The morning star and Catholic messenger. [volume] (New Orleans [La.]) 1868-1881, 1873-06-15

say at the middle without having notices that
likely to 90 on fox aV while without suspeoting
| it to be any thing else but speech of the coun-
sci for the plaintiff. 1t was not only that the
judge made the character OF Father Okeete
theme of praise, but he directed o regular fu-
| silade of petty sneers against the rules and
practices of the Catholic Church and the emil
| nent ecclesiastics of that Church who had ap-
peared before him. He said that the Canon
| Law of the Church was law that would not
| be accepted by any free people. In fact, he
| went into the case in the old spirit of Protest,
ant ascendancy, and trampied on all judicial
propriety. At the conclusion he took upon
himself, as have already recorded, to decide
the whole case for the jury, except so far the
assessment of the damages was concerned.
take into his hands, and it being left in those
of the jury, was performed in q very sig
nifcant manner. Ordered. almost threat
ened to find that Father OKeeffe had been Ii
they were free to fix the amount of compensa-
ton to be awarded to that gentleman, end
they unanimously fixed upon the smallest
coin of the realm as adequate compensation. No
honest man could have given more to one who
acted rs have described who in the witness
chair repeated an old and awful charge
against his late Bishop-that he had spent q
life of traffic in the sacramento, and was not
able to support the charge by any other fact
than that the bishop Us q priest and as bishop
had been in the habit of making charge for
dren-thipgs for which money is paid every
week in every diocese in Ireland without any
discredit attaching therefor to any enc; who
made such awful charges against his curates
as that they were drunk while Offering the
Holy Sacrifice of the mass who sneered and
laughed at and ridiculed incessantly all &C.
clesiastical authority. Nobody with a con-
science could have given him anything at all;
and the jury being obliged by Whiteside to
give hin, something, gave him what is equiv
alent to nothing.
And now if Whiteside's law be good law,
have to tell you that the free exercise OF the
Catholic religion in this county is, uotwth-
standing the Emancipation Act and all the 9TH
or measures passed in modern times to remove
the law Of the Empire Whiteside told the
jury that the Cardinals defences all rested on
the Papal rescript authorizing his Eminepce
to try the OKeeffe case, that the rescript was
ton founded on it was also illegal. Well. I
need not say here that His Holiness the Pope,
governs directly the Church in this country.
n s spiritual jarisdiction is admitted here and
by Papal bull. Is then every act performed
by our bishops as bishops illegalf Has ev-
cry parish priest right, if he rebels against
to the Queens Courts and recover compensa-
fionf Judge Whiteside answers in the AFR
NATIVE.
But it is more than likely that Judge White
sides law is not a good law. The verdict
Jnst obtained by him, will he contested i'm.
mediately before the full Court of Queens
Bench on two grounds-frst, that Whiteside
has no right to direct the jury at all !; and Sec
ondly, that he directed them contrary to law
in Hat contradiction to the recent decision
OF the Queens Bench of which gave You
fnl! account in a recent letter. and which he,
although he dissented from it, was for the
time bound to defer to and obey.
must now conclude this letter with one or
two additional unconnected remarks. The
Cardinals evidence and his demeanor in the
Cd
much in his Eminences favor. The court was
crowded during the fourteen days taial to
sufocation. The London Times has pronounc-
ed that Whiteside's law was wrong. The
friends of Father O'Keefe in Parliament have
succeeded IN adding two persons of their own
choosing to the Callen School Committee, 80
that that body has now a majority disposed to
ma NM against the National Board. The Tyrone
Election Petition has been withdrawn in view
OF the near prospect of dissol ution of Parlia-
m nnta although a scrutiny of the rejected
berthe landlord candidate was actually in a
minority Of two. J.J. C.