"War is a wonderful science, Mars was its patron, I'm told, How did he used to accoutre Armies in battles of old? With casque, and with sling, and with shield, With bow-string and breastplate together; Thus, in the ages of old, War was begun out of--LEATHER!
[_Chorus_.] "Then Leather! sing Leather! my lads! Mars and his weapons of Leather!!! Of all the things under the sun, Hurrah! there is nothing like _Leather_!
[_Extra Chorus_.] "Then Rub a dub, dub! Rub a dub, dub! Rub a dub, dub!!! say we!
"Love is a pleasing emotion, All of us know it by heart; Whence, can you tell me, arises Love's overpowering smart? Tipped with an adamant barb, Gracefully tufted with feather, Love's irresistible dart Comes from a quiver of--LEATHER!
[_Chorus_.] "Then Leather! sing Leather, my lads! Darts! and Distraction!! and Leather!!! Of all the things under the sun, Hurrah! there is nothing like _Leather_!
[_Extra Chorus_.] "Then Rub a dub, dub! Rub a dub, dub! Rub a dub, dub!!! say we!
"Orators wrote out their speeches, Poets their verses recited, Statesmen promulgated edicts, Sages their maxims indited. Parchment, my lads, was the article All used to write on together; Thus the Republic of Letters Sprang into life out of--LEATHER!
[_Chorus_.] "Then Leather! sing Leather, my lads! Poetry! Science!! and Leather!!! Of all the things under the sun, Hurrah! there is nothing like _Leather_!
[_Extra Chorus_.] "Then Rub a dub, dub! Rub a dub, dub! Rub a dub, dub!!! say we!"
FLORENCE.--DESPERATION OF BUTTONS, OF MR. FIGGS, AND OF THE DOCTOR.
Florence, the fair!--Certainly it is the fairest of cities. Beautiful for situation; the joy of the whole earth! It has a beauty that grows upon the heart. The Arno is the sweetest of rivers, its valley the loveliest of vales; luxuriant meadows; rich vineyards; groves of olive, of orange, and of chestnut; forests of cypress; long lines of mulberry; the dark purple of the distant Apennines; innumerable white villas peeping through the surrounding groves; the mysterious haze of the sunset, which throws a softer charm over the scene; the magnificent cattle; the fine horses; the bewitching girls, with their broad hats of Tuscan straw; the city itself, with its gloomy old palaces, iron-grated and massive walled, from the ancient holds of street-fighting nobles, long since passed away, to the severe Etruscan majesty of the Pitti Palace; behold Florence!