A Ministers Ideals 
 
 In Sonnet and Song 
 
 B V 
 
 CHARLES SUMNER HOYT 
 
FROM THE LIBRARY OF 
 REV. LOUIS FITZGERALD BENSON, D. D. 
 
 BEQUEATHED BY HIM TO 
 
 THE LIBRARY OF 
 
 PRINCETON THEOLOGICAL SEMINARY 
 
 Section /00^ 
 
A Minister's Ideals 
 

 *%. 
 
 V\j 
 
• 
 
 1 
 
 A Minister's Ideals 
 
 In Sonnet and Song 
 
 Charles Sumner Hoyt 
 
 Chicago 
 
 The Winona Publishing Company 
 I9O4 
 
Copyright, 1903 
 
 by 
 
 The Winona Publishing Co, 
 
 December 
 
 riir InhteftJf $rr»* 
 
 R. R. DONNKLLHY ft SONS COMPANY 
 CHICAGO 
 
To the 
 
 First Presbyterian Church 
 
 of 
 
 Oak Park, Illinois 
 
 this little volume is dedicated 
 ith deep appreciation and affection 
 
During the last few weeks of his life Dr. Hoyt collected these Son- 
 nets and Hymns with a view to their publication. The Sonnet on James 
 Chalmers was the last product of his pen, written January 20, 1003, 
 some dictated alterations being made January 24th, at the same time the 
 "Evening Thought" was dictated. A number of the Sonnets had ap- 
 peared in the Auburn Seminary Review, those on the Prophets, Henry 
 Drummond, and Expansion, in the Christian Endeavor World; but all 
 the Hymns were written for the services of the First Presbyterian 
 Church of Oak Park, Illinois. 
 
 It is thought that many #/ those who have heard this Minister s 
 ideals preached and sung will be glad to have them in the form in which 
 he left them when called, January 28, 1003, to the realization of his one 
 inclusive ideal, "that I may win Christ."" 
 
Contents 
 
 Sonnets 
 
 PAGE 
 
 Ideals of the Ministry 
 
 Our Calling g 
 
 Prophet ' ' ' " I0 
 
 Apostle n 
 
 Pastor I 12 
 
 Pastor II !3 
 
 Minister 14 
 
 Sky-Pilot .....; i S 
 
 Farthest North 16 
 
 Men of Auburn 17 
 
 Ideals of the Prophets 
 
 Sargent's "Hebrew Prophets" 19 
 
 Hosea 20 
 
 Joel 21 
 
 Amos 22 
 
 Obadiah 23 
 
 Jonah 24 
 
 Micah 25 
 
 Nahum 26 
 
 Habakkuk 27 
 
 Zephaniah 28 
 
 Haggai 29 
 
 Zechariah 30 
 
 Malachi 31 
 
 Miscellaneous Sonnets 
 
 D.wight L. Moody 33 
 
 Zimmerman's "Christ and the Fisherman" 36 
 
 Henry Drummond 37 
 
 Expansion 38 
 
Contents 
 
 To My Mother 39 
 
 A Sabbath at Lake Bluff 40 
 
 Love's Excellence 41 
 
 Fiftieth Anniversary of the Cayuga Orphan Asylum 42 
 
 To Professor Edward North ... 43 
 
 To Dr. Herrick Johnson 44 
 
 James Chalmers, Martyr-Missionary 45 
 
 Hy 
 
 mns 
 
 The Church 
 
 Banished Sons Tune, Missionary Chant 47 
 
 Face to Face Tune, Battell 48 
 
 Hymn of Dedication Tune, Ellerton 49 
 
 Easter Hymns 
 
 Jesus on the Shore Tune, Pilot 50 
 
 Divine Heart-Burning Tune, Sacrament 52 
 
 Thanksgiving Hymn Tune, Park Street 53 
 
 Christmas Hymn •• Tune, Ward 54 
 
 New Year's Day Hymn Tune, America 55 
 
 Hymns for Chicago Day 
 
 A Vision Splendid Tunc, Faben 57 
 
 Healing of the Water Tunc, Gertrude 58 
 
 A City of Truth Tunc, Me lit a 60 
 
 Hymns of Life 
 
 Christ, I Take Thy Yoke Tunc, Fatherland 62 
 
 For Thy Sake Tunc, Stephanos 64 
 
 The Streets of the City Tune, Wilmot 66 
 
 The Life which is Life 67 
 
 The Light of Life Tune, Lcighton 68 
 
 Self Conquest Tune, Eventide 69 
 
 Lord, Let Me Go in Peace Tunc, Integer 70 
 
 An Evening Thought 7 1 
 
Ideals of the Ministry 
 
 Our Calling 
 
 "High is our calling, Friend." Thus Wordsworth 
 said 
 To Haydon, poet to the painter: each 
 Surmounting heights beyond the av'rage reach, 
 
 Where only genius has a right to tread. 
 
 So we must magnify our office, led 
 
 Of God to catch and paint ideals, to preach 
 The higher truths of spirit, and to teach 
 
 That man doth not subsist alone by bread. 
 
 For men have won such conquests in the field 
 
 Of trade : in wealth and power have waxed so 
 great, 
 
 That they the sceptres of the world do wield, 
 And make and unmake policies of state. 
 
 But still our Christ stands rightful King of men 
 
 And we must bring his crown rights back again. 
 
io Ideals of the Ministry 
 
 Prophet 
 
 As prophets, more than once we must have caught 
 The vision of the King, the bush aflame 
 With glory, felt our lips were purged of shame, 
 
 Our tongues a burning eloquence were taught. 
 
 There's prophet's work, while conscience can be 
 bought 
 With gold, or dazzled by the spell of fame : 
 While, in the face of wrong, men show a tame 
 
 And craven spirit, base and ignoble thought. 
 
 Our eyes be clarified to read the times, 
 Our ears attuned to hear the cry of pain, 
 
 Our sympathies be widened to all climes, 
 
 In prayer and work for Christ's advancing reign. 
 
 His blazing chariot wheels may we outrun, 
 
 The tireless heralds of God's Kingly Son! 
 
Ideals of the Ministry 11 
 
 Apostle 
 
 Think you "Apostle" is a worn-out word? 
 
 There still is need of men, whom God hath sent 
 Straight as an arrow from a bow full bent, 
 
 Swift as an angel flies, whose soul is stirred 
 
 To minister, and cannot be deterred. 
 Ambassadors for Christ must be intent 
 On errands high, and willing to be spent 
 
 In any work, if only He shall gird. 
 
