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him that peculiar majesty that white-haired<br />

blackguards, successful (and unpunished)<br />

criminals, seem generally to possess. He was a<br />

Southern gentleman of the old school, in spite<br />

of his impoverished childhood and his shameful<br />

life. He was not ignorant of the Scriptures, and<br />

he preached with singular conviction. "I once<br />

saw Lazarus Morell in the pulpit," wrote the<br />

owner of a gambling house in Baton Rouge,<br />

"and I heard his edifying words and saw the<br />

tears come to his eyes. I knew he was a<br />

fornicator, a nigger-stealer, and a murderer in<br />

the sight of the Lord, but tears came to my eyes<br />

too."<br />

Another testimony to those holy outpourings<br />

is provided by Morell himself: "I opened the<br />

Bible at random, put my finger on the first verse<br />

that came to hand—St. Paul it was—and<br />

preached for an hour and twenty minutes.<br />

Crenshaw and the boys didn't put that time to<br />

bad use, neither, for they rounded up all the<br />

folks' horses and made off with 'em. We sold<br />

'em in the state of Arkansas, all but one bay<br />

stallion, the most spirited thing youever laid

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