The Saint Paul globe. (St. Paul, Minn.) 1896-1905, 1899-06-22

the Catholic Church and It's Paro-
chiaI Schools as Factor I'm
American Education Instead of
an Enemy to the Cause of
Learning.
Higher educatin was the keynote of the
address of Thomas D. O'Brien, delivered
| last evening before large audience at
the Grand opera house upon the occasion
of the annual closing exercises Of the
cathedral schools
The programme consisted of essays,
drills, songs and recitations by the
school boys and girls, and in conclusion
the presentation of diplomas by Rev.
Father Lawler. The following received
school honors: John ]. Boyle John H.
Donahue, Henry A. McAuley, j. Henry
Brady, Joseph A. Westminster, John p
| Cleary, George w. Mcclure, Stephen L.
| O'Brien, Charles E. Villaume, Joseph w
| Crosby and Miss A. Hagggerty.
| In his address to the graduates Mr.
| O'Brien said:
| or the many subjects which have claim
| ed the attention of the American people
none 3, mas mas received a greater share than
education. 1t was one Of the four prin-
| cipal means proposed by Thomas Jeffer-
/ son to insure the perpetuation of q re-
publican form of government, and the
| fact is so apparent that in a government
| by the people the individual citizen must
be enlightened If we wish to have the
| legitimate end of government attained,
| that In nothing is the state SO lavish as
| In its expenditures for public education.
| TO bring education within the reach of
| all is the desire of every American heart
| therefore every citizen or class Of citi-
zens who take steps toward this end are
| acting directly in aid Of the spirit as well
| as the letter of the American constitu-
ton.
| We Catholics hold with the rest of the
| citizens Of America that 1t is the duty of
! the state to provide the means which en-
ables every child under Its protection to
| be educated, at least in the primary
branches of knowledge And we believe
United States parents SO lost to their
| sense of duty as not to realize the neces-
| sity Of SO educating the child that COM
pulsory laws to attain that result are both
pray for the perpetuation and increased
perfection Of the public school system OF
| America. If the American people are not
| the best educated people of the world
| they should be, for to no people on earth
| is education so necessary.
The fact, however, that the sluggish
/ conscience of the state has been awak-
ened to this great necessity is no reason
why the church should, II she could,
| abandon her divine mission to teach; and
so we have the inspiring spectacle of
Catholic educational institutions, COM
plete In equipment and brilliant in
achievements, keeping pace, under the
| fostering care of the church, with the
| best institutions Of like character in ev-
| cry part of the civilized world.
| The ignorant and malicious have often
claimed that the Catholic church oppos-
| ed the education Of the masses. How
| idle this charge seems to us this even
ing. standing in the presence of the or
der of Christian Brothers, these trained
| soldiers of education, whose organization
is of ancient origin, and who have one
and all relinquished almost everything
that men hold dear in order that they
might concentrate all the energies of
mind and heart given them by the Gre
ator upon the accomplishment of their
| ideal, to bring education within the
! reach of ALL. And when we consider
| how small proportion they constitute
of the great array of teaching. orders in
the Catholic church, whose history IS
| almost co-eval with Christianity, and
who derive their inspiration from the
precepts and teachings of the church, we
I feel that we can well afford to ignore
the charge.
The programme was opened whit a
song of greeting by a chorus Of sixty
voices, led by John Regain. Miss Helen
welcome. The girls choir, consisting of
forty little folks clad in white, sang
| catchy sea song, followed by a recitation
entitled THE Pilot" by Irwin Peil.
Fifty lisping little tots gave very
| pretty selection and marhc.
| JOHii IbOSdH dllu Alice MCCARTHY oS-
sayed the parts of Reuben and Rachael,
and sang with clear, youthful voices
Reuben, Reuben, I've Been Thinking
Both were costumed after the Quaker
| pattern, and received a hearty encore
from the audience.
Ten little girls gave a short dialogue,
Troubles Of the Little Folks after the
chatterbox fashion, bringing out some
| bright and original sayings.
One of the prettiest pieces staged was
a woodland scene with score of Gypsy
maidens singing Come With the Gypsy
Bride
A well executed march was gone
through, accompanied with a pretty May
song, by sixteen little girls, followed by
| a recitation by Frank Gehan, 1.-The Fate
of Virginia
/ A one-act comedy, 'Knaves and
Fools furnished a great deal of amuse-
ment for the audience, and vehicle for
1 ridiculous situations The following took
| part: Frank Willersche, Edward Henry,
Stenphen O'Brien, William Reiland
George Mcclure, Mark Dalglish, John
| Donahue, Joseph Gruber, James Cahill.
Misses Mcmahon and Kegan executed
a piano duet, "Star-Spangled Banner"
in way which won applause Another
| lullaby was given by the junior girls
The class exercise 1.-The Ship of State,'
| was given by sixteen young women, who
marched slowly to the piano and sang
some appropriate verse. Those partici-
pating were Misses Hagerty, Shaugh-
messy, Lymbach, Loney, Grady, O'Neill,
| McQuade O'Brien, Supple, Deiber Page,
1 Klien, Allie Feckey, Erren, Mccarthy
and Marker.
Voices of Nature" an operetta, in
which nearly 100 children took part, was
well received. half hundred little girls
| dressed In costumes representing bees
! sang pretty little ditty, and another
set came on the stage representing birds,
and a half dozen boys dressed UP as
frogs completed the stage picture The
scene concluded with chorus of all the
voices The following took speaking
parts in the dialogue: Miss E. Grady, A
| Leindeeker, X. Quirk Miss M Boyle, G.
| Kneeland, G. Gehan, M. Miller, D. Grace.
J. Cormicon, c. Mcmahon. J. Grace, L.
| Charbonneau, c. Erren.
| Miss Haggerty delivered the valedic-