 Yea, though we stand ambassadors in bonds, 
 As Paul before Agrippa, we must bear 
 Ourselves as royal messengers, and wear 
 
 The livery of light that corresponds. 
 
 Not ours the words we speak, the works we do, 
 But His who sent us ; His the glory, too. 
 
12 Ideals of the Ministry- 
 
 Pastor I. 
 
 The Master says to us, as once of old 
 
 To Peter, "Feed my lambs and feed my sheep"; 
 
 Give joy for joy, and weep with those that weep; 
 Go, gather those that stray into the fold. 
 For in this restless age the sheep scarce know 
 
 The shepherd's voice, and he must go and lay 
 
 A living hand on them, the cloudy day, 
 When skies are dark, faith weak and hope sinks low. 
 
 O for the shepherd-instinct, shepherd-heart, 
 
 That from the Shepherd-King hath learned its art! 
 
 Compassion warm, a swift telepathy, 
 
 To read the soul, its hidden agony : 
 From house to house, on moorland or in mart, 
 
 To win and hold by tact and courtesy. 
 
Ideals of the Ministry 13 
 
 Pastor II. 
 
 His vital grasp gives men new grip on life, 
 His manhood reinforces their's, so spent 
 In battling with the world ; recruits their rent 
 
 And weary spirit, faint and sick from strife. 
 
 When he appears, clouds disappear ; the sun 
 
 Shines forth again ; the weak are strong once 
 
 more; 
 The children's faces brighten, and the store 
 
 Of joy seems doubled, and life's battle won. 
 
 . He loves his people. Locked within his breast, 
 Their secrets are as safe as in a chest 
 
 That's ribbed with steel. No hireling-shepherd he, 
 Whose service must be bought with paltry pelf ; 
 
 He puts no price upon his ministry, 
 
 Nor has he ever learned to save himself. 
 
14 Ideals of the Ministry- 
 
 Minister 
 
 The minister has found what service costs 
 In heart-blood, in the constant going out 
 Of virtue from him, in derision's shout, 
 
 The world's indifference and stinging frosts. 
 
 As Christ came ministering, His servant comes. 
 Enough for him if, like his Lord, he girds 
 Himself to lowly tasks, and hears the words, 
 
 "Do ye as I have done." For in the slums, 
 
 As on the boulevard, we track the feet 
 Of Him who toiled up Calvary to win 
 The world. Then let us count it shame and sin, 
 
 If we with halting step our duties greet. 
 Let life be hard t its work without return! 
 Your candle trim and to the socket burn ! 
 
Ideals of the Ministry 15 
 
 Sky-Pilot 
 
 Men will not scorn the "cloth," if underneath 
 There throbs a manly heart. In wild Black Rock 
 Or on Fifth Avenue, they'll not unfrock 
 
 The man in whom true sympathies do breathe. 
 
 We take their playful term of "parson," fill 
 It full of gracious personality, 
 The Christ-like character, that all can see, 
 
 The love that charms, the qualities that thrill. 
 
 "Sky-pilot," they may dub us, when the skies 
 Are blue and waters calm ; but when the clouds 
 Blot out the stars, a tempest sweeps the shrouds, 
 
 The vessel drives before the gale, hope dies : 
 They trust that pilot, full of faith and cheer, 
 Who says, — "Believe in God and do not fear!" 
 
1 6 Ideals of the Ministry 
 
 "Farthest North" 
 
 Let Science count the gains from her high quest 
 Amid unconquered snow and ice ! We prize 
 The most its witness to the hopes which rise 
 
 Unbidden and immortal from the breast — 
 
 The patience, courage, energy, unrest, — 
 The faith in God and man, in sea and skies, 
 Which makes adversities its firm allies. 
 
 And rugged powers of manhood doth attest. 
 
 O men of Auburn ! trust the "polar drift" ! 
 Forget yourselves, your safety and your ease ! 
 Stout heart within, and steady hand on helm. 
 Adventure all for truth ! Then through the rift 
 Of wintry cloud, beyond the icy seas, 
 
 Shall shine the unattained, the soul's true realm. 
 
Ideals of the Ministry 17 
 
 Men of Auburn 
 
 God bless thee, Auburn ! School of prophets true, 
 Thy record starred with names of brilliant worth, 
 Thy lines of light gone out through all the earth, — 
 
 Long may both power and fame to thee accrue. 
 
 On all thy sons be set thy double seal 
 Of loyalty and liberty. Impart 
 To them thy love of truth, a fearless heart 
 
 To do the right, to follow their ideal. 
 
 So may thy future far the past outstrip : 
 Thy learning ever own its Master, Christ : 
 Thy richest treasures be the gains unpriced 
 
 Of reverent, intrepid scholarship. 
 
 Thus from these halls send forth into the world 
 True soldiers of the Cross, with flag unfurled. 
 
Ideals of the Prophets 
 
 Sargent's "Hebrew Prophets" 
 
 Here see the builders of a commonwealth, 
 
 Who ever to celestial patterns wrought; 
 Applied truth's plumb-rule, lest there creep by 
 stealth 
 
 Some flaw God's work to mar, and bring to 
 naught. 
 These men have looked on bushes all aflame 
 
 With Deity, yet unconsumed ; have caught 
 The vision of the King and felt the shame 
 
 Of unclean lips, till living coal was brought 
 To purge away their sin and make them fit 
 
 For purest message. Never have they thought 
 Of fear, their eyes with heaven's glory lit, 
 
 Nor could they with dull, earthly gold be bought. 
 Some faces stern and dark with coming doom, 
 And some with tenderness and hope abloom. 
 
 19 
 
20 Ideals of the Prophets 
 
 Hosea 
 
 The Prophet of the Divine Betrothal 
 
 Heroic soul! experience hard and real, 
 
 Of blighted hopes, dishonored vows, the stress 
 And strain of inward conflict none could guess, 
 
 Yet through it all a heart as true as steel, 
 
 Of patient love has taught thee Heaven's ideal :- 
 "For I am God, not man ; love more, not less ; 
 My people I've betrothed in faithfulness, 
 
 Nor can I ever break my cov'nant's seal." 
 
 O church of God, O bride of Christ, reveal 
 Thy gratitude for love like that ; confess 
 Thy need of cleansing; wear thy virgin dress 
 
 Of radiant purity, adorned with zeal. 
 
