At last, on Monday, August 10, the proceedings got under way. A touch of novelty was provided by the first appearance in court of Harman Blennerhassett. He had made the trip from the penitentiary to the Capitol in fine style, riding in a carriage drawn by a span of horses and attended by two guards. The crowd outside the courthouse was smaller than he had anticipated, but he found the spacious courtroom well filled. Colonel Burr entered soon afterwards and, on catching sight of Blennerhassett, immediately came to his side, shook him warmly by the hand and, with a welcoming smile, told him how glad he was to see him. It was the first time the alleged conspirators had met since Burr said goodby to his little army at Cole’s Creek in February and slipped out into the wilderness. That magic smile and handshake were enough to banish for the moment the resentment Blennerhassett felt over his treatment. Now commenced the arduous task of picking twelve good men and true from among the prospective jurymen who had answered to their names. In view of the fact that virtually every bit of the most important evidence against the accused, including all the fantastic rumors, had appeared in the press and was common knowledge to the reading public, it was no simple task to find men of intelligence who had not already formed their opinions. No sooner had Mr. Buckey, the first venireman called up, been questioned than the difficulty became apparent. Asked if he had formed an opinion prior to receiving his subpoena Mr. Buckey replied that he had. Mr. Hay ventured that if the question were put to this man and every other man on the panel no jury could ever be selected in the State of Virginia. If the Court were to adopt that doctrine, he said, why then it would be the equivalent of acquitting the prisoner for want of a jury to try him. Young Botts bristled at this remark of the District Attorney. He asked for the floor to deplore that in this country and in this case there had been such a general expression of public sentiment. However, until the gentlemen for the prosecution had avowed it Mr. Botts professed he had never doubted that twelve men might be found in Virginia capable of deciding the question with the strictest impartiality. Judge Marshall here intervened between counsel to point out that asking a man whether he had formed an impression about Colonel Burr was too general. The impression might be so slight that it did not amount to an opinion of guilt, nor go to the extent of believing he deserved capital punishment. Mr. Botts addressed the venireman. “Have you said that Colonel Burr was guilty of treason?” he asked. “No,” was the reply. “I only declared that the man who had acted as Colonel Burr was said to have done, deserved to be hung.” “Did you,” pursued Mr. Botts, “believe that Colonel Burr was that man?” “I did from what I had heard,” admitted Mr. Buckey. The gentleman was rejected.