530 RELIGIOUS DEVELOPMENT-II 



Haven, and, a professional revivalist having begun his 

 work there, the church was soon thronged. Blasphemy 

 and ribaldry were the preacher s great attractions. One 

 of the prayers attributed to him ran as follows : Come 

 down among us, Lord! Come straight through the 

 roof; I 11 pay for the shingles!&quot; Night after night the 

 galleries were crowded with students laughing at this 

 impious farce; and among them, one evening, came 

 4 1 Charley &quot; Chotard of Mississippi. Chotard was a very 

 handsome fellow: slender, well formed, six feet three 

 inches tall, and in any crowd a man of mark, like King 

 Saul. In the midst of the proceedings, at some grotesque 

 utterance of the revivalist, the students in the galleries 

 burst into laughter. The preacher, angrily turning his 

 eyes upon the offenders, saw, first of all, Chotard, and 

 called out to him: &quot;You lightning-rod of hell, you flag 

 staff of damnation, come down from there!&quot; Of course 

 no such grotesque scenes were ever allowed in the college 

 chapel: the services there, though simple, were always 

 dignified ; yet even in these there sometimes appeared in 

 congruous features. 



According to tradition in my time, an aged divine, 

 greatly and justly beloved, from a neighboring city, had 

 been asked to preach before the students. It was at the 

 time when the whole English-speaking world had been 

 thrilled by the story of the relief of Lucknow, and the cry 

 of the Scotch lassie who heard the defiant slogan and 

 heart-stirring pibroch of the Highlanders coming to the 

 relief of the besieged had echoed across all the oceans. 

 Toward the close of his sermon the dear old doctor became 

 very impressive. He recited the story of Lucknow, and 

 then spoke in substance as follows : &quot; So to-day, my young 

 friends, I sound in your ears the slo-o-o-broch of salva 

 tion.&quot; The alliteration evidently pleased him, and he 

 repeated it with more and more emphasis in his perora 

 tion. When he sat down another clergyman who was with 

 him at the sacred desk reminded him of his mistake, 

 whereupon the good old doctor rose and addressed the 



