_The dearest friends that life has known
In any time or place
Were made before the wondrous throne
Of mercy and of grace.
The bonds of brotherhood were wrought
In high communion there
Where we have walked with God in thought,
And bowed in common prayer.
The sweetest mem’ries of the years,
The joys most keen and true,
The kindest words that blessed our ears
The sanctuary knew.
The highest peaks our hearts have scaled,
The fairest roads we trod,
The hours by which all others paled
Were in the house of God_.