the honor paid him by the
French. The other. more sentimental.
is the fact that he has realized life
long ambition to follow in the footsteps
of his father. James II. Hackett. The
elder Hackett played here successfully
many years ago. When James X. was
recently elected to the exclusive GarricS
Club he told the members stories of the
Garrick that the oldest among them
had never heard themselves. and ex-
plained that he had heard them from his
mother. who got them from his father,
when he was child.
Mr.. Hackett believes that America
and England are united by sacred
DOuu IN tneir Hiutudi loNe VI 'hdht-
speare. In taking curtain call at
Stratford he said: I'VE Americans can
never concede that Shakespeare Is alto
gether England's: he is as much our
inheritance as yours. and. although we
do not go so far yet as our friends.
the Germans. and claim that Shake
speare was an American, we do claim
that he means as much in our national
life as he does in yours" Mr.. HaclSett
believes that Shakespeare should he
more widely studied in public schools in
America. and says that when he re-
turns he will try to promote at home the
thorough study OF Shakespeare which
now prevails in England.
Mr.. Hackett's friends are telling him
that he ought to retire, that he has done
everything. but he is more determined
than ever to work. Nonsense" he said.
Il am only 50. and IL | can do as well
as my father did--he was seventy when
I was born-I have the best years of my
life before me. have received tre-
mendous encouragement here and ! am
going on as long as / can maintain the
standard OF work have set for myself"
Mr.. Hackett admits he is homesick. He
hopes In the future, he says, to divide
his time between America and England.
playing for a season there and sea-
son here