After forming the Vigilance Committee, two dozen men swore out an oath: “We the undersigned uniting ourselves in a party for the laudable purpos of arresting thievs & murderers & recovering stollen property do pledge ourselves upon our sacred honor each to all others & solemnly swear that we will reveal no secrets, violate no laws of right & never desert each other or our standard of justice so help us God as our witness our hand & seal this 23rd of December 1863.” The “laws of right” weren’t written down. Right was what the Vigilance Committee, meeting in secret, judged to be right.