 With lasting joy and peace thy Lord will bless, 
 
 And all thy sin and shame and sorrow heal. 
 
Ideals of the Prophets 21 
 
 Joel 
 
 The Prophet of Pentecost 
 
 All nature mourns, as when a flame runs o'er 
 Its fields, and leaves a black and dreary waste, 
 And from the sons of men all joy is chased. 
 
 But rend your heart, your gracious God implore, 
 
 That He may send His rain, your years restore 
 With plenty, satisfy with good your taste, 
 Till wilderness by Eden be replaced. 
 
 More wondrous vet! The heavens shall outpour 
 
 The Spirit's gift upon all humankind, 
 Anointing men and women, old and young, 
 
 With visions of the truth, with golden dreams 
 Of purity, and kindling every tongue 
 
 With fire of love, until from mind to mind 
 There radiate the Pentecostal gleams. 
 
22 Ideals of the Prophets 
 
 Amos 
 
 The Prophet of Social Justice 
 
 No prophet, neither prophet's son, but called 
 
 From following the flock to be a voice 
 For God, a seer of truth for people walled 
 
 About with insincerity, a choice 
 And gifted workman, trained in field, not school. 
 
 Beneath the silent stars he thought by night, 
 And wrought the livelong day with busy tool. 
 
 So measured he to manhood's fullest height. 
 
 No golden glamour hides from eyes made keen 
 By desert air the nation's sure decay. 
 
 His plumb-line makes the social structure lean 
 So far from truth that naught its fall can stay. 
 
 He sees the Lord above the altar stand 
 
 To smite the temple and to scourge the land. 
 
Ideals of the Prophets 23 
 
 Obadiah 
 
 The Prophet of False Pride and Unbrotherly Neutrality 
 
 In daring hast thou with the eagle vied 
 
 And set among the stars thy dizzy nest. 
 
 The hidden rock-clefts thou inhabitest 
 Beyond all fear, secure and satisfied. 
 Thine heart deceives itself in its false pride, 
 
 And shall be humbled by divine behest. 
 
 Invasion's wave shall roll its angry crest, 
 Search out thy treasures with its hungry tide. 
 
 No neutral he that stands the other side, 
 A brother's shame and sorrow makes his jest, 
 Then joins the mob to plunder and molest. 
 
 The mocker is as one that crucified. 
 
 O Christ, to walk with Thee give keener zest, 
 
 Nor coward let me stand the other side ! 
 
24 Ideals of the Prophets 
 
 Jonah 
 
 The Prophet of Repentance 
 
 Delivered from the depths profound, the vast 
 
 Abyss of waters, awed and penitent, 
 The recreant prophet boldly gains at last 
 
 The city gates, on single errand bent ; 
 One startling message through her streets proclaims, 
 
 "Yet forty days, and Nineveh o'erthrown!" 
 He rouses people, nobles, king. He shames 
 
 Them for atrocious sins until one groan 
 Of agony, one cry to Heaven of hearts 
 
 Despairing sounds from greatest unto least. 
 By royal law, in palaces or marts, 
 
 One badge of mourning covers man and beast. 
 O Ninevites, your penitential fear 
 Condemneth us. That " greater One " is here. 
 
Ideals of the Prophets 25 
 
 Micah 
 
 The Prophet of Peace 
 
 We bless thee that so soon thou didst reverse 
 Thy brother prophet's message, and didst dare 
 Rebuke the zeal for war, the trumpet's blare ; 
 
 Of carnage, pillage, thou didst show the curse ; 
 
 Thou badest men, in words both tense and terse, 
 Beat spear to pruning-hook, and sword to share, 
 And learn industrial arts, secure from care, 
 
 Domestic virtues peace alone doth nurse. 
 
 Where, in an age of violence and strife, 
 Was born so fair a hope, with blessing rife? 
 Look down the years. O little Bethlehem, 
 Thine be the glory, thine the diadem ! 
 Thou cradlest One who is to be our King, 
 The Magna Charta of our peace to bring. 
 
26 Ideals of the Prophets 
 
 Nahum 
 
 The Prophet of Nineveh's Fall 
 
 O Nineveh, thou bloody city, think 
 
 Not thou canst fill thy lion's lair with spoils 
 Of ravaged nations, and elude the toils 
 
 Of outraged justice, which no more shall wink 
 
 At cruelty so vast. God makes thee drink 
 The cup of fury thou hast brewed, which boils 
 With Heaven's wrath. About thee slowly coils 
 
 The chain thyself hast forged, link by link. 
 
 Make strong thy loins ; prepare thyself for siege. 
 Stand guard ! The outposts fall like figs first ripe. 
 The gates swing wide. Fierce warriors throng 
 thy streets 
 With fire and sword. Thy worthies and their liege 
 Are weak as women. Thou art in the gripe 
 Of one whom man may mock, but never cheats. 
 
Ideals of the Prophets 27 
 
 Habakkuk 
 
 The Prophet of a Tried but Triumphant Faith 
 
 O Thou of ear so keen that it must hear 
 
 The prayer of faith for healing of our shame, 
 O Thou of eyes so pure that they must flame 
 
 In vivid lightnings on our darkness drear, 
 
 And clarify our murky atmosphere, 
 
 When wilt Thou come to manifest Thy name, 
 To vindicate the right, Thy cause reclaim? 
 
 Bold watchman on thy tower of hope, what cheer? 
 
 Swift comes the answering vision ; make it plain : 
 The Lord is on His throne, — keep silence, earth, — 
 Shall punish wrong, and crown the just with 
 life; 
 Revive His ancient work ; by second birth 
 
 Flood all the world with glory, quenching strife, 
 Till men their heritage of joy regain. 
 
28 Ideals of the Prophets 
 
 Zephaniah 
 
 The Prophet of the Day of the Lord 
 
 A day of wrath, of darkness and distress, 
 
 When God will search with candles, and will 
 
 seize 
 The careless doubters, settled on their lees, 
 
 Who live in luxury and selfishness. 
 
 The enemy, resentful, pitiless, 
 
 With banners waving in the morning breeze, 
 The city gates shall enter at their ease, 
 
 And all its treasures spoil beyond redress. 
 
