| Description | Three letters from Cardinal Henry Edward Manning, the Catholic Archbishop of Westminster, who was the leading Catholic clergyman in England for much of Cumming's career. The letters relate to Cumming's repeated and much-publicised attempts to gain an invitation to the First Vatican Council, which was summoned by Pope Pius IX on 29 June 1868.
The letters are dated 11 October 1868, and 21 March and 18 September 1869. The first session of the First Vatican Council was held on 8 December 1869. |