te,
Hard and bad and proud and old!
Deep in years--for his call was late.
The Gate was shut, and he had to wait,
And he leaned awhile on his bag of gold.

Roll'd the Heavenly portals back,
Guarded close by a flaming sword!
The old man opened out his sack,
Saint Peter searched the sordid pack,
"Is this thy passport to the Lord?"

Saint Peter sighed, ill-gotten greed
Was all therein to offer God,
He vainly sought one kindly deed,
One gentle word to those in need,
One little step in mercy trod.

"And is this all?" Saint Peter said,
"This fruitless hoard of worthless sin,
This earthly gold, which weighs like lead?
Oh, wretched man! thy soul is _dead_!
Thou mayst--thou canst not enter in!

"Could I have found one single sign
Of life within thy sordid soul,
One kindling spark of Life Divine,
The flames of hell had not been thine.
Hence"--and he seal'd the Judgment scroll.

Down to the fires whose lurid light
Lick'd and blazoned the depths of hell,
Mocking red in the pitchy night,
Down, ever down, from out God's sight,
Down to the damned the Miser fell.

There in the haunts of deepest sin
Satan watched with his sombre eye.
The trembling Miser peered within,
He thought to find his kith and kin
Whose guilt condemned them too--to die.

He wandered round from place to place,
Then beat his breast with wondering moan,
For lo! of all the human race
The Miser stood in hell--Alone!
For all had found some saving grace
That set them free to seek God's face
And could their vilest sins atone.

He cowered low in abject fear,
No single virtue could he plead,
Satan's own--by self decreed!
When sudden! 'neath a dastard deed,
The devil cried, "What lieth here?"
It was a single love-shed tear
Shed in an hour of direst need.

Once he had wept in grief and pain,
Once--when his child lay coldly dead,
Once he had prayed. No prayer is vain.
This prayer had lived to save again
And bring remission on his head.

Only a tear! The Heavenly Choir
Praised the Lord for the thing call'd love;
But Satan shrieked in frenzied ire,
"This foolish tear will quench my fire,
This man must go above--above!"

Back again where the flaming sword
Closely guarded the jewelled door.
"I seek," he humb