The Express.
London, England, 1864-12-29 00:00:00

DER MAJESTY'S THEATRE

The Christmas pantomime, The Lion and the
Unicorn, of which we gave some account among the
Boxing-night entertainments, wu preceded last night by a
onisact operetta, called Ptioci,;oeflo, the words by Henry
Farnie, the music by W. C. Levy. It was—ss a thing in•
Waded to serve the purpose of a lercr sic richao, a
prelude to the piece de mete/once of the evening.
ought to be • lively bagatelle, a bit of buf-
foonery, without anything that can be called plot or
story. The characters are, • showman, who exhibits
Peach in the Champs Etym.:es (Mr. Rowe); • ridiculous old
Marquis of the rielle soar (Mr. Homey); a dashing eons-
lieutenant of foot (Mr. Swift); the Marquis's daughter
(Miss Susan Galtoul ; and a tc,,,,rote (Miss Cottrell).
These personages are mixed up in • aeries of fanfold scenes,
ending with the union of the gallant militaire with the
Marquis's daughter. The music is in good keeping with the
subject. It has no pretension to originality, but is Stunt,
familiar, and agreeable. The piece was well performed,
weal off with considerable spirit, and was favourably re-
ceived. But it would have succeeded better bad it been
shorter, for it was too long aed requires much curtadroeat.
dooonliog to the bills it was to begin at seven, sod the pan.
tomime at eight. But the pantomime did not begin till
put nine. When it coded we know not; but it must have
been an hour too late to snit the views of papas and mam-
mas who take their juveniles to enjoy the entertainments
of Christman. If any abridgment is made it might
be does with advantage in the concerted music,
of which there is too much, and some of it
certainly would not be missed. The beet portions of
the music are those which may be transferred to the dam-
her ; a pretty ballad al • sentimental cut, " Coo, says the
'ogle dove,' very sweetly sung by Mum Gann, and de-
servedly encored ; • duet, "Highborn beauty," sung by
Mien Gahm and Mr. Swift ; and a dashing military song,
" Hurrah for the Bombardier," sung by Mr. Swift with a
chorus. AU these merit popularity, and an likely to
obtain it. The orchestra, which was reduced to a skeleton,
the principal performers being absent, was 000 ducted by
the composer. Thou who were present did their duty
zealously, and the effect was better than might have been
expected.

A ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP ON THE

PAPACY.

On Tuesday night, the Very Rey. Dr. Lila-
thorn., lornan catholic Lisbop of Birmingham, presided at
• reunion of the lloman catholics of Wolverhampton, in the
Corn Exchange. The meeting was numerously attended.
Dr. LlWhores spoke at some length is opening the pro-
ceedirma He said they were not assembled to make speeches
but to speed a social Christmas evening. To him, who had
presided over them as their chief pastor for sixteen years,
it was a source of great pleasure to meet the two co
Moos in Wolverhampton maiimbled wider one roof. Wit
a beautiful expression of union betweeu the people and
their pastors. He would take a retrospect of the history
of ceboliciem is Wolverbamptoo iu the past enema years.
He looked beck to the time when they had their one and
venerable chapel in Northetreet, which be still rejoiced to
see rums vigorous and more beautiful ; sad, he might almost
venture to say, better served than ever. (Applause.) Ha
went back to the time when they bad the one school adjoining
the chapel. In these two institutions he found what wee
the whohicircle of the material exprosioa of the catholic
religion and education as it at one time existed in Wolves.
Imuipton. He then tamed his eyes, and he saw St. Patrick's
Schools admirably served and taught by those religious
ladles who had coutributed so much to advance the religious
interests of the catholic, of that town. From the very fact
that they were absent, and were represented that night only
by their spiritual father sod prelate, he could not pass over
their devotion to the education, the religious edification, and
to the religious adornment of the Roman catholic popula-
tion of that great town. He would then pass on to Snow.
hill, where he saw the beautiful church of St. Peter sod
Paul, and the large schools uear to it—the memorial of the
seal, the devotedness. sad the charity of the Rev. Canon
Moore. Wherever he turned he saw that whatever existed in
Wolverhampton was in a most gratifying condition. But •
bishop was an overseer—one whose office it yes to look around
and see what was wanted to be dom. The very rev. chair-
man then drew atmatiou to the necessity that existed for •
third church io Wolverhampton, erected on the laud al-
ready purchased as a site in Stafford-street He spoke of
the constant applications which the Reeds. Messrs. Kelly
and Duckett were making to him to send a priest for that
part of the town, and he promised that so soon as the
catholic, of Wolverhampton would themselves begin to
move in the matter in earnest, he would comply with the
request. The promise received the loud applause of the
meeting, which became even louder when Dr. I.Tilathorne
offered to give 1001. towards the huddled fund. Mr.
Kelly, Mr. Duckett, and another of the catholic
pastor, of NVolverbampton their spoke, and the
very reverend chairman, in responding to a vote of
thanks which was passed to him amidst great enthusiasm,
referred to similar demonstrations with which the name of
his Holiness Pope Pius IX. was rewired, and expressed the
very great gratiticatioa that such applause afforded to him.
ne lt. Perhaps, be said, he felt this the more because of all
the persons then within those walls, be probably knew
more ,f the heart of that roan. He was • man at whom
people at a &stenos marvelled and wondered. He was •
man of entire benevolence, but he would apply to him
another expression, and say that he was a man of super-
natural good will to all mea—(load applause)—a man full
of the spirit of God—a man whose every hour, he might
lay every minute, was meet between God and the service
of the people of God—a man who, when he was not
praying to God for them, was almost always
toiling in solitude, or in conocil, for the welfare of the
universal church of God. iLond applause.) There
Dever was al man yeti who approached him—and he
had known many from different countries, occupying the
highest positions, and ettodiog nearest to the throne itself—
who ever approached him without, when he left his pre-
sence, feeling that he bad been in the presence of a being
who was not like the rest of men, but a nos whose heart
was overflowing with love to all mankind. (Loud applause.)
Such was the man who, above all other men, was set up as
• sign and a mark for the criticism of others. The Pope was
a era who be firmly believed was raised up by
God especially to carry the church through one
of the greatest crises it had ever gone through—
* crisis which would be marked in the annals of the church
as not • period when she was thrown ioto °futurity ;
not when the church was corning to an rod, was
sinking and sinking ; but when it was rising higher ill its
splendour, and forcing itself by its own vitality more and
more widely over the surfesse of the earth, mob more and
more deeply into the hearts of the people—flood applause)
—and yet it was Wag said by be enemies that she was
slaking into obscurity. wee dying out, and was like an
ostrich deer Mg to bide her head in the nod. But let any oho
go to Rome and they would rind the Pope, and those about
him, solaciog themselves in the midst of the oppressive
laboanewhich weighed them dews' with the knowledge of the
fast that the church wee becoming more and mom widely •
blades to the universe. The choir tbea performed • pro-
gramme of musks with great ability, and a pleasant evening
was spent.—Birminyham Post.