LOT Old Heritage Auctions  /  2007 June Marketplace Auction #87061  / 

91796

Father Theobald Mathew Autograph Letter Signed

Currency:USD Category:Collectibles Start Price:12.00 USD Estimated At:50.00 - 100.00 USD
Father Theobald Mathew Autograph Letter Signed
<B>Father Theobald Mathew Autograph Letter Signed,</B></I> 7 x 8.5, three pages, July 7, 1849, New York, from Mathew to Mr. Delavan. Folds else fine. <BR><BR>Theobald Mathew (1790-1856) was an Irish temperance reformer. He received his schooling in Kilkenny. From 1808 to 1814 he studied in Dublin, where in the latter year he was ordained to the priesthood and entered the Capuchin Order. The movement with which his name is associated began in 1838 with the establishment of the Abstinence Society which relied on one enduring act of will to keep a person sober for life. It was called simply The Pledge. It could be made by anybody, either with or without an alcohol problem. Father Mathew did not believe in gradual approaches or temporary commitments. He advocated a promise that meant complete commitment. It did not bind like the vows of marriage, but the principle of permanent commitment was the same. Fr. Mathew understood that as long as the act of will continued, it could overcome all difficulties. At its height just before the Great Famine of 1845-48, his movement enrolled some 3 million people, or more than half of the adult population of Ireland. In 1844 he visited Liverpool, Manchester, and London with almost equal success. <BR><BR>On July 2, 1849 New York welcomed Fr. Mathew. Mayor Woodhull, a non-Catholic, placed City Hall at his disposal. For two weeks the crowds besieging its chambers practically eliminated all city business. Vice-President Millard Fillmore was one of the callers. In Washington President Zachary Taylor invited Fr. Mathew to dine at the White House. Congress gave the humble Capuchin friar its highest honors. The House unanimously admitted him to a seat on the floor of the House. The Senate admitted him within the bar of the Senate, an honor given previously only to Lafayette. <BR><BR>Edward Cornelius Delavan (1793-1871) was an antiliquor leader and one of the two dozen wealthiest New Yorkers. <B></B></I><BR><BR><b>Shipping:</b> Flat Material, Small (<a target="_blank" href="http://www.heritageauctions.com/common/shipping.php">view shipping information</a>)
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