ELEGY,

IN MEMORY OF THE REV. ROBERT D. CARTWRIGHT.

As sinks the sun at evening in the west,
     A flood of God-like glory o’er his head,
So sank that pious christian to his rest,
     While unseen Watchers triumphed round his bed.

Gently as bursts the new-born moth to light,

     So pass’d that dove-like spirit from its clay,
Pass’d like an infant sleeping, on that night
     When his loved Master summoned it away.

And there was silence through the deep midnight,
     A joyful silence ’mongst the stars, that shone

Serenely on that passing spirit’s flight,
     As through their myriad hosts it journeyed on.

And there was silence round the Throne of God,
     Such Silence as can only be in Heaven,
When that meek, evangelic spirit, trod

     The pathway closed against the unforgiven.

And Grief sat pale on many a face that day,
     Both rich and poor bewailed his early death;
Those whom that earnest Pastor taught to pray
     Sobbed forth their heavy loss with broken breath.

And round the city passed from tongue to tongue,
     The mournful loss the people had sustained, [Page 101]
But on each lip, in contradiction, hung
     The blessed change his deathless spirit gained.

Never again throughout St. George’s aisle

     Will that clear voice the Gospel thunders hurl,
Never again will he, with christian smile,
     The Gospel Banner of the Cross unfurl.

Never again the dying sinner’s ear
     Will drink the words of promise from his lips,

That burned with earnestness to light and cheer
     The soul departing from the mind’s eclipse.

But in our hearts each word is treasured up,
     The mild reproof, the invitation strong
To drink salvation from the proffered cup,

     The soul’s exultant being to prolong.

And as the germs of Hope in every heart
     Pulsate and quicken with our latest breath,
So will the memory of his words impart
     A blest assurance to our minds in death. [Page 102]