Daily evening star. [volume] (Washington [D.C.]) 1852-1854, 1854-05-01
DAILY EVENING STAR.
LOCAL lNTELLIGFNCE.

II Mr. Matthews, Pastor of St Patrick's Cbnrcb
died last night OF general debility, consequent
upon old age lie had done much good in the
course of long life, and his death will be felt
and dePlored by large class, to whom he
always acted as counsellor and friend. assist
ing many to large extent, as far as his pecu
mary means would allow. The Rev. gentle
man died ut nine, p. m, his bedside beinp snr
rounded by his immediate friends. but he was
unconscious at the time, having fallen asIeen
al four, p m, and FIVE hours afterwards liter
ally falling asleep In Jesus. 1t has been en-
roheousiy stated IN the Baltimore Sun of this
morning, that DR.. Duhamel attended the de-
ceased at the time of his death Such was net
the case lie was attended by Dr. Dyer. WI o
was the sole physician during the whole of
Father Matthew's last illness with the excsn-
ton of a single visit Ly Dr. Hall, who had been
called IN few days ago. but who gave no
hopes at the time Of the reverend gentleman
surviving much longer. As soon as the death
OF the reverend gentleman took place the
bells of the Roman Catholic churches of Wash.
ington and Georgetown. announced the fatal
event by solemn toliing, and crowds of any
lous enquirers assembled about St Patrick's
Church, but could not be admitted into the
house at that late hour. This morning. the
remains OF the deceased, dressed in sa cerdotaI
robes, the same as officiating at the altar. were
laid out IN state in the parlor of his late resi-
denee, ana crowds availed themselves Of the
opportunity 10 take last look on one who has
departed to bis final resting place, without
we are convinced, leaving a single enemy bs
hind- Ihe arrangements for the funeral will
be made to-day, which it is presumed will take
place on Wednesday; but the friends of the de-
ceased await the action of Bishop Kendrick of
Baltimore, who, il is supposed. will off;eiate at
the funeral, and perform a high mass on the
OCCASION The remains of the deceased will be
deposited for time in the vaul. of ST Patrick :
Church, until his burial place has been de-
termlned upon There appears to be some in
decision on TINS latter point, the deceased
having expressed a wish to be buried in the
cemetery belonging to the Church which is
situated some two miles off from the city, and
where so many of his late flock repose while
the friends of the deceased wish his remains TO
be buried under the church, on the SPOT where
the new building is to be erected, it having
6een for long time determined to pull down
the present S.. Patrick s Church, and to erect
amore modern edifce in its place
The Rev. William Matthews was 81 wears of
age at the time of his death. and had been
pastor Of st. Patrick'S church for the last fifty
years.
The Young Catholics Friend Society will
be IN charge OF the remains during the day
and night, III sets of four and six members. to
succeed each other, of which they will be duIv
notified by the secretary Of the Society. The
remains can be seen to-day, from O'Clock
and tomorrow.
HE NEW RELIGIoN.-From what has lately
transpired, it is evident that the SpirituaI1sts
are about to form themselves into a religious
sect On Saturday night, the Rev. Thomas l..
Harris, who boasts of having composed, under
the influence of the spirits, a poem in twenty
seven hours, entitled 90 An Epic of the Starry
Heavens, delivered a free lecture at the Va
riete . on spiritual manifestations as confirm
atoms OF Christian Revelations The dis
course was devoted to tracing the analogy be-
tween the Hebrew and Christian revelations.
and spiritual manifestations, showing from nu-
merous instances mentioned in the Scriptnres
that spirits, although incorporeal, had great
power over matter. Thus the angel in wrest
ling with Jacob touched his thigh, and the
sinews Immediately shrunk; likewise how the
angel rolled away ponderous stone from
Chrlst's sepulchre; and again. how, at the
bidding OF an angel, the letters fell from the
hands OF Peter, and the prison gates were IN
locked He called Moses the President of the
Israelites, and then went on to combat the be-
LEI OF the present age that supernatural man.
ifestati0ns, which had existed from the crea.
ton of the world, stopped at once on the death
of the last of the Apostles. He compared this
sudden cessation Of miracles to the well known
story of the Iron Shroud" where a man was
Enclosed IN room having several windows.
with ceiling that gradually lowered, shutting
out the light, until at last he was in darkness
lnclosed IN living tomb. The ancient fathers
of the Christian Church boasted of supern attn.
raj visitations as peculiar fayors with which
the Pagans were not blessed The belief of
the Roman Catholic Church, in all ages, was
likewise IN favor Of them, as was also that of
the early refOrmers-namely, Luther, whose
words he quoted on the subject; Huss: Jerome
of Prague, and Wickliffe- And still later the
founders of the different Protestant sects. both
orthodox and liberal, were believers in the ac-
tual existence OF communications with spirits
Of these latter, he gave Wesley as an instance
Several ghost stories were narrated, in which
various well known New England ministers
played part. The evidences in favor of the
truth of Christianity were compared with those
In favor of Spiritualism, and the preference
given to the latter. Thus ST Paul observes.
that there were FIVE hundred witnesses to the
truth of Christ's resurrection but the Spirit
ualists had FIVE hundred thousand witnesses to
the truth Of their doctrines. The disciples of
Christ. again, were Ignorant, unlettered men,
while many Of the followers of Spiritualism
were highly intellectual. The latter part OF
the discourse consisted of anecdotes Of won
derful conversions, in which the speaker had
assisted medium.
There was n large attendance. and we
noticed among the audience or congregation,
several of the principal supporters and propa-
gators of this new religion 1t was announced
evening, that there would be religious service
at the same place on the following day, Sun
day. at the hours usual at places of divine
worship. Accordingly, service took place in
the morning and evening" the place being
filled with large orderly congregation, who
left with all the usual decorum that is expected
to be observed on attendance at divine worship
Curiosity induced US to attend in the evening,
for we had noticed the congregation coming
out in the morning in large numbers showing
that an interest was felt respec ing the matter
by the public mind. 1t was certainly rather
a novel sight to see "Risley's Variete,'
scenery and all, for it had not been removed
used for the purpose, and the scene used repre-
senting the hall of baronial castle, reminded
US of that celebrated ghost story, the Castle of
Otranto.
There were religious services, such as Gus
tOmary; the officiating minister, the Rev. Mr.
Harris, reading from the stage, at table. q
portion of the Sculptures, namely, parts of the
18th and 18th chapters of st. Paul's Epistle to
the Hebrews He then delivered prayer, in |
which he gave thanks for the present spirit |
ual manifestations so that even inanimate
things had been made to utter praise. This |
was followed by discourse, which was In a
similar strain to that delivered on the pre- |
ceding evening. In the course of it. he men
toned that there were a million believers in |
spirit lalism" in the United States, and gave |
an anecdote of a reverend doctor of divinity in |
II