are two or three matters belonging to the history, which will be disposed of in the present.

From the bankruptcy of Mr. Folger, and the melting away of the estate of Mr. Pierson, it has been supposed that Matthews was himself the swindler. Such, however, is probably not the fact, to any greater extent than the amount of money extorted by him from his disciples, to lavish in procuring the fantastical decorations of his person, and the means of his voluptuous living. Mr. Folger estimates his loss, directly, by his association with Matthews, at four thousand five hundred dollars. His failure was produced, first, by the withdrawal of bank accommodations, in consequence of the peculiar state of mind under which he appeared to be labouring, and, secondly, by the failure of a friend for whom he was an endorser. The following letter from him to one of the household at Singsing, stated, and doubtless truly, the immediate cause of his stopping payment. It also throws some light upon the condition of his own mind at the time. It is rather light and gay for a devotee, and the concluding paragraph shows that the community at Mount Zion were not ignorant of the opinions of the world as to the disordered state of their intellects. It is without date, but must have been written early in March, 1834:

"Well, Tommy, how does thee do, now-a-days?'

"Sad, sad enough, Benjamin, for the bottom is all out! "The above was my salutation of Tommy F

the first time I met him after his failure. I am reminded of it just now by the great muss things are getting into here. Mr. , very unexpectedly to me, and himself too, determined upon stopping

to-day but upon my insisting that he should demand from the holders of the note due to-day an extension, that I might have time to put things right, he did it; and I shall continue to pay until Wednesday or Saturday. Mr. -'s failure will be a very bad one. He will not be able to protect me or anybody else in our endorsements, and there is not, therefore, any escape that I can see, but that I must stop, and a half-dozen others. But, of course, this is for the court only. I have written Judge K- - a letter this evening, and I send enclosed a copy of it, which please read and burn.

"It is quiet in Third-street, when Mrs. A is out of the room (but never when she is in it), as a churchyard; and, as I am rather inclined to a quiet turn of mind, it is delightful! One month of it, I should think, would knock the bottom out of Jew or Gentile.

"Sanity and Insanity.-Everybody thinks his neighbour mad, if his pursuits happen to be opposite to his own. His neighbour thinks the same of him: but then these two kinds of madness do not interfere with each other. Then there comes an eccentric man, who, taking a just view of things, thinks them all mad -him they would lock up. I appoint Edward to kiss the whole tribe for me. I am the same

ONE."

Mr. Folger failed, as he foresaw he must do when he wrote this letter, and from the causes mentioned therein and elsewhere.

Mr. Pierson and Mr. Folger both suffered in their estates very severely, from other causes, one of which tells a darker tale of human depravity, than (aside from the conduct of Matthews) has been recorded yet in the present volume. There is no doubt of the fact, that there were a set of thoroughbred knaves hanging about the skirts of Pierson and Folger-more especially the former-a knot of harpies, who, availing themselves of the delusion by which those gentlemen were blinded, sported with their credulity under pretext of joining the association, but in reality to plunder them of their property.

1

Such an impression has long been entertained by those conversant with their pecuniary concerns, and when circumstances previously known are compared with some of the private, but imperfect, memoranda left by Mr. Pierson, the proof is as clear as could be desired, that there was indeed a combination of robbers who plundered them, though the evidence is not exactly such as can bring home the facts, in a legal form, to a court and jury. The loose papers just referred to, contain various entries of moneys advanced, or rather given, to these people. To one individual, on a certain occasion, he gave the sum of one thousand dollars, by direction, as he supposed, of the Holy Spirit, and with a promise from the same source that he should receive three fold in return. Pierson and Folger were likewise inveigled into various unfortunate speculations in patented inventions, by which many sums of money were lost. What some of these unlucky adventures were, the reader will discover by the following prayer, taken from the papers of the former :—

Nov. 12th, 1833. Spirit of Truth! guide us into the right way concerning the globe stove, self-loading cart, [and] planing machine. Manifest thy mind concerning these things, that we may know and do thy pleasure.

I ask that the evil spirits may have no power to hinder the successful and beneficial operation of these things.

O Lord God, let not the enemies triumph over us, but send help, such as is needed.

We [I] consecrate the gain to the building of thy kingdom. Now, Lord God, hear this my prayer.

They likewise embarked to a considerable extent in speculations of real estate-always under the di

rection of the Holy Spirit-Mr. Pierson having the vision, and Mr. Folger making the purchases and sales. These were not all unsuccessful, but no very great profits were realized. And even had there been, the avails would have been swallowed up in the stock operations which Mr. Pierson supposed he was making by the same Divine direction. The following is a copy of one of his spiritual missives, to Mr. Folger, to purchase stock :—

June 3, 1833. Wrote to B. H. Folger: "Now is the accepted time; buy three hundred shares. Let it be left with thee to sell, and I will direct. More than ten will be obtained for it. Cost, 105 per cent."

The stock was purchased, and a heavy loss was the consequence. But enough has been written upon this branch of the subject, and it is time to shift the scene.

CHAPTER IX.

Trial of Matthews before the Court of Oyer and Terminer in Westchester-First, as to the question of his sanity-Second, on the indictment for murder-Third, for the assault and battery upon his daughter, Mrs. Laisdell.

THE warrant upon which Matthews had been surrendered by the civil authorities of New-York to those of the county of Westchester, was issued upon information as to the circumstances attending Mr. Pierson's death, contained in the deposition of Mrs. Dratch-the female mentioned in the narrative of Mr. Folger, who came to their residence during the illness of the deceased, and remained there until his death. Mrs. Dratch, it will be recollected, came there for pecuniary assistance. The following is a copy of the deposition referred to:

"Mrs. Dratch testifies, that on the 11th of August, 1834, she came from New-York, with the intention of visiting Mr. Pierson, he having been many years her particular friend. When she reached his house, she saw Matthias, who appeared to he much excited, and told her that Mr. Pierson was sick, and that she could not then see him. But on repeating her request, was put off, and answered by Matthias, that when Mr. Pierson came from the bath, she might see him. When night cante on, she was urged by Matthias to go to bed, which she did from fear, and slept but little, and in the morning was told that Mr. Pierson was dead, but no one could tell by what means; but she heard him utter several groans during the night, and in the morning, when she arose, was told by Matthias that he was