against being unduly led
away by Adventism, Communism, or Infidelity; to give you an interest in
Providence and history. Do you ask if any will be led away by such a
false pretender? We answer, Yes--unless humanity undergoes some radical
change. Take a few instances:--

Our Shaker friends believed in Mother Ann Lee. This woman in 1770, while
living in Manchester, England, pretended to have a special revelation
from Heaven, making known unto her that she was the female side of
Christ--as Jesus was the revelation of the male side. As Eve was taken
out of Adam, the female principle separated from the male, so she was
separated from Christ. This, and much that is curious, do these sincere,
honest, and industrious people believe.

Take another example, nearer home, and of which some of you are
cognizant, having known the pretender and many of his duped followers.
We refer to Matthias, the prophet of Westchester County. This pretended
lord began his labours in Albany, N.Y., in 1830. First he taught himself
to be God's high priest, then the Saviour, then he claimed to be God. On
being asked where he was from, he would answer: "I am a traveller, and my
legal residence is Zion Hill, Westchester County, New York State. I am a
Jewish teacher and priest of the Most High God, saying and doing all that
I do, under oath, by virtue of my having subscribed to all the covenants
that God hath made with man from the beginning up to this time. I am
chief high priest of the Jews of the Order of Melchizedec, being the last
chosen of the twelve apostles, and the first in the resurrection which is
at the end of 2,300 years from the birth of Mahommed, which terminates in
1830. I am now denouncing judgment on the Gentiles, and that judgment is
to be executed in this age."

He appeared in fine pontifical robes, with a rule six feet long in his
right hand; with this he was to measure off God's holy city. In his left
hand he had a two-edged sword. Underneath his pontifical robe he had a
rich olive broadcloth cloak, lined and faced with silk and velvet;
besides, he wore a brown frock coat, with several stars on each breast,
with a splendid gold star on the left. His belt was of white cloth,
fastened by a golden clasp, and surmounted with an eagle. He wore a
cocked hat of black beaver, trimmed with green, the rear angle being
surmounted by the golden symbol of glory.

He moved from Albany to New York, and here succeeded most wonder