San Francisco Vigilance Committee of 1856 | Page 8

law,
arrested, imprisoned, tried and executed offenders; but whose power,
boundless and undisputed as it seemed, rested solely on the conviction
of their fellow men that they were just, wise, patriotic and true; would
faithfully administer the despotic power of which they were the
depositaries; and cheerfully resign it whenever the work of the
regeneration of society was accomplished. If this conviction should be
shaken, the association must instantly be dissolved and each of these
leaders and directors of it be left to die upon the scaffold. Well might
any person of the slightest sensibility look on such a body of men with
the utmost interest and curiosity, and in the contemplation be filled
with deep and solemn thought.
The Constitution likewise provided for a Board of Delegates, with
whom the Executive Committee might confer whenever matters of vital
importance should require it. This body was organized by the choice by
each company of two of its members, who, with the Captain, should be
its Delegates. When the military organization of the force was
completed, the field officers were added to the Board of Delegates; and
when the organization included many regiments, the number of
Delegates was of course larger. Whenever the death penalty had been
decided upon by the Executive Committee, the whole evidence upon
which it was based was submitted to the Board of Delegates, and a
two-thirds vote of that Board in confirmation of the Executive vote was
required before it could be inflicted. The element of discussion thus
introduced into a body essentially revolutionary, and whose success
might be supposed to depend upon the secrecy, promptness and
unfaltering determination of its councils and of the blows it struck, was
thought at the time to be likely to detract from its efficiency, if it did
not endanger its existence. But the good sense and prudence of the
members restrained the innate Yankee propensity to speech making,
and this danger, with many others, which from time to time threatened
to make shipwreck of the organization, was happily surmounted.
The Constitution having been adopted, the doors of the Committee
Rooms on Sacramento Street were opened for initiation into the body.
The greatest caution was exercised to prevent the admission of any

disreputable or unreliable man. Every person presenting himself was
carefully scrutinized at the outer door by a trusty guard and at the stair
head within by another; and if unknown to them, was required to be
vouched for by two respectable citizens. From Thursday the 15th until
Saturday the 17th at two o'clock P. M. a crowd of people were
constantly pressing forward for admission. On Thursday both battalions
of the City military refused to act further as a guard upon the Jail; and
the companies for the most part disbanded; several of them
reorganizing as part of the Vigilance Committee force. The defense of
the Jail being thrown entirely upon the Sheriff; he placed arms and
ammunition in it; and made strenuous efforts to provide a force which
might suffice with his Deputies, the Police & co. to accomplish that
object. On Friday his Deputies were very busy in serving printed
notices upon all citizens whom they could induce to receive them, or to
listen to their reading. The summons was to meet at the Fourth District
Court Room in the City Hall at half past three o'clock to aid him in
keeping the peace. The meeting took place at the time and place
appointed, but for various reasons, did not prove a very decided success.
The replies made when the question was propounded to each individual
whether he was prepared to proceed with the Sheriff to the Jail to
defend it against all assailants, were very various. A merchant said he
had been summoned, but he refused most positively to move, and
wished it to be most distinctly understood that he was not a member of
the Vigilance Committee, nor did he intend to act against it. A lawyer
declined serving, and on his reason for doing so being required, said he
was afraid; as he was afterwards in the ranks of the Vigilance
Committee, with a musket on his shoulder, it may be presumed that his
fear was of fighting against the people. A medical man professed great
doubts about his ability; said he was not accustomed to the use of
firearms, and thought it not unlikely that he might wound himself or
kill his neighbor. At length, a party started with the Sheriff for the Jail;
but whether their sober second thought was discouraging; or they had
no stomach for the fight; or found their courage oozing out of their
finger ends; the number began to diminish immediately after starting; at
every corner some would detach themselves from the group; at every
saloon or restaurant