The Express.
London, England, 1868-07-08 00:00:00

TUPPER'S PROTESTANT BALLADS.

Ma. TUPPER is the most enterprising as well as
prolific of poets. There is not a theme which he
shrinks from treating. His muse is equally at
home when teaching philosophy in proverbs and
when rewriting " Rule Britannia." Every sub-
ject is clothed by him in verses such as he alone
can write. In his own line he is without a rival,
and may defy competition. His last effusions are
as remarkable as any that have preceded them,
being marked by the same monotonous character-
istics. They have appeared in the Bock, a Church
newspaper which vies with the Record in its parade
of Protestantism and its use of strong language.
We are told that " they were composed and are
" issued under the conscientious impression that,
" at this crisis of our church and our faith, every
" Protestant is bound to do his best on behalf of
" GOD and his country." It is difficult to per-
ceive in what way these " Protestant Ballads"
will benefit Mr. Turrita's cause and country.
However, if he have done his best, we cannot
blame him. A small contribution should not be
rejected, and it is possible that Mr. TUPPER may
aid in suppressing Ritualism and Romanis' in, and
maintaining, with all its injustice and abuses, the
Church in Ireland. Many are en,gaged in the like tasks
whose good sense and intellectual powers are on a
par with his. The chief drawback to his influence
is the difficulty of understanding what he wants.
He contradicts himself in the most amusing way.
Thus, having written in one ballad--

We grant, as we ask, equal rights as we ought,
Free press and tree worship, tree speech, and free thought,
In another we find such serious limitations to this
freedom of inquiry as to make it appear as if the
only truths Mr. TOPPKR, wishes people to learn
freely are those wherein he himself believes. For
instance, in a ballad upholding the Protestant
claim for every man to exercise his private judg-
ment, he makes the qualification that no rational
Protestant will

—dare to denounce or despise
The truths ever held by the good and the wise.
Yee! just private judgment, our duty and right,
Must be led by man's teaching and lit by God's light;
Undazzled by glitter the fanatic needs,
Undimmed by the dark of heretical creeds.

If it were necessary, we could demonstrate that
the charity of Mr. TUPPER is es feeble as his poetry
is mediocre. Controversialists of his stamp differ
from the bigoted Boman Catholic priest in this only,
that the former believes in his own infallibility,
and the latter in the infallibility of the Porz. 'We
cannot, however, part from Mr. TUPPER without
thanking him for having shown that it is possible
to add stanzas to our National Anthem even more
devoid of poetry than those which Britons sing
on account of their patriotic sentiments. The fol-
lowing are the additional stanzas which he pro-
poses to add to " God Save the Queen :"

May she our Church secure
Protestant plain and pure,
As it bath beau ;

So shall our State still be
Free-est among the free,
Shouting from sea to sea
God Sara the Queen.
For on whatever shore
Henceforth as heretofore
Our Sag is seen,

Then shall this psalm be sung
By every heart and tongue,
Rich and poor, old and young,
God Save the Queen.