The Stark County Democrat. [volume] (Canton, Ohio) 1833-1912, 1888-05-24
POEM.
In Response to Call for an Organization
ofthe Surviving Pupils of John Nc
Gregor, the Grand Old Teacher.
Near Half Century Dead.


lowing as my response to a call made
for suggestions in relation to an or
ganizatlon of surviving pupils of the
grand old Teacher-nearly half a CEN
tury dead-JOhn McGregOr, Esq.
NJ. X. HARD.
Like fire over pralrles the signal cry ran
ANA our pulses We're qnckened as seldom before;
Twas the rallying call Of the McGregor clan
To the lege far and near to all gather once mora
Up in good Wadsworth town, to the tribe ever dear
Where the old castle stands, and its famous chief
sleeps,
For our clan is not 'broken," its record is clear
And Its honor unsullied, II sacredly keeps)
To come from all quarters-from the gateway Of
gold,
On whose waters great ships from the Orient ride;
Out from the new west ev'n its northernmost fold
Where the rigors Of winter the longest abide;
From where ocean and gulf wash amphibious shores
And the sun, I'm Its course through the heavens
mounts high,
And its sweltering rays, semi-troplcal pours,
Over dank everglades from It's seat In the sky;
From wherever they've wandered, by Providence
Near the line of great lakes; on wide prairie or
plain;
In our own queenly State, where great leaders are
bred
Whose idea" rules, paramount, on land or main
10 come with warm greetings and with words Of
good cheer
To talk over old times; old acquaintance renew;
10 rekinde the fires of past friendships stiu dear;
And pay cheerful homage to our founders name
due.
SO the meeting was held and in memory will be
Like dream Of elysium twixt days fun of care,
For voices familiar beyond the deep sea
seemed greetings to whisper on the breath of the
And the living and absent, in fellowship ioined
Was signal Of hope In lives weary and sad.
For the gold OF true love- in times crucbles coined
Is treasure laid up to make eternity glad,
And If only it might be, raUying cali
10 a yearly clan FEAST the whole tribe would ap-
prove;
Such reunions Of friends where good will o,overna
Have a charm, always potent, the feelings to move:
But these words-"if it might bem-as sentlnels
stand,
Barring hope from the most, for great distances
part,
And long years, with their cares, have on all left
their brand
And to some little else, save Gods word, and
brave heart.
SO venture, because of these things, to suggest
What, In view Of them all, must seem proper and
best
That grand jubilee and reunion we hold
And have the old master to preside as of old:
The time to be when, as mundane movements run,
Fifty cycles we count, in the path round the sun,
From unvelllng day starting-the point fixed upon
Or counting twice fifty on the Old "Octagon,"
And what more appropriate, in future to be,
Can we plan, here IN time, than such clan jubilee?
The life's "ftful fever will be over and past,
And our burdens long borne, all laid down at last
Where realms all immortal their wide vistas unfold.
And the vision supernal all eyes shall behold
SO let notice be sent to the friends gone before
By the first leaving earth for the upward bound
Shore
And arrangements be made, and programme pre-
pared,
For feast such as none on the earth ever shared
Let each muse that erst drank from Plerian spring.
For the feast, her best gifts Offering bring
Let music divnest of symphonies score,
And science pour wealth of Its infinite store;
Let philosophy tell us Of ultimate cause,
Ana OF life, If 1t can, It's beginning and laws;
Let pOesy, dealing In measure sublime
Yield her grandest creations in rhythm and rhyme;
Let rhetoric, logic and arts most divine
To inspire and to please their best efforts combine;
Then let Friendship and love- remlniscence aud song
BE as wine to the feast, and Its pleasures prolong;
And religion, ecstatic, rapt fame of the soul,
with its heavenly radiance illumlne the whole
And devotion Inspire with the spirit of praise
To the Christ of the ages, and God of all gracen
But OF this, my suggestion, does any one say
Sure the writer is daft, OF his fancy astray;
Or-mirabile dctu-assign him his rank
Mong dreamers or brand him Theological crank?"
reply, certain birds only wake through the night
And of vision are dull, and most uull in the light
And by such limitations of nature oppressed
Their researches do not extend far from their nest
And to them seems absurd, all the eagle might say,
Touching things, he knows well, of the Orbd king
Of day;
Yet they sure might learn something though stupid
and slow,
If they only would listen to others who know.
But enough of this f"ure; the "hercsy'' howl
Comes from men quite as solemn, and WISE as the
owl,
Yet regardless of them and their narrow concelts,
From the scriptures we prOve-what true science
repeats
Grandest things in the final condition of man.
Provided and sure, in Gods purpose and plan,
The catalogue vast, we perceive but in part
Yet we lovingly ponder, and hide them in heart
Identity, personal, distinctive and clear;
The ego-our selfhood-always one there and here;
Real human relations; activities too;
With human affections, exalted and true;
And human enioyments yet as near to Divine
As child is to parent, or branch to the vine
Our rank In creation advantages brings,
For, as offspring of God, are heirs of all things;
While, from all that is gross and corruptble free
Like the beams of the morning our movements
shall be,
And distance count little, gravtaton less still,
And remaining, or going be only to will
As the worlds can be traced to one Infinite cause
And alike are In substance, conditions and laws:
GravitattOn we see makes the universe one
And one subtle ether bears the rays of each sun;
AS ali show design adaptations that tend
To produce like results, as their ultimate end
SO these facts understood, indicate on their face
Certain things in Gods works. sure to be In their
place;
And we know that all worlds when conditioned bv
age
Are peopled like ours while they're in like stage;
And seeing we are part of this tangible ball,
OrganiCally we are related to ALL
And a law Of the soul, by Invisible ties
Relates us to beings I'm all spheres in the skies
Thus one family vast, in great 'mansiOns" above
God has linked all together by one bond Of love.
In relations like these, as is certainly meet
We acquaintance shall FORM and each other shall
greet
And this stands for visits, and returning the can~
And delightful reunions, with welcomes to all;
Besides in our travels Wen creation explore,
Through all consultations to its uttermost Shore
And the realm of which now but faint gllmpses
we steal,
VIII, to oui open vision, their glorles reveal;
And always advancing, new delights we shall find
In the newly wrought schemes of the infinite mind
While the WORK of world building we wonderngly
trace
To cosmos complete, from their atoms in space.
But pursuit of mere pleasure though high and
sublime,
Must eternaly rate, as it does here in time,
Not the business of life, among even the blest
Any more than, on earth, is amusement or rest,
God worketh, and therefore, all eternity through,
We his children shall work, and in fields ever new;
And in moral relations 1t always must he
That reap as we SOW, otherwise we're not free