GUSTAVE MAXMILIEN JUSTE CARDINAL PRINCE DE CROY-SOIRE - AUTOGRAPH LETTER SIGNED 12/26/1839 - HFSID 67390

GUSTAVE CARDINAL PRINCE DE CROY-SOIRE
As Archbishop of Rouen, he signs an autograph letter (1839) to the Bishop of Nancy, wishing him well on his visit to America and offering to introduce him to American friends
Autograph Letter signed: "+ g. Cardinal Prince de Croy", 2 pages, 5¼x8 (front and verso). Rouen, 1839 December 26. To Monsignor the Bishop of Nancy and Toul. In French, loosely translated. "The Monsignor of New York sent me the letter that you did me the honor of writing to recommend me to him during his brief visit here. I hasten to add that I was delighted to hear of your news, your bold resolve to visit America and contribution to an installation ceremony in that country. The edification of my several American contacts won't be greater than the satisfaction I feel in learning of the visit that you make now. I know well your Christian zeal, so useful to the church in such a painful epoch. No one, Monsignor, can ask of God more sincerely than I that His grace accompany you in your far travels. It is with these sentiments that I pray you, Monsignor, to accept the most sincere expression of my respectful consideration. [signature] p. s. I have the honor of knowing some of the venerable American bishops and will write to recommend you to them." GUSTAVE MAXIMILIEN JUSTE, CARDINAL PRINCE of CROY-SOIRE (1773-1844), born into a family of Holy Roman Imperial princes (until the Empire's dissolution in 1806), was Bishop of Strasbourg (1820-1823) and Archbishop of Rouen (1823-1844). He attended at the bedside of King Louis XVIII, and presided at the King's funeral (1824). He was made a bishop in 1820 and a cardinal in 1829. Cardinal Prince Croy-Soire was well acquainted with the letter's recipient, Bishop Charles-Auguste-Marie Joseph Forbin-Janson (1785-1844), having presided at the latter's elevation to bishop in 1823. Cardinal Prince Croy-Soire's claim to know American clerics was well founded; he was assisted at Forbin-Janson's consecration by Bishop Fenwick of Cincinnati and by Bishop Cheverus, former Bishop of Boston. Bishop Forbin-Janson was the Bishop of Nancy and Toul, an office which also made him Primate of Lorraine. He was sent to America by Pope Gregory XVI in 1839, participating in several events there, and presiding at a Baltimore conference of US Catholic prelates in 1840. The House of Croy-Soire, centered today in Belgium, is the only surviving lineage of the Croy family. Lightly foxed. Show-through front to back. Otherwise, fine condition.