Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, 1835-04-30
MATTHIAS. THE PROPHET.


~ith numbering one VI his dupes- The triai
sas a scene Of great disorder, the proceeding
having been frequently Interrupted b, the in
coherent rssins- Of the culprii AZ IN earl,
stage of the trail, Matthias took occasion 90
pronounce the following Rhapsody, w,thou, al
all regarding the reiterated directions u the
Court, thai he should be seated:
~ speak," said he, '.in rciercnee to the Sc
ere, proceedings Of the Grand jury--tha, Is
secret institution; and here proclaim that all
secret Institutions arc dissolved are Dissolved
dissolved; and were five years asS They
were cursc--thry have the curse Of Almish
'y God upon them, and were dissolved Eve
years ago, say they are dis.oircd,''
In saving this, he shouted the word dis
solved at the highest possible pitch Of clear
stentori An voice; and bending down 60 acquire
still greater force Of lungs. shouted again and
again, tall the hole court house rang, and the
audience were deafened by the sound. The
Court was very much embarrassed. recess
was taken; the prisoner removed o. lars cell,
shouting dissolved. Dissolved" To- it, very
door; and the sheriff was directed Ia summon
jury TO ascertain his sanity OF insanity. Ia Il
short time, the Court resumed; the jury re-
turned verdict that he was not insane. and
the trial proceeded. ny reference Ia an srti-
Gle in another part Of our paper, it Mil be
seen that he was acquitted
The annexed extract from the testimony.
given IN 10y DIR. Paine 10 the aforementioned
jury, will give some idea of the iInposior',
theological spcculations:
] asked him in what situation he sup
posed himself To exist on the earth: and
he stated that he was acting IN the
capacity of Superior Being. and that
he possessed the Spiri, Of God and the
Spirit of Truth, and he used these
words anonymously. | asked him
how he came IN possession Of this;-
He answered that ii Was first exclusive
ly impaired 20 Adam, and thence As
man multiplied 1T became spread abroad
over the earth, and it became by eA-
tension SO impaired and attenuatcd,
that II was necessary 10 be concentra-
ted again in some other individual,
and that when SO concentrated, IL i'm
parted knowledge of the inquiries Of
mankind. The second concentration
was in Noah, the third in Abraham, the
fourth in David, the filth in Jesus
Christ, and the sixth and last in HIM
(Matthias.) He went on TO saw that he
had power over corrupt Institutions
and. more or less, over the actions Of
individuals. i then advcrtcd To- his
conduct IN the court room, and he re-
Piled that he was prompted by the Spi-
mt to raise his voice a. he had done.
for the purpose of putting down n cor
rupt tribunal. then contrasted the
meek department of our Saviour with
his (M's) conduct, and he insinuaied
that he could not possess Christs spirit.
lie said his was not passion, but the
sounding of the seventh trumpet, with
the powerful voice which had been Civ
en- him-thc mere echo of the wrath
OF God. He then appeared TO con-
verse nationally, until his divine pre-
tensions were questioned, when his
manner became violent towards me,
aud he charged me with being actua-
ted with the spirit of the devil. said
nothing that would be calculated TO
excite sane man. On first entering
10 speak with him, he said he offered
the sign Of friendship TO no one but
his disciples, none of whom he had
seen since the 9th of February, which
was great epoch in his existence, be-
ing seven years after the organization
of his family.