 But sing, O Zion ! There's another day 
 
 Of God, when He, thy King, who's in the midst 
 Of thee, shall joy o'er thee and rest in love ; 
 Thy foe cast out, thy judgments take away ; 
 Let thee no more see evil, since thou didst 
 Not doubt, but patiently His goodness prove. 
 
Ideals of the Prophets 29 
 
 Haggai 
 
 The Prophet of Reconstruction 
 
 Mid blended shouts of joy and grief were laid 
 
 The stones whereon the exile's hopes were based. 
 
 Then foes conspired. The king his course re- 
 traced, 
 His throne against the enterprise arrayed. 
 And now self-seeking, apathy, invade 
 
 All hearts. The pulse grows faint, the will un- 
 braced. 
 
 They rear their houses, let God's house lie waste. 
 So heaven from dew and earth from fruit are stayed. 
 
 There comes swift messenger from higher court, 
 With rugged message, of divine import : — 
 ''Your ways consider ; be ye strong and build ; 
 With greater glory shall this house be filled." 
 He touched their conscience, and their spirit 
 
 stirred 
 To nerve their hands for work, their loins re- 
 gird. 
 
3<D Ideals of the Prophets 
 
 Zechariah 
 
 The Prophet of Restored Jerusalem 
 
 Despise not things so small. Thou'rt not alone, 
 
 But God is with thee and will bless thy toil. 
 Mid shouts of " Grace !" thou'lt lay the topmost 
 stone, 
 
 And feed the temple lamps with golden oil. 
 The city shall o'erleap its ancient bounds, 
 
 And God shall be its glory and defense. 
 The boys and girls shall fill its streets with sounds 
 
 Of laughter, till old age its care relents. 
 Men call the city "Truth," therein find peace. 
 
 Its fasts are turned to feasts. Its sacred shrine 
 Is altar for the nations. Never cease 
 
 The living streams to flow, the light to shine. 
 
 Wouldst know the secret of this vision's flower ? 
 By Spirit of the Lord, and not by power. 
 
Ideals of the Prophets 31 
 
 Malachi 
 
 The Prophet of a Violated Fatherhood 
 
 If I'm a Father, where's the honor due 
 
 From loving children ? Why do ye profane 
 My name with hollow service? Why in vain 
 
 Burn fire upon mine altar, and, in lieu 
 
 Of perfect gifts, with refuse think to sue 
 For favor ? Weariness ye ill contain ; 
 Ye rob both God and man ; your one refrain, 
 
 "Wherein?" to all your empty life the clew. 
 
 Behold ! the Lord shall suddenly appear 
 To purge His temple, a refiner's fire, 
 To purify the silver and the gold. 
 Then they that serve the Lord, His name do fear, 
 Shall be My jewels and My heart's desire, 
 Of luster rare, of beauty manifold. 
 
Miscellaneous Sonnets 
 
 Dwight L. Moody 
 
 O wisest, noblest herald of our age, 
 
 Whose trumpet-tones ne'er gave uncertain sound, 
 Whose glad Evangel, heard the wide earth round, 
 
 Did so much human grief and pain assuage : — 
 
 How we shall miss thy face, keen, rugged, kind ; 
 A face that children learned to trust and love, 
 Whose goodness men and women came to prove, 
 
 The faithful index of an honest mind ! 
 
 When shall we hear such speech again, so tense, 
 Direct, incisive, piercing to the heart 
 Of things ; a speech for pulpit or for mart, 
 
 So rich in Bible lore, in common sense? 
 A master of assemblies, how he swayed 
 Our wills, like fields of grain by strong winds 
 played ! 
 
 ii. 
 
 To dull, despairing souls he showed a star 
 Of hope ; 'mong optimists he led the van : 
 
 33 
 
34 Miscellaneous Sonnets 
 
 " Since God is love" (his message ever ran), 
 "Take heart of cheer; thy sins forgiven are." 
 "No matter though in sin you've wandered far 
 
 From home; if you've the will to turn, you can." 
 Not ours alone, but owned of every clime ; 
 
 Whose thoughts of heav'n and earth did freely 
 blend, 
 
 Who walked and talked with God as triend with 
 friend, 
 And thus became the Great-heart of our time, 
 A nature plain, with neither show nor sham, 
 
 Yet strong and noble, ruling by the sway 
 
 Of simple truth, his whole life seemed to say : — 
 "By grace of God I am the man I am." 
 
 in. 
 
 So sensitive his soul to human need, 
 
 With passionate intensity, with all 
 
 His powers he wrought, until he heard "God's 
 call, 
 Saw Heaven open and the earth recede." 
 So let him sleep on Round Top, whence appear 
 
 The scenes where he was born, where he was 
 known 
 
 As friend and neighbor, laid the cornerstone 
 Of schools, that prove his foresight sound and clear. 
 
Miscellaneous Sonnets 3$ 
 
 He needs no granite shaft to mark his grave, 
 
 Himself a sort of monumental man; 
 
 Perhaps to no one, since the world began, 
 Has it been giv'n more lives to touch and save. 
 
 In him the heavenly calling was not missed ; 
 
 He magnified the name, Evangelist. 
 
36 Miscellaneous Sonnets 
 
 Zimmerman's "Christ and the Fisherman'' 
 
 Henceforth Thou Shalt Catch Men. Luke 5:10 
 
 Though half-averted be the Master's face, 
 We read in brow serene and look benign 
 A spotless life, His manhood's clearest sign: 
 
 In hands of healing, laid with matchless grace 
 
 Upon the fisher's brawny arm, we trace 
 The subtle power, which led men to resign 
 Their all and follow Him in paths divine, 
 
 In sacrifice and service for their race. 
 
 The younger man, with dark and soulful eyes, 
 Enraptured, drinks in truth like thirsty earth. 
 
 O Lord, enchain him 'til, for high emprise, 
 
 Thou'st made him Thine forever ! He is worth 
 
 Thy master-spell. With tireless eagle-flight 
 
 And gaze unblenched, he'll dare the sun's fierce 
 light. 
 
Miscellaneous Sonnets 37 
 
 Henry Drummond 
 
 Men called him "Prince," and knightlier soul ne'er 
 
 flung 
 The gage of chivalry, nor entered lists 
 Where beauty shone and shouts of triumph rung 
 As lances crossed. None ever kept his trysts 
 With maiden fair more loyally than he 
 With truth. A virgin manhood, dedicate 
 To wisdom, honor, love, humanity, 
 And keeping faith with Christ inviolate. 
 With royal hand he poured his life's best wine 
 To vivify the faint. Nor would he swerve 
 From duty's path, but proved the law divine, 
 That he who would be great must lowly serve. 
 In many fields he won a bright renown, 
 But in the lives he saved a kingly crown. 
 
