Page:The Negro a menace to American civilization.djvu/240

Yet the only mention of any leader in the mob is that of an elusive Baker, said to be a Southerner. A most extraordinary circumstance in connection with the affair is the attitude of the clergy. A Sermon is Blamed To the sermon of the Rev. Robert A. Ellwood, pas- tor of the Mount Olivet Presbyterian Church, is at- tributed the stirring of the mob to the point of action. Last Sunday night, when public sentiment against White was reaching the boiling point, Mr. Ellwood preached a sermon on the topic " Should the Murderer of Helen Bishop Be Lynched? " He advocated moderation, and then drew an agoniz- ing picture of the murder of Miss Bishop. He coun- selled patience, and then denounced the Supreme Court, declaring that by refusing to depart from its regular procedure to try White, it was setting an ex- ample in patience for the people. He drew a forecast of precisely what has happened, and sternly laid the blame at the feet of the judges of the court, and added a final appeal to the passions of his audience by dra- matically waving over his head blood-stained leaves from the thicket in which Helen Bishop was killed, gathered for the purpose, by an elder of his church. The people went away from the meeting livid with passion — and early this morning the deed was done. The Rev. Mr. Ellwood is a Princeton graduate. He is about 32 years old, well built, lithe, and possessed of advanced views. Does Not Retract " I do not retract a word of what my sermon con- tained," he said today. I did not preach lynching. On the contrary, I counselled against it. And I de- plore this affair as much as any man. It is too dread- ful to contemplate. " Yet my charge still holds good, that the Court should have satisfied the demand for a speedy trial for