mostly about the neck. In spite of this fact, so eminent a man as Bishop
Haygood deliberately and, it must also appear, maliciously falsified the
fact by stating that the child was torn limb from limb, or to quote his
own words, "First outraged with demoniacal cruelty and then taken by her
heels and torn asunder in the mad wantonness of gorilla ferocity."

Nothing is farther from the truth than that statement. It is a
coldblooded, deliberate, brutal falsehood which this Christian(?) Bishop
uses to bolster up the infamous plea that the people of Paris were driven
to insanity by learning that the little child had been viciously
assaulted, choked to death, and then torn to pieces by a demon in human
form. It was a brutal murder, but no more brutal than hundreds of murders
which occur in this country, and which have been equalled every year in
fiendishness and brutality, and for which the death penalty is prescribed
by law and inflicted only after the person has been legally adjudged
guilty of the crime. Those who knew Smith, believe that Vance had at some
time given him cause to seek revenge and that this fearful crime was the
outgrowth of his attempt to avenge himself of some real or fancied wrong.
That the murderer was known as an imbecile, had no effect whatever upon
the people who thirsted for his blood. They determined to make an example
of him and proceeded to carry out their purpose with unspeakably greater
ferocity than that which characterized the half-crazy object of their
revenge.

For a day or so after the child was found in the woods, Smith remained in
the vicinity as if nothing had happened, and when finally becoming aware
that he was suspected, he made an attempt to escape. He was apprehended,
however, not far from the scene of his crime and the news flashed across
the country that the white Christian people of Paris, Texas and the
communities thereabout had deliberately determined to lay aside all forms