Nashville daily patriot. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1855-1857, 1856-01-07
The Nexv.HnYen nurdnr


The late strange murder OF New Haven seems t.
have grown out of religious deusion very singu,.
lar in its peculiar details but in its general charac
ter sufficiently common. The Widow Wakeman,
the on whose behalf it was perpetrated;
Elder Sly, the man who committed il; Justus Mat
thews the man who murdered and the f,n,
other persons who we're in the house at tn. tim,
of the murder, aud who if they did actually As
sst in it knew Of it and connived atit all appear
TO have been the wretched victims of hallucina
ton falling little, if anything short of insanity.
The Widow Wakemsn was believed by her fol
lowers and doubtless believed herself to BE- a Per
son who bad risen from the dead and had oeen sert
as special messenger" to redeem the world.
The very existence of the world was indeed believ
ed to he bound up in her lite since it was ina giDed
that Immediately upon her death tile end of tn
earth and the Judgment-of which these persons
seem to have had great dresd-woud fOlloS.
But with all her supernatural gifts and races, the
Widow Wakeman, as usually happen in such le.
gends, had also a supernatural enemy to encounter
-noess one, Indeed, than the devil himself, or al
least one of his imps. This evil spirit il was be
lieved, had first AIKEN possession the BODY of
Hunt who it is alleged had unsuccesslully tried 20
poison the " m. ssenger" with arsenic Next, this
evil spirit supposed to have passed into the
person Of Justus Matthews, tn man upon whom
the murder was perpetrated. Having thus become
the imam Of SIM, Matthews accused, not in
deed, of any overt acts of D rsOnal violence but
Of bewitching the messenger" with his eyes, and
in that way greatly distressing her. and even endsn
gering her precious life, and thereby the duration
OF the world. Matthews himself seems full ' to
have believed in the fact OF his being thus possess
sed, and OF exercising this msIign power lie was
anxious to have the evil spiris driven out of him
and for that purpose came l., Sls's house in New
Haven, where the Widow Wakeman lived, and where
the scene OF her religions teachings and exer
cises he there submitted TO be bindiOlded aud TO
have his hands tied behind him, keeping himself
retired in a room below, apart from the rest, who
we're singing and PRAYING above II the Witnesses
are 20 be believed, be even expressed willr gHes-
TO die il the evil spirit could not otherwise be driven
from him, and the precious health ami life OF the
messenger" secured Elder Sly appears to have
been perfectly satisfied that nothing short of tnp
death of Matthews would answer; and while the
others going OF with their religious Xer ises
he proceeded TO murder him, with tie f,il know
ledge and consent of the rest and apparently at th
express instigation OF the Widow Wakem1n.
A bloody tragedy Of this sort, enacted under the
very caves, as it were, Of Yale Cosgr in the 10
telligent enlightened and pious City If New Haven
must strike every one who hears Of il with sudden
and creeping horror. Yet the sort OF d-lusion
out Of which lt grew Is by nc means uncOm-
In what did that deusion differ, We should
ike 10 ask, from that which has made many
clesiastics believe not only that they had power
both in earth and heaven, to bud and TO loose,
but also that il was their right to deliver over the
enemies OF the church 10 the secular arm 20 put
TO death In what does this deusion diffr xcept j.
its bloody catastrophe-nor does even that diff p
ence always exist-from that which makes up the
staple Of the innumerable miraculous legends of
the middle ages? We have chosen this example.
not because the middle ages by any means had a
monopoly OF these decisions, but because il is
more agreeable TO contemplate the faults Of other
people than our own.-N. T. Tribune.
CURE FOR WHooPISo OoueH AND CRoUP.-A
correspondent of the ~ Y EosAing Post fur
nishes the following recipes for two of the most
common diseases among children, viz whoop-
ing cough and Group. The remedies cost moth
ing. can be administered by anybody, and are
always ct hand. The Group remedy, be says,
will cure 10 two hours:
Wn0oPiSs CoUsH.-The best kind Of coffee,
prepared as for the table, and gwen as cou,-
mon drink 10 the child as warm as II can be
drank; and q piece Of Aum for the child Ia lick
as often as IL may wish. Most children are
fond Of alum, and will get all they need with
out being urged, bat II they dislike it, they
must be made to taste Of Il eight or ten times
in the course of the dsy. Il viii efTectualy
break up the worst case Of whooping cough in
very short time. To adults, and children in
the habit of taking coffee, the remedy is good
for nothing.
FoE IN CURz or CRoUP.--A piece Of fresh
lard, 81 large as = b1sIernuL, rubbed up with
sugar. IN the same way thai butter and sugar
are prepared for the dressing Of puddings. d.
vided info1hree part. and given at intervals
Of twenty minutes, viii relieve any case %
Group no, already allowed 10 progress 10 the
fatal point.