NEW YORK
34
NEW YORK
Bishop Huglies was consecratpd on 9 February, 1838.
A stroke of paralysis attacked the venerable liishop
Dubois almost iiiinieiliately aflerwanls. and he was an
invalid until his death on 20 December, IS 12, where-
upon he was sueceedeil by his coadjutor as Bishop of
New York. In April, 1847, the Sees of Albany and
Buffalo were created. Bishop .John McCloskey {q.
v.), afterwards the first American cardinal, who was
then Coadjutor Bishop of New York, was transferred
to Albany, and Reverend John Timon, Superior of I lie
Congregation of the Mission, was made Bishop of
BufTalo. In October, 18.50, the Diocese of New York
was erected into an archiepiscopal see with the Sees of
Boston, Hartford, Albany, and Buffalo as its suffra-
gans. Archbishop Hughes sailed for Rome in the
following nioiilh, and received the pallium from the
hands of Pius IX hinisi<lf.
The career of .Yrchbishop Hughes and the history of his archdiocese and its sufTragan sees are fully treated under their appropriate titles, and need not be discussed here. The life of Archbishop Hughes marked the great formative period in the history of the pioneer Church in New York. His great work in the cause of education, in the establishment of the paro- chial schools, the establishment of the great teaching and other religious orders, and the erection of semi- naries and colleges for the training of candidates for the priesthood, as well as in the solution of the tremen- dous problems connected with the building up of the churches and charities and the preservation of the Faith, had a profound effect upon the attitude of the State of N('w York towards religious institutions and persons and ecclesiastical affairs. The Knownothing movement of the fifties (see Knownothingism) was profoundly felt in New York, but the number and im- portance of the Catholic population protected them from the cowardly assaults made upon the Catholics in other places. The presence of Archbishop Hughes was ever a tower of strength in the conflict and in pro- ducing the overwhelming defeat which this un-Amer- ican movement met. The only effect of this sectarian agitation upon the legislation of the State was the passage in 18.').5 of a plainly unconstitutional statute which sought to prevent Catholic bishops from hold- ing title to property in trust for churches or congre- gations. It proved of no avail whatever. In 1862, after the Civil War began, it was quietly repealed.
In 1853 the Dioceses of Brooklyn in New York and of Newark in New Jersey were established, the first Bishop of Brooklyn being Reverend John Loughlin and the first Bishop of Newark Reverend James Roosevelt Bayley (q. v.), who later became Arch- bishop of Baltimore. In 18fi8 the Diocese of Roches- ter was separated from Albany, and the venerable and beloved apostle of Catholicism in north-western New York, Bishop Bernard J. McQuaid (q. v.), appointed its first bishop.
In 1872 the Diocese of Ogdensburg was created, and in November, 1886, the youngest diocese of the State, Syracuse. It is unnecessary to sketch further here the history of Catholicism in New Y'ork State during the incumbency of the archiepiscopal office by Cardinal McCloskey, Archbishop Hughes's successor, and that of his successor Archbishop Corrigan, or of his Grace, John M. Farley, its present archbishop. It is sufficient to record the continual progress in the ad- vancement of Catholic interests, in the building up of the Church, and in adjusting its activities to the needs of the people.
Distinguished Catholics. — The Catholics of New York State have produced their full proportion of per- sons of distinction in the professions, commercial, political, and social life. Of the ninety-seven justices who now sit in the Supreme Court seventeen are of the Catholic faith. Among the justices of the lower courts are many Catholics. Since 1880 three mayors of New York City (Messrs. Grace, Grant, and Gilroy)
have been Catholics. Francis Kernan was United
States Senator for New York from 1876-82. Denis
O'Brien closed a distinguished career as Judge of
the Court of Appeals, the court of last resort, by his
retirement for age in 1908 after a continuous service
of eighteen years. The first Catholic Justice of the
Su])reme Court was .John R. Brady, elected in 1859,
and loyal sons of the Church have been on that bench
ever since. Mayors of the great cities of the State,
sen.-itoi-s, a.sscmblyman. State officers and represen-
tatives in Congress, and a multitude of other public
officers have been chosen from the Cithcilic citizen-
ship ever since the beginning of the niiicdi'iilh cen-
tury and have rendered distingui.shed seixicc to the
State. For many years the two brilliant leaders of the
New York Bar weie Charles O'Conor and James T.
Brady, sons of Irish Catholic emigrants. In medi-
cine Gunning S. Bedford and Thomas Addis Kmmet
kept for many years the Catholic name at the top of
the profession, and they have now worthy successors.
In.tlie great public works and industries of the State
Catholics have had more than their share of the labour
and its rewards. In the commercial life of New Y'ork
some of the largest fortunes have been honourably
gathered by Catholic men, who have been most gen-
erous to the religious and charitable works of the
State.
Legal. — The State of New York has a constitu- tional government. It was the model of that of the United States of America. The union of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches of government under a written constitution is its principle. Its execu- tive head is the governor. The legislature has two houses, t he Sen.'ite and Assembly, which meet annually at ;\ll)any, the State capital. Its courts are composed princiijally of a Court of Appeals (the highest court) and the Supreme Court, which is divided into four Appellate Divisions, and numerous courts of first instance, divided into districts throughout the State. There are many minor and local courts supplementing the Supreme Court.
The State of New Y'ork has always been foremost in the pursuit of freedom of worship and religious toler- ation. It is true, however, that her first Constitution in 1777 excluded all priests and ministers of the Gospel from her legislature and offices, and put a prohibitory religious test upon foreign-born Catholics who applied for citizenship. Herein we find an echo of the bitter in- tolerance of the eighteenth century, which was strongly opposed in the Convention. The naturalization dis- ability disappeared very soon on the adoption of the Federal Constitution in 1789, and, by .subsequent constitutional amendments, all these remnants of an- cient bigotry were formally abolished. It is remark- able to find John Jay, otherwise most earnest in the fight for civil liberty, the leader in the.se efforts to impose religious tests and restraints of liberty of conscience upon his Catholic fellow-citizens. This Constitution, nevertheless, proclaimed general religious liberty in unmistakable terms. The provision is as follows: "The free exercise and enjoyment of religious profes- sion and worship without discrimination or preference shall forever hereafter be allowed within this State to all manki ml provided that the liberty of conscience hereby granted shall not be so construed as to excuse acts of licentiousne.ss or justify practices inconsistent with the peace or safety of this State." The statutes of the State which permitted the formation of religious cor- porations without restraint, and gave to them when formed, freedom to hold property and conduct their affairs unhampered by the civil power, are contempo- raneous with the restoration of order within its borders after tlie British evacuation in November, 1783, and were among the first statutes adopted by the legisla- ture in 17.S4. The laws of New York which relate to matters of religion have been in many instances models for the other States. The Dutchmen who settled in
