THE POPE'S LATEST POEM.

New Zealand Tablet, Volume XXVI, Issue 2, 13 May 1898, Page 31

THE POPE'S LATEST POEM.

LEO'S LAST BREATHINGS TO GOD AND THE VIRGIN MOTHER. One last ray, Leo, sheds thy sun And pallid sets, its course now run, As murky night descends ; Descends on thee, whose torpid blood Can withered veins no longer flood ; Thy body fails, life ends. The fatal dart by death is thrown ; Sad cerements and chilly stone Thy resting ashes keep. But tree, now free, its fetters burst, Thy soul escapes, in eager thirst, To mount the empyrean steep ; Its flight it thither wings ; and grant O clement God ; it may not pant For that longed end in vain. May I reach Heaven 1 By gift supreme May I enjoy the Godhead's beam, His Face for aye attain. And thee, O Virgin, may I see ; A child, O Mother, loved I thee — Now old, I love thee more, Receive me home ; and 'mong the bk&t My guerdon shall I hold confessed A fruit thy service bore.

British landlords are said to own 20,000,000 acres of land in the United States, an area larger than that of Ireland. An arrangement to raise and lower oar windows without trouble has been patented for the benefit of long-suffering travellers. Com - pressed air from the engine or elsewhere does most of the work. All the passenger has to do is to press the button. France buys her horses two or three years before she intends using thetr, and has about three million houses for the use of her soldiers. Germany has three and three-quarter millions, Russia nineteen and a-half, while we have a little over two millions. Four hundred years ago only seven metals were known. Now there are 51, 30 of which have been discovered during the present century. The number of suicides throughout the world is 180.000 yearly, and is on the increase. The greatest number happen in June, the fewest in September ; and nearly one-half between 6 a.m. and noon. The Japanese are kind to animals, and hold them in honour. Among the monuments erected to commemorate the war in China is one to the horses that fell during the war. Mr. T. Lundon, Phoenix Chambers, Wanganui, is still busy putting people on the soil. He has also hotels in town and country For Sale and To Lease. Write to him.— [Advt.]