AT THE New York Astor Place Opera House, On the night of May 10th, 1849; WITH THE QUARRELS OF FORREST AND MACREADY, INCLUDING ALL THE CAUSES WHICH LED TO THAT AWFUL TRAGEDY! Wherein an infuriated mob was quelled by the Public Authorities and Military, with its mournful termination in the Sudden Death or Mutilation of more than Fifty Citizens, WITH FULL AND AUTHENTIC PARTICULARS . “LET JUSTICE BE DONE THOUGH THE HEAVENS FALL!” NEW YORK : PUBLISHED BY H. M. RANNEY. 1849. Entered, according to Act

On the night of the 10th of May, 1849, the Empire City, the great metropolis of the Union, was the scene of one of those horrors of civilization, which for a time make the great heart of humanity stop in its beatings. In the darkness of night, thousands of citizens were gathered in a central square of the most aristocratic quarter of New York—gathered around one of its most conspicuous and magnificent edifices, the Astor-Place Opera House. This Opera House was built expressly for the performance

Mr. Edwin Forrest , the American Tragedian, was born, some forty-five years ago, in the city of Philadelphia. He was born in humble life, and worked his way up from poverty and obscurity to wealth and fame, by the power of genius. When a boy, he made his first histrionic efforts in an amateur company; afterwards, he made a professional tour at the west. After various adventures, young Forrest found himself in the city of New York, in the year 1826, when Gilfert was about to open the Bowery Theat

Mr. Forrest , chagrined by his failure in England, and maddened at what he imagined to be the malign influence of Macready, returned to the United States after a vain attempt to secure an engagement in Paris, in which he supposed the same influence had defeated him. He had publicly hissed Macready in Edinburgh, had avowed the act, and given his reasons. His friends here felt much as the friends of Mr. Macready had felt in England; and when the latter last year came on another professional visit

It must not be supposed that this was the first manifestation of patriotic indignation on the part of the friends of Mr. Forrest, on account of his treatment in England. It was a deep and intense feeling, and was ready to burst out on any fitting occasion. It threatened Mr. Anderson, and in Philadelphia an effort was made to drive him from the stage; but a better feeling prevailed. Anderson was not charged with any ill-will to Mr. Forrest, and the opposition to him was abandoned: yet there were

The announcement that Mr. Macready would appear at the Opera House in Macbeth on Thursday evening produced a varied excitement throughout the community. Those who thought the city disgraced by the scenes of Monday night were anxious to have that disgrace atoned for by his successful re-appearance, while those who sympathized with the mob that drove him from the stage, looked upon his re-appearance as a new insult, and the manner in which it was brought about was as irritating to them as the act

As the hour for the opening of the Opera House approached, excited crowds began to gather from all parts of the city. Hundreds of men were seen walking rapidly up Broadway. There was a great rush for tickets, and at an early hour the house was declared full, and the sale of tickets suspended. Among the audience in the house were seven ladies. The police were at their stations, and the doors and windows were strongly barricaded. It should here be stated that the Opera House is situated midway bet

GEORGE A. CURTIS, Aged 22 years, born in Chautauque Co., printer; shot through the lungs. JOHN McDONALD, Aged fifteen years, born in Ireland, shot through the breast. GEORGE LINCOLN, Aged 35 years, appeared to be a sailor; shot in the abdomen. THOMAS AYLWOOD, Aged 19, born in Halifax, a clerk; shot in the thigh: died after amputation of the limb. TIMOTHY BURNS, 16 years, a printer; shot through the right lung. HENRY OTTEN, 22 years; grocer; shot through the breast. He died in the 15th Ward Stati

The following list is probably incomplete, as many who were not seriously wounded have not been publicly reported: Edward McCormick , 135 First Avenue; 19 years old; worked at 200 Mulberry-street. Shot through the side. Conrad Becker , 27 Hudson-street; worked for Mahoney and Thompson, Upholsterers, Chatham-street. Ball went through the right thigh. George N. Kay , 28 years of age; merchant; boarded at 107 Chambers-street. Ball in the right breast, going entirely through. Frederick Gillespie , a

The dead are sleeping in their quiet graves. Day by day, time brings its consolations to the afflicted; but has society no lesson to learn from the horrors of which we have given as full a description as could be given, by looking at the mere surface of things? We have shown the causes which produced this dreadful sacrifice of human life—this massacre of innocent and unoffending citizens, for many of the killed were truly such. Let us endeavor to turn the terrible lesson to some useful account.