He sat to watch o’er cus­toms paid,
A man of scorned and hard­en­ing trade;
Alike the sym­bol and the tool
Of for­eign mas­ters’ hat­ed rule.

But grace with­in his breast had stirred;
There need­ed but the time­ly word;
It came, true Lord of souls! from Thee,
That roy­al sum­mons, Fol­low Me.

Enough, when Thou wert pass­ing by
To hear Thy voice, to meet Thine eye;
He rose, re­spons­ive to the call,
And left his task, his gains, his all.

O wise ex­change! with these to part
And lay up trea­sure in Thy heart;
With two­fold crown of light to shine
Amid Thy ser­vants’ fore­most line!

Come, Sav­ior, as in days of old;
Pass where the world has strong­est hold,
And faith­less care and self­ish greed
Are thorns that choke the ho­ly seed.

Who keep Thy gifts, O bid them claim
The stew­ard’s, not the own­er’s name;
Who yield all up for Thy dear sake,
Let them of Mat­thew’s wealth par­take.