Daily American organ., 1856-08-29
WHOLE NO. 5es

ne came before the Common Council, who had
the uistrnation OF the school fund, and brought
peuuon from his people TO have portion Of that
Iund set apart for separate Roman Catholic schools
20 that their children could be educated by them.
selves In october, 1910, number Of persons,
among whom was myself, met before the Common
Council to discuss that question Ii was the f;rst
time Bishop Hughes distinguished himself az a Se.
batter. The Common Council was composed of
about an equal number of Wings and Democrats.
They heard us two evenings very patiently, and
then they went and examined the schools, and by
unanimous vote they refused to grant the prayer
of the petition They thought II was best that the
children should meet in the schools together,
whether they were of one denomination of Chris
tians or another, and sit side by side-that their
minds and hearts should be Americanized, and
that they should grow up together without the re-
cognition of these religious distinctions
/" OF course Bishop Hughes was not satisfied
with that decision. So he got his people together
again. and they signed petition very numerous
to the Legislature to take away this power from
the Corporation OF distributing these funds That
petition was sent to Albany and he rot the ear OF
Governor William III. Seward. Wen, he converted
Governor Seward, who, by the way as am cred
IDLY informed, has said hundred times that he
wished every foreigner who came to this county
should be permitted 10 vote the moment he landed.
He also got possession Of his Secretary of State,
John @. Spencer now no more, and they continued
to have these petitions referred by the Legislature
to the Secretary Of State to report thereon The
Secretary of State, being very able man, drew a
report, an ingenious report an able report will
not go into the particulars Of that report but suf.
flee t to say, that if the doctrine set forth in that
| report and the bill which it recommended had
been passed. the Roman Catholics in the city of New
York could have paid more than half their clergy
out OF the school fund. Having been conyersant
with this NATTER was called upon TO 90 to Alt any
to oppose the adoption of this report before com
mittee of the Senate
I" Mr.. Seward himself came down to the city Of
New York to try to persuade tho public school
society to allow this bill to pass They understood
the subject and they refused it, | went to Albany
and there met large body Of Roman Catholics
who We're up from the city Of New York, who
were represented by two counsel. We discussed
| the question before the committee. It took three
hours to lay my own views before them This was
Saturday afternoon and evening. In few days
thereafter the report of the committee was brought
in. The Governor had all his influential friends
there to carry the measure for Il was an admini7-
trative measure. lie told me himself that he
should carry it, / told him--for We were very good
friends, being both Whigs--that differed from
him very much, and hoped and believed that the
measure would not be carried. It was not
carried. 1t was defeated and belieye the
Governor did mo the honor to suppose that de-
feated it. 3
"Wel what nextp In few months thereaf.
ter, just before the election, Bishop Hughes col
lected his Catholic friends gether in Carroll Hall,
and there he spoke through two or three evenings,
and his text was the reported speech which had
made before the committee.
by this time the Roman Catholics were wrought
up to pretty high state of excitement, and what
followed? In this state of excitement he got lis
friends together to make nomination for the As
sembly, and he made political speech and was
cheered, as all other political orators are. He
made his political speech, and he made his politi.
cal nomination, and from that time the people OF
New York thought II was well enough to have an
American party. That was the beginning, and l
am happy to bear testimony az a witness.
Persecution Would you persecute men for
their religious opinions? Why, you all know bet
ter. You all know that the Roman Catholics may
meet wherever and whenever they choose in their
churches, and celebrate their masses and perform
all the ceremonies Of their religion without any
interruption from Protestants. And you know
very well that if they were interrupted, ten thou.
sand Protestants would stand up and unsheath
their sword to protect them. You all know it; but
when they come here to alter and disturb our time
honored customs, to exclude the Bible from our
schools, to separate their children from ours in
the schools, and attack our American usagea which
have come through all time, it ia time for us to
take care of ourselves"