Daily Ohio statesman. [volume] (Columbus, Ohio) 1855-1870, 1863-12-27
. Father Mathew

peTdnCe,' uleu OH Gle SUn OF Decp1nD Der.
1856, at the age of sixty-six. Having acted
as Catholic missionary for over forty years
chiefly in Cork, it was fitting that his life
should be written by a native of that "beau-
tiful city," This has been done, and well
doneL-iiT frank, noble, truthful and gener-
Gus spirit--by John Francis Mcguire, Mem
Der of Parliament for the borough of Dun
canon, editor and proprietorofthe Cork Er-
ap,iner, and now, for the third time, Mayor
of Cork. 1t is entitled .sFather Mathew; a
Biography" has just been published by
Longman d Co., London, and is complete in
single volume of moderate size. IN .,
A critic across the water reminds us that
"there was lady at Queen Charlotte's we'd
ing, a Miss Smith, whom Walpole de-
scribes as one of those real beauties who
might have little troubled the bride. This
lady married a Mathew, who became Earl
of Llandaff, an Irish peerage; and Of this
Mathew family Theobald, or Toby, Mathew
was a member" In fact, his father was
the illegitimate brother of the Earl of
Llandatf. He married early and respecta-
bly,, died early, and left his children to the
care of the Countess of LANDAU and her
sister-in-law, Lady Elizabeth Mathew, a lib
eral and kind-hearted woman, who gave
them good education. Like their father
they were Catholics, but the legitimate and
noble family of Mathew, Earl of LANDAU,
were Protestants. .nsg 81
The title, as will be perceived, though in
the Irish peerage, is taken from Welsh To-
cality. The family of Mathews emigrated
from Wales into Ireland, and, in process of
time acquired large estates in ''sweet Tip
perary," where they continued members of
the Church of Rome. They finally became
Observation-Disclosures from conviction or for
convenience, we shall leave others to decide.
Mr.. Mathew, man of great landed proper
ty, carried hospitality to remarkable ex-
tent. 1t was this gentleman who entertain
ed Dean Swift and Dr. Sheridan ina princely
manner, and there is in Sheridan's life of
Swift description of the mansion with its
forty rooms for guests, like a hotel-a sort
Of liberty hall, where every one lived as he
pleased, called for whatever he fancied, and
only had no bill to pay when he departed.
Dean Swift went to Mr.. Mathews to re-
main a fortnight, but was so much pleased
with his treatment there that the visit ex-
tended to four months. BY one of the
abominable penal laws of that period if u
Protestant rendered to any Catholic the
sum of five pounds (S25) for his horse, no
matter how valuable the animal, he could
not refuse it. We have heard of an instance
where the owner of the horse shot it rather
than thus be insulted, and robbed. Mr..
Mathew, who sported an elegant equipage
drawn by four blood horses, had excited
the envy of q poorer Protestant gentleman,
who accosted him in the streets of Caslfel
and rendered him twenty pounds for his
horses. Rather than incur the penalties of
a prenau,rire, Mr.. Mathew was compelled to
surrender his splendid bays and take the
paltry penal price. sg Ht I---.- la.i
To avoid such Inconvenience Mr.. Mathew
became one of the legal Church. In the
next generation, the family were fully re-
cognized as good law-Protestants, and the
wealthy, popular, and influential Squire
Mathew, who married the beautiful Miss
Smith, was created Earl LANDAU. The title
has not been long extinct.
-- Theobald Mathew, born on October 10th,
1890, at Thomastown, near ancient Cashel Of
the Kings, in the county Of Tipperary, was
kindly cared for in his youth. His mother,
the widow, who lived respectfully :. on
their farm, had set her heart upon seeing
one of her SONS in the church. They
some, high-spirited, gay, and full of life,
and declined going into training fol the
priesthood.
So, Iheobald, aged twelve, and his moth
er's pet, promised to crafty her desire. His
noble relations were too liberal to interfere,
and, with their concurrence. he was educat-
ed at the Academy of Kilkenny, and thence
went to st. Patrick's College, Maynooth, in
1910. His biographer mentions it as Gu
rious fact that ''the Apostle of Temperance,
when q student at Maynooth, retired from
the college to save himself from expulsion,
his offense being an addiction to convivial-
ty and sociality, harmless enough as far as
it went, but yet exceeding the stringent
regulations of the establishment" Hepass-
ed from Maynooth into another training,
and was ordained in 1914, the only Objec-
tion his superiors took to him being that he
was too popular priest. 5yg I,...J ND
Soon he passed from the secular to the
lowliest and poorest of the regular orders
in Ireland-the Capuchins of Kilkenny, and
his fame as a preacher and contessor soon
spread through the city; but his bishop hay-
ing suspended him in consequence of a false
report, he proceeded to Cork.
When he went to Cork there fingered
many and pleasant memories of another
eminent Capuchin, Father Arthur O'Leary,
who raised the little Convent and little
Chapel of the Capuchins, in Blackamoor's
Lane, near the South Bridge. O'Lcary, one
of the best scholars, ablest writers, and
purest patriots of his time, the friend of
Curran and of Fox, and the occasional as
sociate of johnson, was favorite in Lon
don, as well as in Cork, but Theobald Math-
ew was as popular ingthe latter city as any
clergyman possibly could have BEEN
There, during the cholera in 1882, he
worked heroically, regardless of fatigue and
His life passed on quietly but usefully,
for many years, until he was called upon to
take part In the Temperance movement
He benefited his adopted city by establish
ing religious society for visiting the sick
and needy, on the model of the societies of
st. Vincent de Paul, and the Irish Poor
Commissioners bore testimony, in 1884, to
its liberality and utility. He also establish
ed literary and industrial schools Pope
Gregory XVI gave him dispensation to
hold property (for this and other charitable
purpOses), and sent him the degree of Doc
tor of Divinity. Father Mathew was one
of the most quiet and tnasstiming OF public
men, and did not assume the title.
Habits of illtemperance, in, the, United
Kingdom, had gone on increasing between
1921 and 1888. The consumption Of whisky
had averaged 9,500,000 gallons in 1902, 1872,
and 1921, respectively. In 1881 it was near
ly i22000,00O gallons. In ireland It had
risen from about three million gallons in
1921, to nearly nine millions in 1881, and had
fo chod fssSJ, mill nY,c IN QQQlfi9 yt0vs Tri