CARDINAL MCCLOSKEY, ARCHBISHOP OF NEW YORK. N On the death of Archbishop Hughes in 1864, Bishop McCloskey of Albany was elevated to the metropolitan See. His long and happy episcopate teems with the most solid fruits of religious growth, which, though quieter in their development, (being the natural outcome of a perfect ecclesiastical organization) than the more splendid missionary achievements of earlier prelates, nevertheless present a striking and instructive view of the immense good that can be wrought in a community where religious discipline has taken firm root, and where the guidance of popular effort is in the hands of a wise, enterprising and persevering bishop. John McCloskey was born in Brooklyn in 1810, of Irish parents. His early aspirations to the priesthood were fostered by the venerable Bishop Connolly, the first resident Bishop of New York, and by the famous Dr. Power, the brightest ornament of the first clergy of the metropolis. His ecclesiastical studies were made at Mount St. Mary's, and he was ordained priest in 1834. Bishop Dubois then sent him to Rome to complete his studies in the Propaganda. He set out for the Holy City just as Dr. Spalding was returning therefrom, and made his studies under Cardinal Cullen, who had also been Spalding's professor. After two years of study he returned to New York and became pastor of St. Joseph's Church. When the first seminary and Catholic college in the State were founded by Bishop Hughes in 1841, Father McCloskey was appointed as president of both institutions. Bishop Hughes, whose power of discerning fitness in his subordinates was unrivalled, recognized him from the first as of superior merit, and when he required an assistant in the care of his vast diocese, this learned and pious priest was chosen for the position. He was consecrated coadjutor Bishop of New York in 1814. Three years afterwards the See of Albany was created, and Bishop McCloskey was transferred to the new diocese. The results of his earnest and thorough administration are seen in the magnificent cathedral he erected in Albany, in the numerous fine churches, schools and academies, hospitals and asylums, which sprang up in the diocese; in the dissipation of sectarian prejudices, and in the increase of Catholic devotion and attendance at the divine service. No words can better express his character and that of his work, than those employed in the addresses which the Governor of the State and the citizens of Albany, without distinction of faith, presented to him on the occasion of his departure from the Capital to take charge of the archdiocese. “It is for us," said they, "to recognize the successful mission of one whose influence in society has been exerted to soothe, to tranquillize, to elevate, and instruct.” There could be no more difficult task imposed upon any bishop than to be an adequate successor to the great Hughes, and gifted must he have been who could take up that prelate's gigantic work and not suffer it to lapse. What praise then can be too high for that meek and retiring bishop who has not only sustained the organization bequeathed by his predecessor, but with quiet energy has kept pace with the unprecedented growth of the Catholic population of New York, ever watchful to seize upon any new vantage ground for the spread of the Church; ever planning himself, or encouraging his devoted clergy in their plans for new parishes, schools and charitable institutions. When it is considered that in the metropolitan district, which is governed by the archbishop and his two suffragans of Brooklyn and Newark, there are nearly one million Catholics, and that this population is not a stationary one, but is being continually increased by native birth and foreign immigration, a faint idea may be had of the unceasing labor and watchfulness entailed upon those whose duty it is to provide for the spiritual- and in a measure the temporal - wants of so many souls. Of course the direction of such a vast community is beyond the power of any one man; and in the administration of his own diocese the Cardinal has had the assistance of as devoted and learned a body of clergy as there are in the world. Yet it is no detraction of their labors to say that a great part of the advantages the Catholics of New York enjoy their numerous and beautiful churches, their parochial schools, the asylums for the old, the sick, and the orphan, their academies and colleges, the great number of benevolent, literary and religious associations — is owing to "the steady, silent, but efficient action of him who is at the helm." "He is the beacon light to which all look for guidance, — the wise counsellor to be consulted on every important undertaking on the part of the faithful. The magnificent cathedral of St. Patrick, the grandest temple of religion in the New World, erected by him on the foundations laid by the immortal Hughes, is a fitting type of the - manner in which he has carried out to completion all the beginnings made by that ecclesiastical genius. The high honor which the Holy See conferred upon him in 1875, in bestowing the Cardinal's hat, was therefore not only an acknowledgement of the ecclesiastical importance of the vast Catholic community of New York, it was also a reward of the long and successful labors, the personal worth and piety of the recipient. - With this short notice of the career of Cardinal McCloskey, we bring this sketch of Catholic progress to a close. His episcopate presents the fruition of that marvellous growth which we have traced from its humble beginnings in the Maryland colony. When Cardinal McCloskey was born, in 1810, there were scarcely 150,000 Catholics in the United States. Now they number ten millions. At that time there were but four bishops; to-day there are eleven metropolitan and fifty-four suffragan Sees. From seventy priests, the number has multiplied to over five thousand; and there are now over six thousand churches and stations, where there were then but eighty. But it is not alone in figures like these that we can reckon the work of the Church in the past century. These material statistics present but one view of her growth, that which was typified in the parable of the mustard seed, — the external growth. There is another growth of the "kingdom of heaven," that of the leaven, which is internal and spiritual—which represents the work of the Holy Spirit in the regeneration of society, which is the conservative influence in the history of modern nations. And who can estimate that form of the Church's influence in the Republic? Who can set down in figures the immense silent influence of Catholic teaching and example upon the society, upon the public life and sentiment, upon the laws, upon the literature, upon the whole future of this young Republic? Who can tell but that in return for the asylum and the welcome which the spouse of Christ has, through her Catholic Columbus, given this young nation, she may yet be invited still farther to favor this people by saving it from social disintegration, the offspring of modern infidelity? No Catholic who loves his country, and who sees in his Church the preserver of society, should fail to use every means in his power to extend her influence amongst his fellow-citizens. This help should not be confined to good wishes only, it should be practical. God has promised success to his Church, but he expects our co-operation. And to you, young Catholic Americans, what shall we say? Unite your love of faith with your love of country, and strive now to learn and practise the teachings of the Mother Church, so that by word and example you may hereafter spread her salutary influence. You will then be true missionaries and true patriots. COMPOSITION. Write the passage: "And to you, young Catholic.... patriots" in four ways, changing nouns in first, verbs in second, adjectives in third, and these three parts of speech in fourth. bequeathed regeneration patriots |