Lynchburg Virginian. [volume] (Lynchburg [Va.]) 1829-185?, 1834-10-06
SELECTIONS.
CRIME AND CREDULITY.

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account OF the arrest of this fellow at Albany une,
charge of theft or ombeazlemcnt Tho follow mo
Is u detail Of the occurrences which caused H. mud
whlch exhibit perhaps one ofthc most ex,raorlna-
instances OF lmposiure on one side, and dcluaon on
the other, that has ever been made public
For considerable period prior 10 The year 1882
Mr. Benjamin Foger, of this city, was on terms
OF the most intimate friendship with Mr. Elijah
riefson, also oil this city whose pi,ly and good
sense he highly respected and esteemed A short
time previous to the period ndvcrtcd TO, Matthews
had announced TO Mr.. pierson ,hot he Matthew'S
was the spirit of truth that the spirit of
truth had disappeared from the earth at the
death Of tho Matthias mentioned in the New
Testament; tina, the spirit of Jesus Chris, hua
entered INTO that Mathns, and thu, he (hc fellow
now III Albany Prlson) was the same Matthias
the apostle ofthc New Testament who had risen
from the dead and possessed the spirit of Jesus of
Nazareth. That he Jesus CHRISTI at this second
| appearance, was God the Father and had power
| to do all thngs-to forgive sins and communicate
the Holy Ghost 10 such as believed ia him
The above ,lssue of blasphcmy and absurdity
was strange 10 say beliovcdby Mr. Person, and
rcgnldlog Matthews the character no roI,rc sen.
ted himself he respected him accordingly, and took
him into his house to reside with HIM
In the month Of September, 1882, Mr. Pierson
introduced Mr.. Folser to Mr. Matthew'S, aud al
the same time informed him who and what Mint.
thews announced himself to be, and also of his
/ (Picrson's) implicit belief in the truth Of Matthews
divine attributes Matthews having thus become
acquainted with Mr.. Folecr, lost no time IN cndea-
yorIng to increase the number Of his dupcs and re-
| pcatedly called at Mr. Folgers counting house to
announce his DIVINE mission, and s,rovc to convert
! Mr. Fogor to a belief of 1t. On one occasion he
SAID to Mr. Folgcr, :" hnoy the end of all tl,ngs,n
1 m ado IF he IN al, If
rains his assertion. Taking up piece OF paper
no placed II in drawer, so that one crd Of the pa
! per renamed outside the drawer, and then snld 10
! Mr.. Fogcr, " You can geo bu, ono end Of the pa
per, whlch is outside the drawer, aud So the world
secs but sec tho whole length of i'll see tho
| end"
lie succeeded in lmpressng Mr.. Foecr aud u
few others with finn belief that he tho pro
phct he pretended to be, and having gained this
polnt, he began 10 execute the true mission he couo
upon, and informed Mr.. Folgcr that " he was very
poor n IA want of money; TINT tho world prosecuted
h'n and I. vas instigaed to do SO by the dov, be
| cause ltbrn vas ruth now in the world except
! N hIu lMpithc%s')
Pueriie AID ansu as were these re representations
they nevertheless induced M. Fo'ee o ave Mat
thews dlneren SUMS Of nom y,--eod tn after en-
! coulagcd by his success thls fat, dc,ttniped 10
spare neither promises nor threats to m Ike III,
best Of the advantage he had gained. In addition
to what he had elroady told Mr. FoIger he there
fore informed him that he (Matthcws) had com
menccd the reign of God on earth thut Mills and
Pierson had been called into the kingdom and al
though the devil had succeeded in suspcndng for
time its permanent establishment, he (Mauhews)
would now 90 on 10 overcome the d vii and To es-
tablish the Kingdom Of Col. Undec these circom-
stances he called on Mr. Fogor to contribute of IL.
substance for his (Matihew's) support uud the ylo
motion of the kingdom, and threatened that II cnse
he should refuse 10 provide hm vhnsycr money
he wanted ha would visit upon blnI, (wh,ch h.
vas empowered to do) the wrath OF ne Aillief
~, but that it he (FogeD would believe N
him and obey him IN ali things, he should bc cali.
ed into the kingdom, and he (Mauhrws) would
forgive him all his sins, and he would enjoy eternal
happiness.
In the month of August 1899, Mouhews went to
Sing Sing, in West Chester county, where Mr..
Foger had furnished house and where his family
at that time resided As Matthews brought his
baggage along with him, his intention Of paying n
| long visit to Sing Sing was pretty obvious, mud
Mr.. Folgcr invited him TO take up his residence al
his house. Havng remained there a week; he got,
tired Of such narrow accommodations, and told Mr..
Folgcr that he and Picrson ought to hire a
house for his own special use. Mr.. Folger
consulted Mr. PIcrson the subec and
ihCy uStcCu VI 'oh'plJ WIN 'nc very reHsonn-
bic request of Matthews, and 80 informed him
In the mean time tho ambition Of Matthews had SO
increased that'a hired house w9ud no longer con-
tent him, and he ntmatei 10 his Two friends
that i, woull be lmproner for perNon Of his char
,ctcr to reside IN a hired housc aud that they ought
10 purchase house for him. This also Messrs
F'ogcr aud Person agreed 10 /; hut bef,rc they
could accomplish their purpose, Matthews .'ppar-
ted anothcr~evela'on to Mr Fogcr, and informed
h,m that the house which Mr. Folgcr purchase /
some time previous at Sing Sing. ond in which
he then resided, had been purchased for him Mat
,hcws,) and that the spir, OF truth had directed Mr.
Fogcr in making the sad purchase"
As The house had been thus mirncuously pur.
chased for Matthews, he had o: course a ccnr right
to remain in it without iurihct ceremony, until Oc-
tober 1882, when he required that Messts Fol
ger aud Pcrson, who then resided with him.
should give up the house to his own charg" which
r they accordingly did.
IN the latter part Of October 1888, he required
them to give an account of their properly, aud ha-
: wing nscerancd it, he demanded that they should
, both enter into an agreement TO support him. which
Wculu ensure them the continued blessing OF God.
They accordingly entered INTO the required pgree-
, mont and supported him, and supplied him with
whatever money he demanded. On the death Of
, Mr. Plerson, Matthews cnrnc to reside at Mr.. Fol.
gers house in this city, md continued to be sup.
} ricd with money by him, until tho early pnrt
4 Of this month, when the latter ntma,ed TO him
P that he could no longer continue to support
HIM, and that they must part. Matthews 10y
5 no means llkc1 the proposed arrangement, bu
G being determined to make tho most he could
e of the matter, and knowing that Mr.. Folgcr had
C some money belonging TO tho estate OF his wife