Fifty of the Protestant Ballads and " The Anti-Ritualistic Directorium, " of Martin F. Tupper ... New; and reprinted |
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EPILOGUE. |
 | Fifty of the Protestant Ballads |  |
115
EPILOGUE.
Must this go on?—shall sneaking monks and nuns
Entice our daughters and entrap our sons,—
With open front Rome's hierarchs proclaim
Titular sees illegally by name,—
And in deep guile these Anglicans be found
Breathing out pestilence on all around,
Till laymen cease to take their clergy's parts,
Suspecting them for papists in their hearts?—
Entice our daughters and entrap our sons,—
With open front Rome's hierarchs proclaim
Titular sees illegally by name,—
And in deep guile these Anglicans be found
Breathing out pestilence on all around,
Till laymen cease to take their clergy's parts,
Suspecting them for papists in their hearts?—
No!—we can tolerate, in these free days,
All sorts of sects in all their whims and ways;
At clerical absurdities can wink,
And watch time's stream to see those bubbles sink:
But, when false doctrine wholesale taints our guides,
Whom England's Church for Englishmen provides,
We tell them,—We will never tamely stand
To let their treason Romanize the Land,—
We warn them, Englishmen will not endure
To find the papist in the parish-cure,—
We dare them to “steal on,”—as Pusey hints,
As Hamilton enjoins, and Bennett prints!
All sorts of sects in all their whims and ways;
At clerical absurdities can wink,
And watch time's stream to see those bubbles sink:
But, when false doctrine wholesale taints our guides,
Whom England's Church for Englishmen provides,
We tell them,—We will never tamely stand
To let their treason Romanize the Land,—
We warn them, Englishmen will not endure
To find the papist in the parish-cure,—
We dare them to “steal on,”—as Pusey hints,
As Hamilton enjoins, and Bennett prints!
For so,—they rue it: England's heart and mind
(Good pulp within, but with a bitter rind)
Though some few fools of fashion may “go o'er,”
Is protestant and wholesome to the core:
They rue it; for they lose their British home,
Going, like Caradoc, in chains to Rome!
(Good pulp within, but with a bitter rind)
Though some few fools of fashion may “go o'er,”
Is protestant and wholesome to the core:
116
Going, like Caradoc, in chains to Rome!
And, dream not my indignant rhymes condemn
All priests and deacons,—or a tithe of them;
Not so!—not all, nor many, nor the most;
Belials are fewest in our Abdiel host!
—Not so! a myriad, more or fewer, teach
Wisely and well, where thousands falsehood preach:
Yet, must the true and faithful men speak out,
Or all may perish in one common rout:
For, well we judge that England's Church and Throne
Protestant, stand together, not alone;
So that, if this go on,—chairs, livings, sees
Shall soon stand vacant,—as the People please;
That by a Second Reformation thus,
We quite expurgate Popery from us,
And help our good great Queen to nominate
Protestant Churchmen to protect Her State!
All priests and deacons,—or a tithe of them;
Not so!—not all, nor many, nor the most;
Belials are fewest in our Abdiel host!
—Not so! a myriad, more or fewer, teach
Wisely and well, where thousands falsehood preach:
Yet, must the true and faithful men speak out,
Or all may perish in one common rout:
For, well we judge that England's Church and Throne
Protestant, stand together, not alone;
So that, if this go on,—chairs, livings, sees
Shall soon stand vacant,—as the People please;
That by a Second Reformation thus,
We quite expurgate Popery from us,
And help our good great Queen to nominate
Protestant Churchmen to protect Her State!
| Fifty of the Protestant Ballads | |