Ruat Coelum. No creed; no party; no sectional issues." While not
constituted exactly like the Court of Areopagus, yet the Vigilance
Committee of San Francisco did for a time exercise authority over
life and death like the Athenian judges on Mars' Hill. The shaft of
lightning first fell on an ex-convict who was caught stealing. Eighty
members of the Committee tried and convicted him, and on the same
night he was hanged in Portsmouth Square in view of the saloons. A
thrill ran through the whole community, and when, the next morning,
the people read the names of the prominent citizens who served on
the Committee, their action made a deep and salutary impression. The
Vigilance Committee prosecuted its work till the city was purged of
its evils, and it exercised from time to time its authority until the
year 1856. As a result of its firmness, its promptness in punishing
criminals, and its high-minded aims, the land had rest for twenty
years. A weak administration of justice is an encouragement to wrong
doing. Municipal and state officials can best serve their city and
country by dealing quick and severe blows at lawlessness; but to be
effective they must be men of integrity, above reproach, and withal
just. To-day San Francisco is one of the most orderly and best
governed cities in the United States. During my rambles through its
streets I went to and fro at all hours without being molested. I never
met a drunken man or a disorderly person. The city feels the effect of
the Committee's good work even to this latest hour. It serves as an
example. Justice is dealt out speedily to offenders. There are few
if any technical delays of the law and the criminal rarely escapes
without punishment. Some examples have occurred recently which show
that the judges of the superior courts are alive to their duty and
that they can perform it when the occasion arises. A man named John H.
Wood, a former soldier, was convicted of highway robbery, and he was
speedily sentenced to imprisonment for life in Folsom Penitentiary.