38 Miscellaneous Sonnets 
 
 Expansion 
 
 Is this the time, O church of Christ, to sound 
 
 Retreat? To arm with weapons cheap and blunt 
 The men and women who have borne the brunt 
 
 Of truth's fierce strife, and nobly held their ground ? 
 
 Is this the time to halt, when all around 
 Horizons lift, new destinies confront, 
 Stern duties wait our nation, never wont 
 
 To play the laggard, when God's will was found ? 
 
 No! rather strengthen stakes and lengthen cords. 
 Enlarge thy plans and gifts, O thou elect, 
 And to thy kingdom come for such a time ! 
 The earth with all its fulness is the Lord's. 
 
 Great things attempt for Him, great things ex- 
 pect, 
 Whose love imperial is, whose power sublime. 
 
Miscellaneous Sonnets 39 
 
 To My Mother, on Her Eightieth 
 Birthday 
 
 On God and godlike men build we our trust ? 
 
 But what if Christian womanhood reveal 
 
 Those qualities divine, which are the seal 
 Of God, and lift us high above the dust? 
 A mind alert, whose powers defy the rust ; 
 
 A soul clear-visioned, living in th' ideal ; 
 
 Thy busy hands and feet yet touch the real, 
 And do God's will on earth because they must. 
 
 In thee are gentleness and firmness blent ; 
 
 A dignity of grace and heav'nly birth; 
 
 A hopeful, cheery patience, giving worth 
 To life, its chiefest strength and ornament. 
 
 In thee God hath His choicest work made known, 
 
 And to thy children hath His glory shown. 
 
40 Miscellaneous Sonnets 
 
 A Sabbath at Lake Bluff 
 
 Though come apart from field of work to-day, 
 We have not fled our faith nor our ideals ; 
 In nature's sanctities the Christ reveals 
 
 His presence ; at her altar bids us pray. 
 
 Her calm and beauty our unrest allay ; 
 And as her haunting myst'ry on us steals, 
 We touch through her the hem of Him who heals, 
 
 And find anew the Truth, the Life, the Way. 
 
 Oh, Master, here before Thy feet I fall, 
 And pray Thee to subdue the sins that lurk ; 
 
 To purify my heart, my will enthrall. 
 
 And if, in love with leisure, I would shirk 
 
 My duty, may I hear Thine urgent call. 
 And gladly grasp again my tools of work. 
 
Miscellaneous Sonnets 41 
 
 Love's Excellence 
 
 I. Corinthians 13 
 
 But sounding brass, the golden eloquence 
 
 That does not speak in love. That knowledge 
 
 nought, 
 Which has not learned in love to share its thought. 
 
 And idle is the faith, not grown intense 
 
 In deeds of love. A cheap beneficence, 
 
 That only gives an alms which may be bought, 
 Or even yields the life to flames, unsought, — 
 
 'Tis love's, the secret of all excellence. 
 
 Unfailing patience, kindness, courtesy, — 
 There's not a lovely trait or virtue fine. 
 That does not spring from love, with love align, 
 
 And when we reach that cloudless land, where we 
 No longer darkly see, but face to face, 
 There love's the crowning, the abiding grace. 
 
4 2 Miscellaneous Sonnets 
 
 The Fiftieth Anniversary of the Cayuga 
 Orphan Asylum 
 
 If pure and undefiled religion be 
 
 To visit the forlorn and fatherless, 
 
 To hear their cry and help them in distress, 
 To keep one's own unspotted purity : — 
 How rich a heritage belongs to thee, 
 
 Of woman's grace and strength and power to 
 bless, 
 
 Her faith, devotion, patience, tenderness, 
 Unstinted poured for half a century ! 
 
 We think, to-day, of all who here have found 
 A refuge and a home ; a training-school 
 For life ; of those in whom were rarely blent 
 The teacher and the mother ; heaven-sent 
 To show Christ's love and live His Golden Rule. 
 Seek you their monument? Then look around! 
 
Miscellaneous Sonnets 43 
 
 To Professor Edward North ("Old 
 Greek"), Hamilton College 
 
 Christmas, 1901 
 
 What p?eon shall I sing thee, noblest "Greek".? 
 
 Thy blended Attic wit and wisdom praise? 
 
 Some strong and simple Doric shaft upraise, 
 To mark thy manhood rare, thy life unique? 
 Oh, could I hear thee scan, with liquid voice, 
 
 The flowing measures of Theocritus, — 
 
 Translate those Idyls, as mellifluous 
 As honey from Hymettian fields, and choice! 
 With thee we climbed th' Acropolis to see 
 
 That panorama from the Parthenon, — 
 
 Imagine Salamis and Marathon 
 And Athens — all that gorgeous pageantry! 
 
 Thou madest Greece a fair, enchanted land, 
 
 By simple virtue of thy scholar's wand. 
 
44 Miscellaneous Sonnets 
 
 Herrick Johnson, Homilete 
 
 Thou master of the homiletic art, 
 Divine diplomacy to reconcile 
 An alien world to Christ ; by loving wile 
 To gain an entrance to the human heart : — 
 We see thee on thy class-room throne ; recall 
 Thy keen and trenchant words of criticism, 
 That proved each fault and pricked each hollow 
 "ism," 
 And proved our too ambitious efforts small, 
 Nor could mere cleverness thine eyes deceive. 
 And make the brass of speech pass current gold : 
 However skillfully our tale was told, 
 The shoddy fabric thou didst soon unweave. 
 To train fit workmen thou hast ever aimed, 
 Approved of God, and therefore unashamed. 
 
Miscellaneous Sonnets 45 
 
 James Chalmers 
 
 Martyr of New Guinea 
 
 Explorer, herald, dauntless pioneer. 
 A man of such magnetic heart and hand 
 One touch of his our manhood has remanned, 
 As thro' the raging surf we see him steer 
 His boat, amid the storm and darkness drear, 
 And then with eager step the first to land 
 On savage shores. For he, who bore the brand 
 Of Christ, feared not the hostile club and spear. 
 Imperial of soul, of brain of brawn, 
 
 Adventurous to cope with wind and wave, 
 He saw the Christhood in the South Sea spawn, 
 
 And with that faith matched love and strength to 
 save. 
 Along that murky coast there broke the dawn, 
 
 Ere, martyr-like, he yielded life so brave. 
 
