But jobbers are reckless and taxpayers soft
And we sailors are taken aback,
Though we know “there’s a Providence sits up aloft”
To keep watch for the life of Poor Jack.
Just hear Lyon Playfair palaver away
About ironclads, ordnance, and such.
By Jingo! what Science has done in our day!
But it hasn’t been proved very much.
Those huge iron monsters may founder, d’ye see?
And those great guns may burst, don’t you know?