Lynchburg daily Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1852-1861, 1856-07-07
From the Baltimore Patriot.
The Revolution at san Eaanc fsCO.

The Revolution at San Francisco.
California has been aptly termed ''the paradise
| of rognps." No where on the face of the globe
have vicious men been suffered 10 indulge in a
bacchanalian and licenious saturnalia for 80 ling
time, and with such perfect impunity. Settled
| originally, for the most part. by adventures and
dcspfradoes Of the lowest stamp, the supremacy
they boldly asserted in the first instance. they
subsequently enforced by fraud. irickery and
violence. when the progressive influx OF better
class Of citizens promised to purify the moral at
Inosphere Of State the character Of which mi ht
be apty typifed by dice box and a bloody
hand
The scum Of the Atlantic cities, outcasts from
Europe. convicts from Australia, gamblers,
shoulder strikers. and rufians of every grade
and complexion, held in awe the better. disposed
by shooting or cutting down those who exposed
or resisted them and by stuffing the ballot boxes
with fraudulent votes. elected knaves to office. by
whom their crimes were countennneeG, mud their
ncouittal under the law rendered secure. AT
length one brave spirit shook off the thrall which
had been imposed by fierce and turbulent men
upon himself in common with others of like hon
esty and integrity, and rising superior 10 pecu.
mary misiortunes, came forth from the furnace
in which he Ind been sorely tried, without any
debasug alloy ntermixed with the pure metal Of
his character, armed himself in defence of order
and morality, and struck boldly at the lawless,
without respect to station or degree. The weap-
on he used was neither the Bowie knife the
reyolver; the pen in his hand IN tighter
than the sword" and daringly, yet truthfuy and
usefully, he welded it. The effect was salutarv
and Immediate friends clustered round this new
Crusader, and warmly countenanced his we'll
directed efforts; but, in the midst of his trium-
phant career, n ruflian whose character he had
held up TO public scorn, shot him down--Gke II
do. Tho victory, for which James King of Will
linn had so hardly fought. his death secured-
Simultaneously without fore. warning, and actu
ated as by common impulse, the respectable
portion OF the community rushed to arms. The
old Vigilance was re organzed-Casey the muir
derer. seized-the so called courts of stice set
aside. and tribunal chosen to pass judgement,
not only upon Casey, the murderer of King, nor
upon Cora, the murderer Of Richardson, but upon
all who had long been prominent in trampling the
laws of the land under their feet.
II was not rebellion but a revolution. The
three thousand men by whom this change was
effected are acknowledged to have been actuated
by no sordd motives. The members of the exc
cutive committee merchants of good stand
ing. They have accepted the task imposed upon
them not in defiance of the law, but in defence
Gifts purity-not to bring about condition of
| anarchy, but to restore peace and order--nOt to
injure property, but to preserve it-not to endan
ger life, bat to protect it from the perls by which
1t was surrounded. They have instituted n
"Nehm Gericht,' and not a Jacobin Club. and
their noble aud jusiifable him is to purify the
city of those criminals who have been its terror
and its reproach. Throughout all California
the action of the people of San Francisco has
been recognised with applause. In the towns,
aud villages, and Tar off mines, men have met
together to pledge themselves TO sustain the
movement until law essnrss has been cflrctnal
ypot down. Aud it is just and proper that
this should be The right to revoutionize
n government that has proven faiihess or tyran
nicle cannot be denied by people by whose fore
fathers this principal was trumphantly asserted.
It's sheer folly to say that men shall leave Grim
inals to be dealt with by the laws whore the off
GERS charged with judicial functions are the mere
creatures of those brought before them to un
dergo the mockery of "A trial
1t is equal folly 10 tell men to defend them
selves by their votes at the ballot box fthe .Jud
ges at the polls williams, bribed to elect un-
known candidates by ,ickery and fraud.
Where these illegal practices prevail there is
bat once recourse; terrible one indeed. and
involving fearful responsibility, but neverthe-
les mantestly just, let the consequences be
what they may. To this recourse the people of
San Francisco have been constrained to appeal
and we have every reason to believe that their
best Justification will be found in the exgencies OF
the condition, and in the good results which will
they have been forced. There is wide dis
tneton to be made between riot and a revolu-
| ton. The one has its origin in the lowest pas
slons of the multitude, and the other in the high
est and nobest sentiments of an oppressed peo-
pie; the one inaugurates the reign of violence
and misrule-- the other invigorates liberty, while
1t restores ordor, and establishes the laws of
the land under healthier and more suspicious
influences.
REED STREET WHARF CAvED INA NUMBER
| OF PERSONS DRowNED-ExCITING SCENES. 1T
briefly mentioned under our Geographic
head yesterday, that on Tuesday evening short.
y before o'clock. the two slips at Reed street
wharf. Philadelphia. sustained by piers fell with
atremendous crash, causing the loss of large
number of lives. The Philadelphia American. of
yesterday. has the annexed details of the disas-
| ter.
At the foot of Reed street is situated the ex-
tcnsive wharfof Merrick Il Son. the well known
| mechanists. 1t was constructed upon marshy
banks and though substantial in appearance, W q :
always liable to give way owing to the yielding
character of the or und A very heavy pier oc-
cuped the extremity of the wharf. To this pier
large number of women and children have been
| in the habit Of resorting, during the warm sum
mer evenings, to enjoy the breeze from the Del
aware, and view the shipping.
Lust evening the crowd was unusually great,
and about half past seven o'clock, when all were
IN the height ofinnocent enjoyment, the founda-
tons of the wharf gave way ,precipitating large
number of old and young into the river. The
scene that ensued battles description. While
some women and children were floating in the
stream, struggling and shrieking for help, moth
ers were running about, almost frantic, search
ing for their little ones. suddenly missed from
| their side, The boats of II Receiving Ships I'm
ION and theirs that put off from the shore saved