MATHEW, 11KV. THEOBALD. 



MATTHEW OF WESTMINSTER. 



ill 



. in hi. 'Autobiography' *ay* of Cotton Mather 1 . 'EMayt to 



4e Oood,' that " they peroapt gave him a tone of thinking thai had an 

 at on eotse of the principal future eveote of hit life ;" and in 



(Franklin'* writing* and plant of telf-dhcipline we have often 

 we *aw th. lalueoot alto of Cotton Mather* 'Student 

 r. a itudenf* guide which in th* theological aoad.mtxe 

 ad asaoag the etodioo* young OMU of the dissenting bodies of England, 

 M well M in America, WM a oheriahed manual, till superseded by the 

 ' Mental Discipline' and th. 'Student* Manual' of the Burden and 

 UM Todd* of our own day. Mather 1 * writing, on witche* and ipirite 

 will be preserved by the eircumttano*. to which they refer ; his greatest 

 poblisbed work 'Magnalia Chruti Americana: or the EccletiMtical 

 IHeVirr of New England, from it. fint planting in the year 1620, unto 

 WM year of our Lord 1696; in Mven book*,' London, 1702; fint 

 American edition 2 volt. Svo, Hartford, 1820, though a mere mast of 

 iiadsjMUd material*, i* valuable M an important contribution to the 

 *rl]-'irrln.Hh-1 tad general history of New England. 



MATHEW, THE REV. THEOBALD, the Apostle of Temperance in 

 Inland. WM born at Thomastown, county of Tipperary, October 1 0, 1 790: 

