hastily convened court, and condemn him to death, and hang him on
the nearest tree. It was a rule that the body should be exposed for
twenty-four hours as a warning to others. All this may seem harsh, but
under the circumstances it was the only way in which justice could
be dealt out to offenders. The camps were in consequence orderly and
safe. We must not think, because the Vigilance Committees of the
mining camps and of the city took the administration of law into their
own hands that therefore they were lawless and that their rule was
that of the mob. No, this was the only way in which peaceable citizens
could be protected from the violence and crimes perpetrated by the
turbulent and disorderly and vicious elements of society. In the years
1851 and 1852 there was great lawlessness in San Francisco. Bad men,
who had served terms in prisons for their misdeeds, and men who
wished to disorganise society, who had the spirit of anarchy in their
breasts, organised themselves into bands for the purpose of stealing
and killing, and good citizens stood in mortal fear of them. Buildings
were burned at pleasure, houses were broken open and robberies
committed, and even murder was resorted to when the wrongdoers found
it necessary in the accomplishment of their hellish purposes. The
officials of the city were careless in punishing offenders, indeed
they were powerless to do so, and the lawbreakers knew this. It is
said that over a hundred persons were murdered during the period
of six months; and the blood of these victims cried to Heaven for
vengeance. To assert the majesty of law and to punish criminals a
large number of the best citizens, who grieved over the evils which
prevailed, organised themselves into the famous Vigilance Committee.
The seal which they adopted showed their worthy purpose. In the centre
was the figure of a human eye to denote watchfulness. Above the eye
was the word, Committee,--beneath, Vigilance; then the name, San
Francisco. Around the edge of the seal ran the legends: "Fiat Justitia