William J. Potter has the following to say about compulsory attendance on prayers at Harvard: "We were four years at Harvard, when there were prayers twice a day. We recall vividly the early morning bell, - it was rung very much earlier than now, - the hurried toilet, the rush of students through the yard, converging from all quarters, the leap of the final belated crowd up the chapel steps in eager, noisy rivalry to get within the door before the bell should stop, under penalty of receiving a black mark for tardiness, a worse offence than absence; we recall the monitors rising in the midst of each of the four classes at the same time that the minister rose in the pulpit, registering in the books the absences while the Scripture reading went on, and not always finishing before the prayer began; we recall the cadences of the faithful clergymen and some of their oft-repeated sentences and their innocent mannerisms, such as the opening of the eyes of one of them prudently to keep run of the clock, as the students believed; all this is very vivid to our recollection; but we do not recall in our own experience or observation, during the whole four years of college prayers, a single distinct religious impression being made by them. Of course, such impression may have been made. We did not see into the secret places of other hearts, nor would we say that we never personally gained any good whatever from the service. But what we do mean to say is that we recall no time when the service specially aroused religious impulses. Upper most in our recollection the college prayers stand, not for their religious or moral significance, but as a roll-call." - Cornell Sun.