Matthias, a native of Holstein, the only person on record who openly professed and taught atheism. It is said he had about 1000 disciples in different parts of Germany. They were called Confessionaries, because they affirmed there is no other God, no other religion, no other lawful magistracy, but conscience, which teaches every man the three fundamental principles of the law of nature:—To hurt nobody, to live honestly, and to give every one his due. Several copies of a letter of his from Rome were spread abroad, containing the substance of his system. It is to be found entire in the last edition of Micraelius.