Classic Poem

They knew not what to do with him.
If all the creeds were true,
He should have been, in all the town.
The worst man any knew.

He only smiled at Adam's sin,
And said he'd ne'er consent
That one he never voted for
His soul should represent.

And though he should have been depraved
To help their logic out,
His life was blameless found, in spite
Of all his dreadful doubt.

They tried to make him penitent;
But he would only say,
“I seek to help my fellow-men,
And do my best each day.”

And, when they of atonement spoke,
He said, “I cannot see
How punishing another makes
A better man of me.”

And, when his reason they decried,
He said, “Although my eyes
Sometimes deceive, to put them out
Seems to me hardly wise.”

And when at last, all patience gone,
They said he'd go to hell,
He said, “Where sense and duty lead,
The end must sure be well.

“Tradition may be false or true,
But God is living still;
And in the laws of earth and man
He writeth down his will.

“And, as I read, He bids me seek
These laws and them obey.
Thus where I see his footsteps lead
I follow as I may.

“If I can build God's kingdom here,
His reign of love and light,
I fear not what the future holds,
But know 'twill all be right.”

They knew not what to do with him;
For all the children ran
To meet him as he walked the street,
And bless the kindly man.

The sick, the poor, revered his name,
And learned the hand to bless
Which ever was wide open held
To scatter happiness.

And one, more bold than others, said,
“If he's not Christian, then
He's surely something quite as good
Who loves his fellow-men.”