Fifty of the Protestant Ballads and " The Anti-Ritualistic Directorium, " of Martin F. Tupper ... New; and reprinted |
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THE ANGLICAN PRIEST: IN THE TOWN. |
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 | Fifty of the Protestant Ballads |  |
THE ANGLICAN PRIEST: IN THE TOWN.
True,—leaving the village, the lanes, and the downs—
Some Anglicans' benches are filled in the towns.
But why? There are idlers by thousands to go
Anywhere for a sight in each “populous No;”
And music and incense and wax-lights at noon
(Attractive to moths) draw a crowd very soon:
But only the weak or the curious are there
For eye-and-ear tickling, not heart-stirring prayer;
And few are seen twice in the seats so well fill'd
But the paid of the poor, and the bribed of the guild;
And many are shock'd and ashamed, as they find
Our Protestant pastors so Popish in mind,
And all are agreed, as they talk going home,
How like is all this to the priestcraft of Rome!
Some Anglicans' benches are filled in the towns.
But why? There are idlers by thousands to go
Anywhere for a sight in each “populous No;”
And music and incense and wax-lights at noon
(Attractive to moths) draw a crowd very soon:
But only the weak or the curious are there
For eye-and-ear tickling, not heart-stirring prayer;
And few are seen twice in the seats so well fill'd
But the paid of the poor, and the bribed of the guild;
And many are shock'd and ashamed, as they find
Our Protestant pastors so Popish in mind,
And all are agreed, as they talk going home,
How like is all this to the priestcraft of Rome!
Yet dream not, you traitors, that England will stand
Much longer your rinderpest over this land,
Or that a few crowds, curiosity led,
Show popular liking—not loathing instead!
We warn you the heart of the nation beats true,
If tolerant, hating intolerance too,—
If liberal, firmly resolved to put down
Jesuit Anglicans, country or town;
We suffer no nunneried prisons for slaves,
Secretly jailored by clerical knaves,
Nor brigands of liberty chaining the mind,
Nor stale superstitions the conscience to bind,
But we stand on this right, self-protection at home,
That we still may be free from the priestcraft of Rome.
Much longer your rinderpest over this land,
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Show popular liking—not loathing instead!
We warn you the heart of the nation beats true,
If tolerant, hating intolerance too,—
If liberal, firmly resolved to put down
Jesuit Anglicans, country or town;
We suffer no nunneried prisons for slaves,
Secretly jailored by clerical knaves,
Nor brigands of liberty chaining the mind,
Nor stale superstitions the conscience to bind,
But we stand on this right, self-protection at home,
That we still may be free from the priestcraft of Rome.
| Fifty of the Protestant Ballads | |