Hymns 
 
 "Banished Sons" 
 
 Her Sons. II. Sam. 14: 13 
 
 O King, fetch home Thy banished sons, 
 Win back their love and loyalty ; 
 
 Self-exiled, they are still Thine own, 
 And bear the marks of royalty. 
 
 They're orphaned here, in Thy good world, 
 Nor hear Thy voice, nor see Thy face ; 
 
 Without a faith or commonwealth, 
 
 Though dowered daily with Thy grace. 
 
 O Father — King — send them Thy Son, 
 With proof of their high lineage ; 
 
 Some token from the palace send, 
 An earnest of their heritage. 
 
 And are not we in exile here, 
 
 Till to our fatherland we come? 
 
 W T e wait our summons from the court, — 
 O King, Thy banished sons fetch home! 
 
 47 
 
48 Hymns of the Church 
 
 "Face to Face" 
 
 Her Service. II. Kings 14: 11 
 
 Come, let us look each other in the face, 
 
 Come, let us grasp each other by the hand ; 
 
 This our divinest, holiest meeting-place, 
 This is the gate-way to the heavenly land. 
 
 Not in unfriendly rivalry we meet, 
 
 Boasting our prowess on life's battle-field ; 
 
 Rather, as brothers of the Cross, to greet 
 
 And pledge each other ne'er the strife to yield. 
 
 Ours is the challenge to a bloodless war, 
 
 The swords we measure are the word of God, 
 
 Truth is our watchword, hope our guiding-star, 
 Love is our banner, radiant and broad. 
 
 Come, then, and look each other in the face, 
 Come and together vow to Christ our love ; 
 
 This is our safest, sweetest try sting-place, 
 Until our meeting, face to face, above. 
 
Hymns of the Church 49 
 
 Hymn of Dedication 
 
 Her Open Door 
 
 Thy love, O Lord, hath brought us to this hour, 
 Thy grace hath crowned our eager hopes at 
 length : 
 
 And we have seen our brightest visions flower 
 In forms of beauty, symmetry and strength. 
 
 Our heart's true home to Thee we dedicate, 
 O Christ, the Master-passion of our life : 
 
 Help us this shrine to keep inviolate, 
 
 Its worship pure, its friendships free from strife. 
 
 Of love and life itself Thou didst not spare, 
 To make us rich with blessings manifold : 
 
 Our proffered gold hath built this temple fair : 
 Now may the temple sanctify our gold. 
 
 Here may we learn to temper greed of gain, 
 And weigh in juster scales the things of time : 
 
 Here may the spell of worldly honor wane, 
 As on our vision dawns the cross sublime. 
 
 Our doors be open, beautiful and wide, 
 To all the heavy laden and distressed : 
 
 While here we find in Christ, the Crucified, 
 Our burdens lightened and our souls at rest. 
 
50 Easter Hymns 
 
 "Jesus on the Shore" 
 
 John 21 : 14 
 
 Hast thou left some lofty plane, 
 Work and worship all divine? 
 
 Dread'st to see its glory wane, 
 Nor on common tasks to shine? 
 
 Love for Christ to duty bring, 
 
 All thy life transfiguring! 
 
 Has thy night of toil dragged slow, 
 Seemed the darkness without end? 
 
 Does the dawn but failure show? 
 Shows as well the fisher's Friend ? 
 
 Hear His voice from yonder shore, 
 
 "Cast ye in your nets once more !" 
 
 Love discerns that form benign 
 In the gray of early dawn ; 
 
 Reads through memory the sign, 
 As again full nets are drawn; 
 
 Yearns to see Him face to face, 
 
 And be locked in His embrace. 
 
 O disciple, think not life 
 
 Emptied of all faith and truth 
 
Easter Hymns 
 
 If thou fattest in the strife, 
 
 ( hrerwhelmed by wrong and ruth ; 
 Every midnight hath its morn ; 
 With the light new hope is born. 
 
 When thy weary night is o'er, 
 All thy sky is flushed with light, 
 
 Then upon the farther shore 
 
 Radiant love shall greet thy sight. 
 
 Hail the resurrection feast, 
 
 Christ the Host, His servant guest ! 
 
52 Easter Hymns 
 
 "Divine Heart-Burning" 
 
 Luke 24: 32 
 
 Our eyes were held. The Word denied us 
 The precious secret we would learn, 
 
 Till One drew near and walked beside us, — 
 Did not our heart within us burn? 
 
 • 
 He flashed upon us hidden beauties, 
 
 And softened truths we thought too stern ; 
 
 When by His cross we read our duties, 
 
 Did not our heart within us burn ? 
 
 When there has dawned some revelation, 
 
 Some movement new, which men would spurn, 
 
 Some truth of fresh interpretation, 
 Did not our heart within us burn ? 
 
 By love constrained, He gave us token, 
 When spent the day, beyond return ; 
 
 'Mid deep'ning shadows bread has broken, — 
 Did not our heart within us burn? 
 
 O, Master, when we see Thy glory, 
 Receive the grace we could not earn, 
 
 Recount, in full, salvation's story, 
 Will not our heart within us burn? 
 
Thanksgiving Hymn 53 
 
 "A Continual Feast" 
 
 Prov. 15: 15 
 
 The merry heart hath daily feast, 
 
 And doth not know what 'tis to pine; 
 
 Of outward good may have the least, 
 Since Christ within pours richest wine. 
 
 Though conscience feels the pang of sin, 
 The soul hath never need of priest, 
 
 For Christ doth cleanse the heart within, 
 And spreadeth there continual feast. 
 
 When locks are white with Winter's snows, 
 And furrows down the face are creased, 
 
 Old age, still cheerful, hopeful shows 
 That grace the merry heart doth feast. 
 
 For merry hearts there's no "lost chord" : 
 They sing, when others' songs have ceased, 
 
 With melody unto the Lord, 
 And joy in His continual feast. 
 
54 Christmas Hymn 
 
 "We Do not Well" 
 
 II. Kings 7: 9 
 
 We do not well to hold our peace, 
 While men beleaguered need release ; 
 Sin's siege is broken; let us sound 
 The tidings all the world around. 
 
