"GOD GIVE US MEN

"GOD GIVE US MEN"

GOD, give us men! A time like this demands
Strong minds, great hearts;  true faith and ready hands;
Men whom the lust of office does not kill;
Men whom the spoils of office cannot buy;
Men who possess opinions and a will;
Men who have honour; men who will not lie;
Men who can stand before a demagogue
And damn his treacherous flatteries without winking!
Tall men, sun-crowned, who live above the fog
In public duty, and private thinking,
For while the rabble, with their thumb-worn creeds,
Their professions and their little deeds,
Mingle in selfish strife, lo! Freedom weeps,
Wrong rules, the land and waiting justice sleeps.

          -Josiah Gilbert Holland