 His father, an illegitimate member of the family of the earls of Llandaff, 

 rhile hit children 



i were young, and Theobald was enabled by the 

 UadntM of the Count.** of Llandaff and Lady Elizabeth Mathew, to 

 ptooitd to the academy of Kilkenny, and afterward* to St. Patrick'* 

 College, Maynooth, where b. remained until he WM ordained a priest 

 of UM Roman Catholic Church in 1814. H. WM appointed to a 

 ssJMJinnrj charg. at Cork, where hit influence WM great among the 

 rich and UM poor alike: on hi* appointment to thit mission he received 

 from th. pope, Gregory XVL, the degree of D.D., with a dispensation 

 n~Hi^ him to hold property. Among other benefits which Father 

 Matbew conferred upon the inhabitant* of Cork WM the establishment 

 of a religion* tuuittj for UM purpose of visiting the sick and needy, ou 

 the Medal of UM M0itit of St. Vincent de Paul : this institution 

 obtained UM warm approbation of th. Irish Poor-Law Commissioners 

 in 1884. About four yesn later he WM requested to lend his aid to 

 a temperance aatoeUtion formed in Cork. He joined the association 

 and became ill pttaiueiit : and devoting himself heart and soul to the 

 |iMO*fiil agitation, he had the satisfaction to ate within a few months 

 no lea than 160.000 oonverti in Cork alone. Extending hi* iphrre of 

 eerioB b* commenced a ' progress' through the west of Ireland, where 

 proportionate result, ware teen ; wherever he went the crowds that 

 locked to ' Father Mathew ' to take the pledge of temperance were so 

 Burnerou*. that they could only be kept in control by the military and 

 polio*. Tb* MUM remit, followed in all the towns which he visited 

 m the north of Ireland, and at Dublin, and to a considerable extent 



Liverpool, Manchester, and London, where regardless of creed and 

 country be went about doing good, and raising the squalid objects of 

 pity and eompateioa to self-respect, independence, and industry. It 

 ought to be added, that hi the execution of his mission Father Mathew 

 did not scruple to sacrifice his temporal prospects ; a distillery in the 

 oath of Inland which belonged to hi* brother, and formerly provided 

 him with almost all his income, being shut up in consequence of bis 



iMtew ttltet UM UM of ardent .pint*. His services in the cause 

 of morality tad religion having been recognised by statesmen of all 

 Hit of opinion, her Majeaty granted to Father Mathew out of the 

 civil li*t an annuity of SOOL a year a turn, which though ample in 

 itavlf. It understood to have been little more than sufficient to keep 

 up the payuMOte on policies of asturanoe upon hit life obtained for the 

 take of curing hi* creditor* ; and a private subscription WM entered 



i for hit assistance. He died on the 8th of December 1866; having 

 i etale of hit health been for some yean incapacitated for active 



MATHKW8, CHARLES, an eminent comedian, was bom on the 

 lh of JOB* m, snd educated at Merchant Tailors' School. HU 

 liber, Mr. James Matbewa, wa* a bookseller in the Strand, and intended 

 Ckarle*. who was hie seventh son. to follow the business. A strong 

 aa>d aily melisiioD far the stage however indue- d the son, after two 

 or thrw iMeaitils in privau, to make hi* debut a* an amateur in the 

 part, of Riofamood in KicUrd HI,' tad Bowkit in ' The Son in Law,' 

 at the RicbBood TlMMre, on Saturday, September 7. 1793; and on 

 the 1MB of June 17M he made hi. first appearance a. a regular 

 iitan the Theatre-Royal, Dublin, for the benefit of Mrs. Well*, 

 awd ia te characters of Jacob in 'The Chapter of Accident*,' and 



' Mr - 



- r - """ mar 



M. Irst wife, Mi Ui Kirkham Strong, the daughter of a ph,.ician 

 " *** . * *" Tork In 1802, tad in 1808 Mr. Mathew. was 



- - M| Iav2, tad AOVO jar. nauiews WM 



to hi. Moood and turviving wile, Mu. Ann. Jackson, at that 

 S"X. of tb * York on>Pny. On th. 16th of 

 r it) th. MUM year Mr. Mathewi made hi* fint bow to a London 

 i at UM Ha; market Theatre, and on the 17th of September 

 Ir* appeariM. at Drury Lane, in the character of Don 

 8sMwo.ld.ad she would not.' On Wednesday, April 1 2. 

 , at the Theatre Boy aL Hull, he made hit flnt trial of thoee 

 ^S^J^S^!^ hi ' Jotertainmente ' tad ' At Homos,' by the 

 MeU-Caaeh Adventures, or Ramble* in Yorkshire/ On 

 the Oad of July 1814 Mr. Matbew. WM Mverely injured bv Ujng 

 * of a ttlVury in which be WM driving hi* friend Mr. Tern. 



f. iBel *!. */ WI UM 



on UM .ad of April 1818 he oamiataced hit extraordinary 



engagement with Mr. Arnold of the English Opera House, and gave 

 hi* first 'At Home' in London, an entertainment which he repeated 

 thirty-nine uxhu to overflowing houses. In 1822 he paid his .first 

 visit to New York, returned to England in the following year, au.l iu 

 1824 produced his entertainment entitled 'A Trip to America.' Iu 

 January 1828 he aooeptod a abort engagement at Drury Lane, and in 

 the autumn of the same year became joint proprietor with Mr. Yates 

 of the Adelphi Theatre, by the purchase of his deceased friend Mr. 

 Terry's thar*. In 1834 he again visited America, but was compelled 

 by ill health to return prematurely, having played only thirty nights. 

 On Tuesday, 28th of June, 1836 (his birth-Jay), he expired at Plymouth, 

 after considerable suffering, aged fifty-nine, and was buriod in the vesti- 

 bule of St. Andrew's church in that town. As a comedian, Mr. Mathews 

 ranked deservedly high ; but his greatest popularity was certainly 

 achieved by his wonderful talent for personation and imitation, iu the 

 exercise of which his kind heart as well as good taste kept him guiltless 

 of offence even to the most sensitive of those whose peculiarities of 

 voice, manner, or person be so happily assumed. Iu private life Mr. 

 Mathews was universally respected, and with him the stage lost a 

 perfect gentleman u well as a distinguished professor. His memoira, 

 partly autobiographical, and edited by his widow, have been recently 

 published in Svo. His BOU, the present Mr. CHJLKLES MATUKWS, was 

 educated as an architect, and commenced the practice of thitt profession 

 with a fair prospect of success, but eventually gave scope to his strong 

 beut for the stage. As manager, in connection with liia wife*, so long 

 a public favourite as Madame Veatris, first of the Olympic and after- 

 wards of the Lyceum Theatre, Mr. Mnthews's career u well known. 

