The Morning herald., 1875-10-26
AT THE OPERA HOUSE.
HOE. !. ". E...LY's Lee ru.E--HE CATHo-
1.-J CHURCH IN THIS CENTURY.

TfS op,ra House was well filled last night
to hear tbs Hon. A. M. Kelly, Mayor of
Richmond. Va, and brother of the Rev.
Mr.. Kelly, Of New Castle, lecture upon the
above subjects. Upon the stage were seated
the Right Rev. Bishop Becker, Mayor
Whitley, Rev. Messrs. Lyons, Reilly,
McGrainc, Kelly, Kelly and many Of the
leading Catholic laymen, among whom we
noticed Messrs. McMennamin, O'Neil,
McClosky, Plunkett, Bradford and O'Byrne.
The lecturer was introduced by Mayor
Whiteley.
The lecture was one of very great ability,
showing accurate and full knowledge Of
history and literature, and after an able
statement of the object, the lecturer pro-
ceeded to say:
"AloAe of all the creeds of christendom,
the Catholic church preserves the name and
memory of that most remarkable institution
of the Old Law, communicated to Moses by
the direct utterance of the Diety, Whereby,
at the end of the seventh sabbath of the year
on the tenth day of the seventh month the
trumpet sounded in all the borders of Israel
the joyful news that the Jubilee had come
that happy year when every wandering
foot sought the family threshold, and all
who had parted with their land, resumed 1t
again without price-when for the space OF
year there was neither sorrowing nor
reaping, seed-time nor harvest, when the
tired earth lay fallow, and the corn filled
not the ear; when the uncultivated fruit of
forest and field withered az it grew, and the
grapes ungathered wasted their purple
splendours on the burdened vine. In that
year, commanded the Lord eye shall pro-
claim liberty throughout the land to all in
habitants thereof" -Four and thirty cen
turies thereafter, bell, with this utterance
of Sinai stamped on its brazen surface, as
still it may be seen, rung out on the pulse
less air of July day, the resolve of the
American colonists to be free, and pro-
claimed as the new formula of State craft
the memorable postulate.
Governments derive their powers from
the consent of the governed, and are insti-
tuted to secure the rights and welfare OF the
people," And never was utterance of man
freighted so full with splendid venture for
the earth, in oil its days and generations"
In sustainment of the claims of the
Church as the friend of equality and liberty
he said:
The church taught this doctrine Of equali-
ty in her sacrament which she has ever ad-
ministered without respect Of persons. She
taught it in her ceremonies as princes and
bent the knee side by side and in
the same spot while the viaticum passed by
albeit convicted felon was to be the recipi-
ent. She taught it by her temples over the
broad sweep of whose marble and pewless
floors, peer and plebians in indistinguisha-
bic was told their beads and whispered in
unison the prayer and praises of Christian
She taught it in her discipline
where Of king and carpenter she exacted
like penalty for sin, like expiation for dis
obedience. She taught it in her orders whose
cowl at once enfranchised the slave and
made him thebro, h her, a. it ent t'td him to be
the ruler Of the princeliest who wore the
habit. She taught it in her universal form
Of government which has been always and
election. And finally she taught
It in the steady unswerving tide of her
earthly policy, where for a thousand years
fierce warfare between the. mightiest mon
archs and an oppressed but resisting people,
she fought the unequal fight of serfs and
subjects and thralls, and in their behalf
braved the wrath aud felt the vengeance Of
every sceptre in Christendom. 1t was the
church that enfranchised the commercial
owns of Germany, the church that inspired
;he wide freedom of the mobiles of Arragon,
he church that wrote England's great
charter for the Barons at Runnymede. "Duo
40 ~ hO1x INT a hnQ rf nf |
he middle ages, "Dxo sunt, jststitid ct Hberto
no Quibx, qsisqxsJ Jadelss, usq~ ad sang''s''sm
tare dsbiaf." There are two things for
which every Christian should stand to the
leath. Justice and Liberty.
The lecture throughout was temperate,
.rgumentative, philosophical, and we'll de-
ivered. We cannot but commend 1t as a
marked improvement, upon the i'll digested,
md frequently pyrotechnic displays, of some
# our Catholic lecturers. An occasional
ecture, such as Mr.. Keily's, would 60
,reat way to create sound public opinion.
The Redpath English Opera Company are
to appear at the Opera House,
n this city, on Thursday evening next.
The Boston Globe characterizes 1t as "The
dusical Hit of the season."
The opera will be presented with full and
orrect costumes, and in all respects, except
h0rus and orchestra, the work will be pre-
ented as upon the Italian or English stage.
The story will be told entirely by music.
everal numbers of the opera, which are .
sually cut, on account of their difficulty,
q the general presentations of the work,
ill be restored; and one quartette placed in
Is original position, which, with single ex-
option, has never been given in this coun- {
~.
A dispatch from Providence, r. l., states
hat the first prize in the short range match {