The New York herald. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1840-1920, 1849-09-17

Court 81 Sessions.
After four days Of obstinate and severe struggle,
the Court of Sessions procured, on Saturday, ajury
of twelve men, out Of one hundred and thirty odd,
who were declared impartial, and capable sitting
as Indifferent jurors, between the people of the
State of New York and the persons accused of
rre< at the Aston Place Opera House, on the night
Of the 10th of May last
The singular proceedings Of these four days have
brought forth severe criticism in every quarter.
What were the objections put forth by those whose
sworn duty il was, to accomplish fairly the pro-
fessiona duties which called them iuto court at
this time In the first place, these "good men
and true" whom they challenged were suspected
of having read the newspapers in the second
place, they were suspected of believing what they
read in the newspapers; thirdly, they e-sus-
pected of believing that riot occurred at the
Aston Place Opera House, on the NIGHT of the 10Th
of May and fourthly, it was surmised that the
persons who were arrested in the act of throwing
stones, were believed by them to be rioters; and
oil this, without in the least connecting any one of
the defendants, individually, with these suspicious
And aRan--it wac queried, by these sworn officers
of the law, whether an unfavorable Impression. of
a general character, light not lnger in the minds
Of the proposed jurors, against the defendants one
or all whether, from their general acts, inde-
pendent of this Transaction, they had not rendered
themselves obnoxious TO bad estimation in the
minds of the jurors! And, most remarkable OF all,
the question was put to jurors as to whether, in
their estimation, the authorities, or those opposed
to the authorities, were the side of right at the
time of the alleged riots
Now, under the old law, which served the pur-
poses of honest men for centuries, these questions
would have been put to rest at once, and the paltry
farce lately enacted would, of necessity, have as
sumed the dignity which ought to attach TO grave
trial before court of justice. But the new code,
which has come INTO vogue with other nonsensical
reforms of the past few years, gives license to
lawyers, in this respect, which would not have
been tolerated by the code which il replaced
The bench should Interpose its authority the
Judge ought not to allow lawyers to trihe with
ccmn1on Justice, common law, and common sense,
IN a case where condemned law ls concerned, and
in case the result of which the weeping friends
of more than a score of killed, and more than fifty
wounded persons are anxiously watching-to say
nc hing Of the great public interest manifested In
euch trial.
That the riots took place, that there was an
attempt made to burn the theatre, and that these
were grave offences against the law, we'll As
humanity and the acknowledged social code which
| governs civilized society, there is not a shadow
Of doubt And there is as little question that
these occurrences were made pretext for calling
out the military; and the result of the military
| being called out Is well known to many who were
Witnesses of the transactions in "As;er Place" on
| the night of the 10th of May, and to many more
who hurried TO the police station houses, and the
! Coroner's Office, to view the dead bodies, and
to learn who had fallen. As to the guilt or
innocence Of the individuals, these have been, Of
course, things for speculation heretofore, and are
now made matters for solemn and impartial in
partial investigation before a tribunal Of justice.
The whole power Of the law and the whole au-
thonty Of the Court are involved in this trial, and
should be used In furnishing with severity those
persons, whoever they are, whe are convicted Of
having been in any way engaged In bringing about
that massacre.
The FIRST duty Of Judge and jury is to punish
those who are clearly proven guilty OF having
caused the massacre. We do not know who thess
criminals are; let that come forth the result oil
a regular trial, in a clear and searching invest
CATION before the Court, the community, and the
world. We hope that in the prose cution sl
this important case, the officers Of the law wall
observe, in their future conduct, calmnese, dig
nifty, and propriety, and by no means follow the
proceedings and practices which prevailed during
the search for jury, last week. Az an example
Of sterling integrity, premptness, decision, and
strong common sense, governed by moral recti-
tude, we point TO the recent proceedings in
California before the inprovised Court at San
Francisco. which me,ed out justice In the only
way they could meie it out IN tha, new and start
ing community. What pregnant example for q
new community TO Get to an old!