[4] As a student at Mount St. Mary's, he was described as having "won the admiration and esteem of his teachers and the respect and love of his college-mates by the piety and modesty of his character, his gentleness, and sweet disposition, the enthusiasm with which he threw himself into his studies, and his prominent standing in class.

"[5] In his graduating year, he delivered a speech on patriotism that doubled as a defense of Horace's phrase, "It is sweet and fitting to die for one's country".

[10] He then served as a parochial vicar at St. Patrick's Cathedral and a chaplain at Bellevue Hospital until February 1834, when he became professor of philosophy and vice-president at the newly established St. Joseph's Seminary in Nyack.

Abandoning his pursuit of the degree of Doctor of Divinity in Rome, and departing from there in February 1837, he visited Germany, Belgium, France and England before returning to New York that summer.

His tenure at the parish was initially a rather contentious one, with the trustees refusing to pay him a salary or furnish his house; one of his younger parishioners was Eugene Casserly, later a U.S.

[12] McCloskey busied himself primarily with a visitation of the entire diocese, and was also instrumental in the conversion of Isaac Hecker, founder of the Paulist Fathers, and of James Roosevelt Bayley, later Archbishop of Baltimore.

[13] At the time of his arrival, the Upstate New York diocese covered 30,000 square miles (78,000 km2), containing 60,000 Catholics, 25 churches, 34 priests, 2 orphanages, and 2 free schools.

[14] McCloskey first selected St. Mary's Church as his episcopal see but it soon proved unsuitable, leading him to construct the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, whose cornerstone was laid in July 1848 and dedication took place in November 1852.

[2] Distressed by the rumors, he wrote to Cardinal Karl von Reisach of the Congregation for the Propagation of the Faith, objecting, "I possess neither the learning, nor prudence, nor energy, nor firmness, nor bodily health or strength.

In 1866 he attended the Second Plenary Council of Baltimore, where he preached the opening sermon with remarkable self-control and composure given the fact he had learned only moments before that St. Patrick's Old Cathedral had been gutted by a fire.

The Cardinal declared, "Not to my poor merits but to those of the young and already vigorous and most flourishing Catholic Church of America has this honor been given by the Supreme Pontiff.

Nor am I unaware that, when the Holy Father determined to confer me this honor he had regard to the dignity of the See of New York, to the merits and devotion of the venerable clergy and numerous laity, and that he had in mind even the eminent rank of this great city and the glorious American nation.

"[20] Following the death of Pius IX in February 1878, McCloskey left for Rome but arrived too late to participate in the papal conclave, which elected Pope Leo XIII.

His last major public appearance was in January 1884 for the Golden Jubilee celebration of his priestly ordination, for which Leo XIII sent him a jeweled chalice.

He established several charitable societies for children and a hospital for the mentally ill.[7] Throughout 1885, Cardinal McCloskey suffered from bouts of fever, intense pain, loss of sight, and a recurrence of malaria that aggravated what appeared to be signs of Parkinson's disease.

[1] His funeral Mass was held at St. Patrick's Cathedral on October 25, 1885; during the eulogy, Archbishop James Gibbons described him as "a kind father, a devoted friend, a watchful shepherd, a fearless leader and, above all, an impartial judge.