Transcriber’s Note: Italic text is denoted by _underscores_ . [Illustration: SCENE OF THE RIOT.] ACCOUNT OF THE TERRIFIC AND FATAL RIOT 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 of Congress, in the year 1849, BY H. M. RANNEY, In the Clerk’s office of the District Court of the United States, in and for the Southern District of New York. THE RIOT. CHAPTER FIRST. THE NIGHT OF THE 10TH OF MAY. 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 of the Italian Opera, but has been used at intervals for the legitimate drama, for vaudevilles, and for balls and concerts. It is fitted up and decorated with taste and magnificence, and in the opera seasons has been attended by the most wealthy and fashionable people, who have made extravagant displays of luxurious adornment. While the private boxes were taken by the season, by those who wished to enjoy the music, liked the display, and could afford the expenditure, the other seats were let at a dollar admission, and the upper tier or amphitheatre was reserved for people of humbler means or more modest pretensions, at twenty-five cents a ticket. Around this edifice, we say, a vast crowd was gathered. On the stage the English actor Macready was trying to play the part of _Macbeth_, in which he was interrupted by hisses and hootings, and encouraged by the cheers of a large audience, who had crowded the house to sustain him. On the outside a mob was gathering, trying to force an entrance into the house, and throwing volleys of stones at the barricaded windows. In the house the police were arresting those who made the disturbance—outside they were driven back by volleys of paving-stones.