e Court, issued a writ of
_habeas corpus_ for Mulligan. The Committee ignored the sheriff who was
sent to serve the writ. They cleared the streets in front of
headquarters, established six cannon in front of their rooms, put loaded
swivels on top of the roof and mounted a guard of a hundred riflemen.
They brought bedding and provisions to their quarters, mounted a huge
triangle on the roof for a signal to their men all over the city,
arranged the interior of their rooms in the form of a court and, in
short, set themselves up as the law, openly defying their own Supreme
Court of the state. So far from being afraid of the vengeance of the
law, they arrested two more men for election frauds, Chas. P. Duane and
"Woolly" Kearney. All their prisoners were guarded in cells within the
headquarters building.

The opposition to the Committee now organized in turn under the name of
the "Law and Order Men," and held a public meeting. This was numerously
attended by members of the Vigilante Committee, whose books were now
open for enrollment. Not even the criticism of their own friends stayed
these men in their resolution. They went even further. Governor Johnson
issued a proclamation to them to disband and disperse. They paid no more
attention to this than they had to Judge Terry's writ of _habeas
corpus_. The governor threatened them with the militia, but it was not
enough to frighten them. General Sherman resigned his command in the
state militia, and counseled moderation at so dangerous a time. Many of
the militia turned in their rifles to the Committee, which got other
arms from vessels in the harbor, and from carelessly guarded armories.
Halting at no responsibility, a band of the Committee even boarded a
schooner which was carrying down a cargo of rifles from the governor to
General Howard at San Francisco, and seized the entire lot. Shortly
after this they confiscated a second shipment which the governor was
sending down from Sacramento in the same way; thus seizing property of
the federal government. If there was such a crime as high treason, they
committed it, and did so openly and without hesitation. Governor
Johnson contented himself with drawing up a statement of the situation,
which was sent down to President Pierce at Washington, with the request
that he instruct naval officers on the Pacific station to supply arms to
the State of California, which had been despoiled by certain of its
citizens. President Pierce turned