Alsace, Thomas Louis De Henin Lietard

Alsace, Thomas Louis De Henin Lietard,

cardinal d', a Belgian prelate, was born at Brussels in 1680. He was distinguished even more by his lofty character and the sanctity of his manner than by his illustrious ancestry, which ran back to Thierry of Alsace, count of Flanders. Although a younger son when he was consecrated to the ecclesiastical calling, he became the elder by the death of his brother, Charles Louis Anthony, prince of Chimay, and lieutenant- general in France and Spain, who died in 1740. Thomas, then cardinal- archbishop of Mechlin and primate of the Low Countries, immediately transmitted the principality of Chimay to his younger brother, Alexander Gabriel, governor of Oudenarde. After the taking of Brussels by the French, he addressed a letter to Louis XV, expressive of his faith in a Higher Power, and suggesting the sentiment contained in the Te Deum, which they were ordered to chant. He died Jan. 6,1759. See Hoefer, Nouv. Biog. Generale, s.v.