Polynesian. [volume] (Honolulu [Oahu], Hawaii) 1844-1864, 1857-04-04
Qbe 1Dolpnesian.
lFrom the London Evening Mail.
FATHER MATHEW.

The departure of great and good man from
among us, and the loss of one whose charity and
good deeds were of more than European reputation
seem to call for a more extended notice than thai
which appeared in the columns of our Irish intel
ligence yesterday. The history of "Father Ma
thew" Is strange and striking, and almost partakes
of the character of romance It has often been
sald by way OF reproach against Ireland, that her
clergy are almost all chosen, not from the mobiles
or the landed gentry and middle classes of ireland.
but from "the lowest of the people," and that her
priests have been chosen from the plough tail and
and the pig-stye. However this may be, it was
not the case with the subject of our memoir Theo-
bald Mathew was descended from very ancient
Welsh family, whose pedigree is carried in the re-
cords OF the principality to Gwaythooed, King of
Cardigan, in direct descent from whom was Sir
David Mathew, standard-bearer to Edward ",
whose monument is to be seen in the cathedral of
Llandatf. Edmund Mathew, his descendant in the
sixth generation, was High-Sheriff of Gamorgan in
1917, and had two sons who went to Ireland in the
reign of James [. The elder son, George, married
Lady Ihurles, mother of ''the great" Duke of Or
monde. From him was descended Francis Mathew
OF Annfeld, gentleman of large estates, who was
eventually raised to the peerage as Earl of Llandaff
Though at bs death in 1906 his estates are said to
have amounted to E40, 900 year, they were great
iy encountered by his successor, on whose death
IN 1883 they devolved upon his only surviving sis
ter, the late Lady Elizabeth Mathew, who at her
death IN lS42 bequeathed them to French noble
man IN no way related to her. the VIscount de
Chabot, leaving her only near relative unproyided
for. and, singulary enough, appointing him execu-
tor to the very will by which she stripped her fami-
y of their ancestral property. Mr.. Mathew very
naturally declined to act, and the magnificent es-
tates Of the house OF Llanda have passed into the
hands Of strangers
We believe that TheObald Mathew, son of James
Mathew, of Thomastown, county Tipperary, was
born at that place on the 10th of October, 1890.
His grandmother was neice of the celebrated Gen
eral Mathew, of whom honorable mention is made
by Sheridan in his Life of Swift" Having lost
his parents at an early age. Theobald Mathew was
adopted by his distant relative the Lady Elizabeth
Mathew, mentioned above, who placed him under
the tuition of the Rev. Dennis O'Donnel, parish
priest, of Tallagh county Waterford. At the age
OF IL he was sent to the lay academy of Kilkenny,
whence he was removed in his Goth year to May
nooth, to pursue his ecclesiastical studies having
shown signs of 4 clerical vocation. On Easter
Sunday, 1914, he was ordained in Dublin by the
late Archbishop Murray. After some time he re-
turned to Kilkenny with the intention of Joining
the mission of two Capuchn friars there; but be-
fore long he removed to Cork. By rescript from
the late Pope Gregory XVI he received the degree
OF Doctor In Divinity, together with dispensaton
allowing him to possess property. From the mo-
ment of entering upon his missionary duties at
Cork he began to show the sterling worth of his
character. Ever diligent in his work of the pulpit
the confessional and the sick mans bedside, he
devoted all his spare time, not to violent agitation
like DR.. Cahl and other ecclesiastical firebrands,
but to the temporal and spiritual wants of the poor
to whom he acted as counsellor, friend, treasurer,
and executor "The dying father" says one who
knew him well, committed his bereaved family to
the care of Father Mathew; the widowed mother,
threatened at her death with the unprotectedness
of her children, drew cOmposure and resignation
from her confidence in him. Every day multiplied
the demands on his attention and widened the cir
Gle of his untiring usefulness. He acted as mag
lstrate as well as minister and thus composed
teuds, secured justice TO the oppressed and healed
the broken peace of many family. His charities
kept pace with his exertions, and were only limit
ed by his means. Among other good deeds, we
may mention that when the graveyards in Cork
were full, Father Mathew himself purchased the
Botanic Gardens of that city, and allowing them
to retain their former agreeable walks and statua-
ry (the best specimens of Hogan's native genius),
he converted them into a cemetery, moi for CaIho-
lies alone, but for members of every other denomi
nation To the poor burial was allowed gratuit-
ously, and the fees derived from all other inter-
ments were devoted to charity. The Northern
lnhrmaTy In Cork for many years derived an income
of two guineas weekly from this source. About
the same time he commenced building a beautiful
Gothic church at the cost of about fI5 ,000.'
Thus, by the force of his well-known character
as a genuine Christian patriot, even before the
commencement of the Temperance movement in
the south of ireland, Father Mathew had risen to
the highest estimation among his people. The af-
fability of his manners, his readiness to listen to
every grief and care, and if possible to remove it,
the pure and selfsacrifcing spirit of his entire
career, were emnently calculated to seize upon
the quick, warm impulses of the Irish heart, and to
make his word law. Some twenty years ago there
was no country in which the vice of intoxicaton
had spread more devastation than in Ireland All
efforts to restrain it were in vain. The late Sir
Michael OLoghens Act for the Suppression of
Drunkenness was dead letter; many even of the
wise and good deemed it hopeless and incurable,
and it was said that the Irish would abandon their
nature before they abandoned their whisky.
There were those who thought otherwise. Some
members of the Society of Friends and few other
individuals at Cork, had bound themselves into an
association for the suppression of drunkenness but
found that they were unable to make head against
the torrent. In their despair these gentlemen,
though Protestants, applied to Father Mathew;
one.Of them, more bold and energetic thap the
others, is said to have exclaimed, "Mr Mathew,
you have now got mission worthy of yourself; do
not reject it."
Father Mathew responded to the call; with what
success ultimately suppose that our readers are
all well aware. The work, however, was not the
work of day. For year and half he toiled
and abored against the deep-rOoted degradation of
the Boys" of Cork, the ridIcule and detraction of
many doubtful friends, and the dscountcnance of
many others from whom he had expected support
He held his regular meetings twice week in the
Horse Bazaar At length he had the satisfaction
of seeing the mighty mass of obdurate Indifference
begin to move. He continued to apply the lever,
and the motion inc creased; some of the most obdu-
rate drunkars in Cork enrolled their names in bis
ssTotal Abstinence Association" His fame be-
gan to travel along the banks of the Shannon.
First, the men of KiIrush came in to be received,