On October 10, 1883, the chief members of the company—over forty in number—sailed for New York, under the conduct of Mr. Bram Stoker. Tons of scenery, dresses, properties, etc., had been already shipped. The following day Irving and Miss Terry embarked on board the White Star liner, _The Britannic_. Up to the last moment telegrams and letters containing good wishes literally by hundreds were being brought in. Even while the vessel was detained at Queenstown, the Mayor and Corporation of Cork seized the opportunity of saluting him with a parting address. The incidents have been all described by my friend Mr. Joseph Hatton, who attended the party as “historiographer”; and I may refer the reader to his interesting volumes. The visit was to prove one long triumph, and the six months’ progress a strange, wonderful phantasmagoria of receptions, entertainments, hospitalities of all kinds. Novel and original, too, were the humours and fashions that greeted them everywhere, and the eyes of the two players must have often turned back with pleasure to that odd pantomime. ‘The Bells’ was selected for the opening performance which was on October 29, 1883. Though his reception was overpowering and tumultuous, there was some hesitation as to the success of the play itself, and the critics seemed to be a little doubtful as to whether it fairly represented the full measure of his gifts. ‘Charles I.’, however, followed, and the two great artists made the profoundest impression. But when ‘Louis XI.’ and ‘Much Ado About Nothing’ were presented, all doubts vanished. Miss Terry won all hearts; her sympathetic style and winsome ways made conquest of every audience. Nothing struck the Americans with such astonishment as the exquisite arrangement and “stage management” of the Shakespearian comedy, the reserved yet effectively harmonious treatment of all the details being a complete revelation. The actor’s consummate taste was recognised; in fact, the result of the visit was a complete revolution in all the American stage methods. The extraordinary record of lavish hospitalities, tributes of all kinds, with the adventures, is set forth fully in the story of the tour. But it is only by consulting the American journals that we can gather a notion of the odd “humours,” often grotesque, by which the American public displays its enthusiastic approbation.[37] The “interviewers,” as may be imagined, were rampant, and extracted from the genial and courteous actor opinions on everything connected with his profession. One immortal criticism deserves to be recorded here. “He has rung,” said a newspaper, “_the knell of gibbering_ GOSH!”[38]