[_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! IV. "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!" CHAPTER XLII. 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! It is the abode of peace, gentleness, and kindly pleasure (or at any rate it was so when the Club was there). Every stone in its pavement has a charm. Other cities may please; Florence alone can win enduring love. It is one of the very few which a man can select as a permanent home, and never repent of his decision. In fact, it is probably the only city on earth which a stranger can live in and make for himself a true home, so pleasant as to make desire for any other simply impossible. [Illustration: Florence From San Miniato.]