A CORRESPONDENCE consisting of 4 AUTOGRAPH LETTERS SIGNED by the Famous French Priest HYACINTHE LOYSON [PERE HYACINTHE] who was excommunicated by the Catholic Church for his opposition to the pronouncements of the First Vatican Council.

Neuilly pres Paris and Washington, D.C. 1883 through 1887. [1883]., [1883].. Very good. - A correspondence consisting of 4 Autograph Letters Signed by the French Priest Hyacinthe Loyson addressed to the American author and Presbyterian clergyman Henry Martin Field. In his first letter, penned from Neuily near Paris on July 24, 1883, Loyson addresses the Reverend Field as "Cher Monsieur et ami". This 8-1/8 inch high by 5-1/8 inch wide 4-page letter is penned on 4 sides of a folded sheet. Father Hyacinthe expresses his intention to visit and speak in the U.S. as so many have requested, though he makes clear that he will travel to the States only if certain conditions can be met. He requests that a committee composed of distinguished representatives of various churches and religious denominations formally request his visit. He's also concerned that they should be able to cover his expenses as he finds himself nearly destitute at the moment. "Vous savez deja par Madame Loyson le projet que j'ai fait d'aller en Amerique vers le moi d'octobre prochain. En me rendant au desir qui a ete si souvent exprime par nos amis, je dois cependant mettre deux conditions. La premiere, qu'il se forme aux Etats-Unis un comite compose d'hommes distingues de diverses Eglises, et qu'un appel formel er public me soit addresse par ce comite...." He emphasizes that he will present himself as he is, a Catholic who firmly believes in the great tradition of the past but who desires to see radical reform take place in the Roman Catholic Church and extends a hand to all Christian denominations. Signed "Hyacinthe Loyson / pretre".

Now in the U.S., Loyson writes to Reverend Field from Washington, D.C. on November 5th, 1883. In this 8-1/4 inch high by 5-1/4 inch wide 3-page letter penned on 3 sides of a folded sheet, Loyson writes in response to Field's telegram to his wife Madame Loyson. Loyson writes that his lecture will be about the march of civilization in France and America, "Mon premier discours aura pour titre: la Marche de la Civilisation", but goes on to say that he has come down with a bad cold and, if possible, would prefer to reschedule his New York appearance to the 18th. However he would be willing to appear as scheduled if needed: "Si toutefois vous penser qu'il faut battre le fer pendent qu'il est chaud ... je vous laisse libre de le faire. Je me soignerai et je me preparerai de maniere a pouvoir parler ce jour la...." Loyson goes on to say that he is looking forward to meeting the reverend Field's brother, Dudley Field, and how he enjoyed his conversation with the Reverend's other brother, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Stephen Johnson Field: "J'ai eu avec votre autre frere, Juge a la Cour Supreme, une conversation qui m'a vivement interesse". Signed "Hyacinthe Loyson".

Several years later, on October 11, 1887, Hyacinthe Loyson writes to the Reverend Field from "Parc de Neuilly, pres Paris". On his 8-3/8 inch high by 5-1/2 inch wide stationery penned on 3 sides of a folded sheet with his address printed at the top, Loyson writes a letter of recommendation for the Reverend Dr. MacKay: "Je vous adresse, avec les plus chaleureuses recommendations, le Reverend Dr. MacKay, ancien chapelain Anglican de l'avenue de Marbeuf et assistant du Reverend Docteur Morgan, a l'eglise americaine de l'avenue de l'Alma". Loyson goes on to state that the Reverend MacKay has left his position and, one assumes from the content, is likely moving to the U.S. where he intends to further the work which both Loyson and Field have been pursuing. "Vous la connaisser peut-etre moins que lui, n'ayant pas en occasion de la voir d'aussi pres, mais vous l'aimer autant...." Loyson asks if, in the name of their friendship, the Reverend Field might be able to open doors for the Reverend MacKay which would otherwise be closed to him. Signed "Tuus in Christo / Hyacinthe Loyson".

