Martin F Tupper

Martin F Tupper was an English writer, poet, and author of Proverbial Philosophy.   Tupper's humane instincts prompted him to espouse many reforming movements; he was an early supporter of the Student Volunteer Movement, and did much to promote good relations between Britain and America. He tried to encourage African literature and was also a mechanical inventor in a small way. Critic Kwame Anthony Appiah, however, has used a quote from Martin Tupper's ballad "The Anglo-Saxon Race" 1850 as an example of the predominant understanding of "race" in the nineteenth century. Tupper's ballad appeared in the journal The Anglo-Saxon containing the lines: "Break forth and spread over every place/The world is a world for the Anglo Saxon race!"

At the end of his life he vanished into obscurity and nowadays his work is forgotten.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Martin_Farquhar_Tupper

Some excerpts from Proverbial Philosophy:

"The choicest pleasures of life lie within the ring of moderation."

Contend not in wisdom with a fool, for thy sense maketh much of his conceit;

And some errors never would have thriven, had it not been for learned refutation.

http://www.notable-quotes.com/t/tupper_martin_farquhar.html

This guy would have been a really successful fortune cookie adviser or whatever they're called.  I couldn't really find anything substantial or comprehensive about Martin on the internet.  However, I did come across some of his poetry and it reflects some of the same elements that Whitman utilizes in Leaves of Grass.  For example, free verse is incorporated and is a major theme/idea of the poem is centered around the proverb, which, generally speaking, is wisdom.  Proverbs are found all over the world in different cultures and religious writings.