BUY no more, Ladies; buy no more;
Shops were deceivers ever:
One price in season, one before,
And reasonable never.
Then buy not so,
But let them go,
And be you blithe and bonny,
Converting "_Robes, modes, et manteaux_"
Into--"_Pas, si je connais_!"
Bring no more bargains--sales are low,
And bills are dull and heavy;
(The shopmen drew their longest bow
For Summer's rout and _levee_.)
Then buy not so,
But let them "show"
And be you shrewd and bonny,
Converting all their "_Tout ce qu'il faut_"
Into--"_Pas, si je connais_!"
* * * * *
"TEARS, IDLE TEARS!"
PUNCH'S picture, "When the Cat's Away!"
Seems to have effect! The brutal "play"
Of young ruffians, in at least two cases,
Whipping has rewarded. What long faces
TROTTER pulls! With his mild creed it clashes.
Sentiment's eyes are wet--about the _lashes_!
Howling brutes make mollycoddles snivel.
Let the ruffians rail, their champions drivel.
Brutalising to chastise brutality?
'Tis the merest blind sentimentality.
Feeble men and helpless women save
From the roughs, and let the weepers rave!
* * * * *