There is valuable material in possession of Mr. James K. Hackett for a much needed life of his father. This may throw light on his negotiations with Kerr; it may also detail more thoroughly than the records now show why it was that, when he went to England in 1832, he engaged Bayle Bernard to make a new draft of the piece, given in New York at the Park Theatre, September 4, 1833. It may have been because he saw, when he reached London, a version which Bernard had shaped for the Adelphi Theatre, 1831–32, when Yates, John Reeve, and J. B. Buckstone had played together. But I am inclined to think that, whatever the outlines of the piece as given by Hackett, it was his acting which constituted the chief creative part of the performance. Like Jefferson, he must have been largely responsible for the finished product. Hackett’s success in dialect made him eager for any picturesque material which would exploit this ability. Obviously, local character was the best vehicle. That was his chief interest in encouraging American plays. Bayle Bernard had done writing for him before “Rip.” In 1831, J. K. Paulding’s “The Lion of the West” had proven so successful, as to warrant Bernard’s transferring the popular _Col. Nimrod Wildfire_ to another play, “The Kentuckian.” Then, in 1837, Hackett corresponded with Washington Irving about dramatizing the “Knickerbocker History,” which plan was consummated by Bernard as “Three Dutch Governors,” even though Irving was not confident of results. Hackett went out of his way for such native material. Soon after his appearance as _Rip_, the following notice appeared in the New York _Evening Post_, for April 24, 1830: Prize Comedy.—The Subscriber, desirous of affording some pecuniary inducement for more frequent attempts at dramatizing the manners and peculiarities of our own country, and the numerous subjects and incidents connected with its history, hereby offers to the writer of the best Comedy in 3 acts, in which a principal character shall be an original of this country, the sum of Two Hundred and Fifty Dollars—the decision to be made by a committee of competent literary gentlemen, whose names shall duly be made public. The manuscripts to be sent to the address of the subscriber through the Post Office, before _1st September, next,_ each accompanied with a letter communicating the address to which the author would desire his production returned, if unsuccessful, together with his _name_ in a _sealed enclosure_, which will only be opened in the event of his obtaining the Prize. Jas. H. Hackett, 64 Reed Street, New York Many such prize contests were the fashion of the day.