The Douglas independent. [volume] (Roseburg, Or.) 187?-1885, 1883-12-08
Pere Hyacinthe.

Pere Hyacirthe has just arrived in
| this country where he intends to remain
for several months. He will deliver a
| number of lectures for the benefit of his
| church in Paris before concluding his
visit. This celebrated French divine is
a very important character in the relie-
ious history of the age-and religious
history is, to q great extent, the essential
part of all history. His position is a
peculiar one. While he processes LOYALTY
to the church of his fathers he insists
upon liberty OF thought and action
which that church has never accorded to
its followers, and especially its priests.
Accordingly he has withdrawn his VOW
of celibacy and taken unto himself a
wife. He has denied the infallibility of
the pope and rejected everything in Ca
tholicism which he considers supersti.
tiods or corrupt. Such a remuneration
cost him great sacrifice. He was the
priest of that magnificent sanctuary of
God. called Notre Dame, idolizsd by his
people and favored of the high dignita-
ries at Rome. Declaring his convictions
"as il there were nothing in the world
but his conscience and God" he has
braved the anathema of the pope and
suffered the contempt of his fellows. The
position OF Pere Hyacinthe has bsen
taken as prophetic. Some say that he
is the first indication on the surface of
an agitation that is troubling the deep;
that like John the Baptist and Martin
Luther. he is the forerunner of great
changes. The question of his influence
is one which is engaging the attention of
philosophers, and one with which we, as
as simple chronicler of facts, have moth
ing to do.
Pere Hyacinthe was born at Orleans,
a commercial town of France, in 1921.
From his early boyhood he displayed
great diligence and aptitude, and when
q student was far in advance of his fell
lows. When he assumed the robes of
a Dominican in 1910, the church of
Rome had seldom seen more promising
devotee. At the conclusion of four
years of theological study he went on
his missions like the rest of his order and
surprised both the lsity and the clergy
with his eloauence. He was made pas
tor of Notrs Dame, and was reputed to
be the most eloquent preacher in France.
One who never visited that church in
those days can hardly appreciate his
power and popularity when in the
zenith of his fame. For hours before he
began to preach crowds poured down the
long aisles of the great church and iostled
each other in their eagerness. A hush
pervaded the building when Pere Hya-
cinthe asc csnded the pulpit, and as his
impassioned voice rang through the
aisles and arches the great thrcng were
electrified.
1t was at this time that those liberal
ideas which he has since championed.
began to manifest themselves in his ser.
mons and he was denounced as hereto
by Louis Veuillot, because he said that
the Catholic, Jewish and Protestant re-
ligions were the three great religions of
the world. In 1859 he issued mani
festo to the Superior Order of Blrefooted
Friars at Rome against the religious dis
order of France and alleged abuses in
the Catholic church. This created great
excitement. He was communicated.
and since then he has stood alone, preach.
ing in little chapels, sometimes in the
heart Of the great city and sometimes in
the villages around it.
In 1872 he was married in London to
the daughter of Mr.. Aroory Buttterfeld
the widow of Mr.. Edwin R. Merriman
of New York city, and their domestic
life appears to have been most happy,
The greater part OF his life has been
spent in seclusion and he knows little of
the world. His simplicity is said to be
childlike, and his humility most remark
able. Indeed his lack of worldly wis
dom seems to have led him into many
blunders, which better diplomacy would
have Stunned. His chapel is on the Rue
d'Arras, in Paris, and he visits America
for the purpose OF raising funds to assist
him in his labors there.