 We do not well faith's gold to hide, 
 Love's treasures hoard this Christmastide ; 
 But rather bring them to the King, 
 For all His poor and suffering. 
 
 We do not well ourselves to feast, 
 Till famine of the word has ceased. 
 Our souls with leanness shall be cursed, 
 Though all our barns with plenty burst. 
 
 O, fellow-heirs of God's rich grace, 
 No longer tarry, but apace 
 Tell all the household of the King 
 The joyful tidings angels sing. 
 
 For He who is the Gift of gifts 
 The curtain of the future lifts, 
 And shows us in a vision fair, 
 That they alone do well who share. 
 
New Year's Hymn $$ 
 
 God, Country, Home, Church, Humanity 
 
 I. Peter ii. 17 and iii. 8, 9 
 
 My soul, thy powers awake, 
 All lower aims forsake. 
 
 Thy God to serve. 
 Let mind perceive His skill, 
 Let conscience feel His thrill^ 
 Let heart obey His will, 
 
 Nor ever swerve. 
 
 Thine energies be lent 
 
 To strengthen government, 
 
 Thy country love. 
 Whether on native land, 
 Or alien soil thou stand, 
 Thy patriot life be planned 
 
 Its worth to prove. 
 
 Keep bright the altar-fires, 
 Where glow thy warm desires 
 
 For home and kin. 
 Honor enflame each breast, 
 Truth be the ardent quest, 
 Love the abiding guest, 
 
 Peace reign within. 
 
56 New Year's Hymn 
 
 O church of Christ ! in thee 
 A glorious galaxy 
 
 Of saints doth shine. 
 A holy brotherhood, 
 Linked for the highest good 
 To largest multitude, 
 
 Service divine. 
 
 Image of deity, 
 
 In all men joy to see, 
 
 For whom Christ died. 
 A wider family, 
 A grander polity, 
 Redeemed humanity, 
 
 Be this thy pride! 
 
Hymns for Chicago Day 57 
 
 A Vision Splendid 
 
 Give us, Lord, a vision splendid 
 
 Of the civic life to be, 
 When our city's shame is ended, 
 
 And Christ reigns in equity. 
 Beautiful for situation, 
 
 Seated on her inland sea, 
 Out from fires of tribulation, 
 
 May she come to honor Thee! 
 
 Bold we rear our towers of science, 
 
 Our fair palaces of art; 
 On the Cross place most reliance, 
 
 For the bulwarks of our mart. 
 Be Thou wall of fire defending, 
 
 And indwelling glory deep ; 
 Vain is watchman's careful tending, 
 
 Unless Thou the city keep. 
 
 If we make "I will" the token 
 
 Of Chicago's very life : 
 Keep our league with right unbroken 
 
 And with wrong ne'er quit the strife, 
 If not we, our sons and daughters 
 
 Shall the walls of truth upraise; 
 Dedicate beside these waters 
 
 A "White City" to God's praise. 
 
58 Hymns for Chicago Day 
 
 "Healing of the Water 
 
 I. Kings 2:19-22 
 
 Pleasant is our city, 
 
 Beautiful its homes, 
 Giving cheery welcome 
 
 To the one who roams ; 
 Yet its life is poisoned 
 
 In the haunts of shame, 
 Bitter springs of trouble, 
 
 Fruitful cause of blame. 
 
 Chorus. 
 Healers of our waters, 
 
 Salt of all the earth, 
 Cast ye in your treasure, 
 
 God will give it worth. 
 
 Flourishing our churches, 
 
 Thronged our college halls, 
 High the ramparts rearing, 
 
 Culture's noble walls ; 
 Yet our springs still bubble 
 
 Turbid, bitter, strong; 
 And unless they're sweetened, 
 
 Right must yield to wrong. — Cno. 
 
Hymns for Chicago Day 59 
 
 Strong the spirit pulsing 
 
 In our civic life, 
 Eager our ambitions, 
 
 Emulous our strife ; 
 Yet misrule abounding 
 
 Furnishes the taunt, 
 That "1 will" 's the symbol 
 
 Of an idle vaunt. — Clio. 
 
 We have conquered forces 
 
 Turbulent and dire, 
 Risen from the ashes 
 
 Victors over fire; 
 Yet within our borders, 
 
 Anarchy and crime 
 Flaunt their open challenge, 
 
 Apathy sublime ! — Cho. 
 
 We who have the Gospel, 
 
 Holding fast the Cross, 
 Owe it to our city, 
 
 Counting all but loss. 
 We must cast in treasure, 
 
 Thought and strength and pelf ; 
 If our springs are sweetened, 
 
 We must cast in self. — Cho. 
 
6o Hymns for Chicago Day 
 
 "A City of Truth" 
 
 Zech. 8:3-16 
 
 When men from all this goodly land 
 Shall make their yearly pilgrimage, 
 
 And joy within the gates to stand, 
 In thy festivities engage : 
 
 Be this thy boast to every guest, 
 
 Truth is my name and truth my quest. 
 
 Where trade is brisk and strife is hot 
 May Wisdom stand, lift up her voice, 
 
 Till men buy truth and sell it not, 
 And in their bargain e'er rejoice. 
 
 O fair Queen-city of the West, 
 
 Thy name be truth, and truth thy quest ! 
 
 Instead of ruin, wrong and ruth, 
 
 And chasms wide 'twixt man and man, 
 
 Let each to neighbor speak the truth 
 In right and justice lead the van. 
 
 Let every spire and tower attest, 
 
 Truth is thy name and truth thy quest. 
 
 The Lord be in the midst of thee, 
 Thy God in truth and righteousness, 
 
Hymns for Chicago Day 61 
 
 Thy Saviour from captivity 
 
 Of error, vice and lawlessness. 
 Then shalt thou say, no more in jest, 
 Truth is my name and truth my quest. 
 
62 Hymns of Life 
 
 "Christ, I Take Thy Yoke" 
 
 Matt. 1 1 130 
 
 Weary with the strife 
 
 Of tumultuous life., 
 Puzzled by conflicting choices, 
 Clear and sweet, 'mid jarring voices, 
 
 On my ears there broke, — 
 
 ''Easy is my yoke." 
 
 "Come to me and rest 
 
 Ye by cares oppressed: 
 I will all your burdens lighten, 
 All your gloomy skies will brighten, 
 
 Banish every fear, 
 
 Bring in hope and cheer." 
 