 As a light comedian, he has secured for himself a special line of 

 characters in which he is without a rival. 



MATILDA or MAUD, EMPRESS. [HENRY I; HENBT IL] 



MATSYS, QU1NTIN, an eminent painter, born at Antwerp in 1400, 

 is said to have followed the trade of a blacksmith, or farrier, till ho 

 was at least twenty years of age. Hia quitting his trade to take up 

 painting has been ascribed to different causes. The story that has 

 gained most credit (perhaps because it is the moat romantic) i", that 

 lie fell in love with a young woman whose father was resolved she 

 should marry none but on artist ; and that he in consequence applied 

 himself to painting with such success, that he wa iu a very short time 

 qualified to claim the lady's hand. At all events, he appears to have 

 had great talents : his manner U singular, and different from that of 

 any other master ; his design is correct and true to nature, and his 

 colouring forcible. His pictures are carefully finished, though rather 

 dry and hard. It is thought by competent judges that, if he had been 

 ill Italy, and studied the antique auJ the great masters of the Kouiun 

 school, he would have been one of the most eminent painters of the 

 Low Countries. Though he generally took his subjects from ordinary 

 life, he sometimes ventured with success into . the higher departments 

 of the art One instance of this is a ' Descent from the Cross,' painted 

 for the cathedral of Antwerp, and now iu the museum of that city. 

 His most remarkable and best-known picture is that of the ' Two 

 Misers,' of which there are numerous copies. The picture in the Royal 

 Gallery at Windsor is supposed to be the original. Dr. Waagm speaks 

 in the highest terms of a ' Mary Magdaleu,' half-length, three-quarters 

 the size of life, in the gallery at Corsham House, the seat of Lord 

 Methueu. The drawings of Malays are extremely rare. He died at 

 Antwerp in 1529. 



MATTHEW, ST., the Apostle and KvaugelUt, was a uative of 

 Galilee, aud a publican or collector of customs and tribute under the 

 Romans. While employed iu his office at the city of Capernaum, he 

 was called by Christ to follow him (Matt. ix. 9), and was afterwards 

 chosen to be one of the apostles (Matt. z. 3). An account which 

 corresponds in all respects to that of the conversion of Matthew, as 

 related by himself, is givou by Mark (ii. 14), and Luke (v. 27), respecting 

 a publican named Levi, the son of Alphams. Orotius and other-, have 

 supposed that Matthew and Levi were different persons, whose cou- 

 veniou took place at the same time ; but if so, why should Matthew 

 relate his own conversion and omit all mention of that of Levi ? As 

 the three narratives plainly refer to the same time and place, and us 

 Levi is not mentioned among the apostles, nor in any other passage 

 of the New Testament, we may safely conclude that Matthew and Levi 

 are names of the same person. Perhaps Levi was his proper name, 

 and Matthew a surname given him after hid conversion, as that of 

 Peter was to Simon. The Hebrew word Matthew signifies 'a gift of 

 Jehovah.' 



In the Acts of the Apostles (i. 13), Matthew is mentioned with the 

 other apostles as remaining in Jerusalem after the ascension of Christ. 

 His subsequent history is quite uncertain. According to Socrates, an 

 eoclesi.stical historian of the 6th century, he went to Ethiopia (Soc., 

 ' Hist Ecc.,' lib. i., c. 19) ; but according to another tradition, to 

 Parthia. It has been a commonly-received opinion that he was put 

 to d. ath at N addabar, a city in Ethiopia (Caw's ' Lives of the Apostles,' 

 p. 178) ; but Heracleon, a Valentiniau of the 2ud century, mention 

 him among those of the. apoetles who escaped martyrdom. The passage 

 is cited by Clement of Alexandria (' Strouiata,' lib. iv., p. 502 B). 



MATTHEW OF WESTMINSTER, one of those valuable old 

 writers, the Latin chronicler* of England, who have handed down to 

 us in a timple statement of facta the deeds of the sovereigns and the 

 persons who guided public uilkirs at a remote period. Matthew spent 



