“GOOD-NIGHT,” I said, “and good luck! When next we say good-night New
York will have pronounced its verdict.”
“I don’t believe in luck,” he answered. “It will be all right. But it
seems strange, after all our talks of America, that to-morrow night I
am to act here in New York. How everything comes to an end! Next year
at this time, all being well, we shall be looking back upon the whole
tour, recalling incidents of New York, Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago,
Baltimore, Washington; and I dare say it will appear very much like a
dream. It was not far from this hotel where Macready found refuge from
the mob, in a friend’s house. During this week several persons who were
present have mentioned the riots to me, and they all blame Forrest.
I told them Forrest had some reason to believe that Macready had set
Forster against him, which, no doubt, helped to embitter Forrest’s
mind. They say, however, that Forrest’s hatred of English actors
amounted to something like a mania. He must have been a remarkable and
great actor in many parts.”[7]
Irving little thought that in the reminiscences of a past, which had
yet to come, would be an incident that should inseparably link his own
name with the Forrest-Macready riots.