Genre:

Poetry, Drollery

Subjects:

Astronomy, Religious Authority, Politics, Imperialism, Superstition

    Notes that Pope Pius IX urged his audience to pray that 'the stone will fall' and 'overthrow that Colossus'. Punch thinks the Pope meant to pray that 'an aerolite [...] may the German Empire smite'. Notes that the 'Pope's Bull [...] Is against a Comet unerring' and so 'an Asteroid 't will compel / To pound you dead as a herring'. Warns Prince Otto E L von Bismarck about the appearance of shooting stars and meteors.