A fourth letter, 8-1/4 inches high by 5-1/4 inches wide, penned on 3 sides of a folded sheet of cream paper with a black mourning border framing each page dives right in, without salutation or date, by quoting from Charles de Montalembert's "L'Espagne et la Liberte". "Le jour ou, dans l'ordre politique, la royaute, avec l'aide de l'inquisition, a tout absorbe, tout ecrase; le jour ou l'Eglise victorieuse a voulu abuser de la victoire, exclure et proscrire d'abord les Juifs, puis les Maures, puis les Protestants, puis toute discussion, tout examen, toute recherce, toute initiative, toute liberte, ce jour-la tout a ete perdu" [The day when, political order, royalty, with the aid of the inquisition, absorbed all, crushed all; that day when the victorious church chose to abuse its victory, exclude and proscribe first the Jews, then the Moors, then the Protestants, then all discussion, all examination, all initiative, all liberty, that day all was lost]. Loyson writes that those lines sum up the last work by one of the most illustrious Roman Catholics of his time. Montalembert's work was to be published in "Le Correspondant" (a French Catholic journal whose motto was "Civil and religious liberty throughout the universe"), but Montalembert's timid friends did not follow through. Loyson writes that he subsequently succeeded in having the work printed in the Swiss journal "La Bibliotheque Universelle et Revue Suisse" in 1876. He then notes that the library and review's director Edouard Tallichet has written a book about the process of getting this work by de Montalembert published. [Tallichet's book, titled "M. de Montalembert et le Père Hyacinthe: Histoire du Procès Intenté par la Famille de Montalembert au Père Hyacinthe et la Bibliothèque Universelle", is available as an ebook]. Penned before the prior letter, this autograph letter is dated from Reuilly-sur-Seine on May 14th, 1887 and signed "Hyacinthe Loyson" at the bottom of the third page.

As mentioned by Pere Hyacinthe, some of the Reverend Field's correspondence with Loyson was addressed to Loyson's wife, the former Emilie Jane Butterfield Meriman, widow of the American Edwin Ruthven Meriman. Included with the correspondence is Madame Hyacinthe Loyson's calling card.

Folded for mailing, the letters are in very good condition with but minor soiling and a minor chip or two to the edges of the October 1887 letter.

Born in Orleans Charles Jean Marie Loyson (1827-1912), better known by his religious name Pere Hyacinthe and later Hyacinthe Loyson was a Roman Catholic priest of the Sulpician and Dominican orders before becoming a Discalced Carmelite. Loyson built his reputation as the most effective orator of his day preaching in Lyon and Bordeaux and subsequently gained fame for his sermons and orations at the Eglise de la Madeleine and at Notre Dame de Paris. He was summoned to Rome in 1868 because of his unorthodoxy and passion for controversial subjects. He was again censured for his address before the Ligue International de la Paix equating the Jewish religion, the Catholic religion and the Protestant religion as being the three great religions. The Roman Catholic Church subsequently excommunicated the fiery young priest following his protest against the manner in which the First Vatican Council was convened and his manifesto against the "sacrilegious perversion of the Gospel" and the abuses of the Church. During a brief stay in New York City, he was wooed by various Protestant sects but reaffirmed that he had no intentions of moving away from his Catholic faith. He allied himself with Ignaz von Dollinger's protest against Papal infallibility which had been defined as dogma by the First Vatican Council. Invited by the "Old Catholics" to lecture in Geneva, he advocated for church reform and the establishment of a national Christian Church in each country. Elected by liberal Catholics to the priesthood of a vacant parish, he introduced reforms in worship. Settling in Paris in 1877, Loyson drew upon the tradition of Gallicanism and established his "Eglise gallicane" as a separate church founded as an Anglican Communion denomination in the Old Catholic tradition.

The American author and clergyman Henry Martin Field (1822-1907) was a Presbyterian minister and the editor and proprietor of the New York based periodical "The Evangelist". He was a pastor in St. Louis, Missouri and later in West Springfield, Massachusetts, spending some of his time in Europe between his appointments. Reverend Field authored several books on travel, including "From the Lakes of Killarney to the Golden Horn" and "From Egypt to Japan" as well as historical and religious works including "The Irish Confederates and the Rebellion of 1798", "On the Desert - Recent Events in Egypt", "Old Spain and New Spain", etc. Among his brothers were Supreme Court Justice Stephen Johnson Field, Cyrus West Field and David Dudley Field II. Field appeared as a character in the novel penned by his descendant Rachel Field "All This and Heaven Too" a novelization based on events in the life of Field's wife, the former Mlle. Henrietta Deluzy-Deportes who was at one time Governess to the Duc de Praslin and implicated in the Duc's murder of his wife Fanny. The events contributed to the turmoil which led to the overthrow of King Louis Philippe in 1848.

Defender of the Freedom of the Press, Charles Forbes Rene, comte de Montalembert (1810-1870) was a journalist, historian, and proponent of liberal Catholicism. Montalembert was the author of several works throughout his life including "L'Espagne et la Liberte" inspired by the events of the Spanish Revolution of 1868.