 "Pleasant is the task 
 
 I, your Teacher, ask : — 
 Learn of Me, the meek and lowly. 
 How to make the life more holy : — 
 
 Lesson simple, plain, 
 
 Peace its one refrain." 
 
 "Leave all lower ends, 
 Making full amends : 
 
Hymns of Life 63 
 
 Follow Me in paths entrancing, 
 Toward the hcav'nlv goal advancing.' 
 Christ, I take Thy yoke, 
 This, Thy master-stroke! 
 
 Gladly I revoke 
 
 Every galling yoke. 
 Rivet tight Thy fetters golden, 
 By love's cords I would be holden. 
 
 Silken are the bands 
 
 Woven by Thy hands. 
 
64 Hymns of Life 
 
 "For Thy Sake" 
 
 II. Sam. 9:1-7 
 
 I have learned, O Lord and Master, 
 What no doubt can shake, — 
 
 That my God hath richly blessed me 
 For Thy sake. 
 
 For Thy sake, Thy love and friendship 
 
 Is this kindness shown : 
 Hence the King adopts me, treats me 
 
 As His own. 
 
 Since through Thee such grace is flowing, 
 
 I would humbly take, 
 And to others pass the blessing 
 
 For Thy sake. 
 
 Since to me new life is granted 
 
 Solely for Thy sake., 
 On Thy truth my soul and honor 
 
 I would stake. 
 
 For Thy sake to me is given 
 
 Suffering to bear: 
 After I have bravely striven ; 
 
 Crown to wear. 
 
Hymns of Life 65 
 
 In Thy presence, with Thy likeness, 
 
 When at last I wake, 
 This my song through endless ages, — 
 
 'Tor Thy sake." 
 
66 Hymns of Life 
 
 "The Streets of the City" 
 
 Childhood. Zech. 8:5 
 
 Sweetest word of revelation 
 
 Which foretells the children's play 
 
 Showing Zion's restoration, 
 Once more keeping holiday: 
 
 Sweetest scene of Gospel story, 
 
 Full of loveliest import, 
 Where the Saviour, Lord of glory, 
 
 Watches children at their sport. 
 
 Sweetest thought the present borrows 
 From the past so dim and gray, 
 
 Is that Christ, the Man of Sorrows, 
 Loves to see the children play. 
 
 Sweetest vision that can gladden 
 Weary earth where grief holds sway ; 
 
 Golden streets, with naught to sadden 
 Happy children at their play. 
 
Hymns of Life 67 
 
 "The Life Which Is Life" 
 
 Strenuous Manhood. John 10:10; I. Tim. 6:19, R. V. 
 
 Xot to lie becalmed, with flapping sail, 
 But to drive elate before the gale. 
 
 Not to wait inert some happy chance, 
 But to face with zest rough circumstance. 
 
 Not with nerveless arm and slackened string, 
 But from bow full-bent truth's arrow wing. 
 
 Xot to drain from life scant drops of joy, 
 But quaff brimming cup without alloy. 
 
 Xot to starve upon the world's poor dole, 
 But on faith's rich store to feast the soul. 
 
 Xot a manhood dwarfed by petty aims, 
 But a stature crowned midst high acclaims. 
 
 ( )h for fuller life, in Christ complete ! 
 Xot a yearning mocked, no more defeat! 
 
68 Hymns of Life 
 
 "The Light of Life" 
 
 Strenuous Manhood. John 14:6 
 
 Keen and intense life's race, 
 
 Sharp and severe its strife ; 
 Lest I grow faint and slack my pace, 
 
 O Christ, be Thou my Life ! 
 
 Dark and perplexed the way, 
 Hard and involved the right : 
 
 The smoke of passion clouds the day : — 
 O Christ, be Thou my Light ! 
 
 Incarnate Truth Thou art ; 
 
 From error set me free ; 
 And henceforth lead my mind and heart 
 
 In sweet captivity. 
 
 So in Thy willing strength 
 
 Abounding let me live; 
 Then to Thy cloudless land at length 
 
 Abundant entrance give. 
 
Hymns of Life 69 
 
 Self-Conquest 
 
 Strenuous Manhood. Matt. 8:23-27 
 
 O Lord, when strife and passion through me thrill, 
 Like sudden gusts that agitate the sea, 
 
 Then quell the tumult with Thy "Peace, be still I" 
 As thou didst hush the storm on Galilee. 
 
 Let not my life defenseless be, unwalled, 
 A city broken down, exposed to feud ; 
 
 But by Thy chains of love let me be thralled, 
 My spirit conquered and my will subdued. 
 
 Engrave Thy law of kindness on my tongue ; 
 
 A fount of kindness open in my heart ; 
 To gentler issues be my nature strung, 
 
 A harp that feels and owns the Master's art. 
 
 Purge from my spirit all the heat I feel 
 Of hatred, envy, malice, pride, self-will ; 
 
 And make my wrath a clear white flame of zeal, 
 That only burns to purify of ill. 
 
 In furnace-fires of truth I would anneal 
 All baser ores, my nobler self to find : 
 
 My will, a piece of finely tempered steel, 
 
 While strong to bear, yet pliant to Thy mind. 
 
70 Hymns of Life . 
 
 "Lord, Let Me Go in Peace" 
 
 Old Age. "Nunc Dimittis." Luke 2:29 
 
 Lord, I have waited for Thy consolation. 
 For Thine Anointed, hope of every nation ; 
 Since now mine eyes have seen Thy blest salvation, 
 Lord, let me go in peace. 
 
 Lord, I have ever known Thy Spirit's leading, 
 And from my youth have had Thy temple's breed- 
 ing; 
 Since now there's only this one thing I'm needing, 
 Lord, let me go in peace. 
 
 Lord, I have never found Thy service dreary, 
 Thy pathways aught but beautiful and cheery; 
 And yet mine eyes are dim, my feet are weary ; 
 Lord, let me go in peace. 
 
 Lord, in Thy heaven I have richest treasure, 
 Deep in my heart a hope I cannot measure, 
 Thy work and truth will ever be my pleasure ; 
 Lord, let me go in peace. 
 
Hymns of Life 71 
 
 An Evening Thought 
 
 Since on mc the Lord His Countenance doth lift, 
 I will both lay me down in peace, and sleep ; 
 
 For, though far down some silent vale my soul 
 should drift, 
 I will not be afraid — for God will keep !