The Empty Chair

Wherever is an empty chair--     Lord, be Thou there!     And fill it--like an answered prayer--     With grace of fragrant thought, and rare     Sweet memories of him whose place     Thou takest for a little space!--     --With thought of that heroical     Great heart that sprang to Duty's call;     --With thought of all the best in him,     That Time shall have no power to dim;     --With thought of Duty nobly done,     And High Eternal Welfare won.     Think!    Would you wish that he had stayed,     When all the rest The Call obeyed?     --That thought of self had held in thrall     His soul, and shrunk it mean and small?     Nay, rather thank the Lord that he     Rose to such height of chivalry;     --That, with the need, his loyal soul     Swung like a needle to its pole;     --That, setting duty first, he went     At once, as to a sacrament.     So, Lord, we thank Thee for Thy Grace,     And pray Thee fill his vacant place!