BEWARE! O, YE OF SIMPLE FAITH

NZ Truth, Issue 1193, 11 October 1928, Page 5

BEWARE! O, YE OF SIMPLE FAITH

niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiHiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii OTHER aspects of Irvine's fraudulent escapades m the southern centres provide strong circumstantial support for the belief that Griggs arrived m the Dominion m July or August and has since set himself out to indulge m the deceitful means of re-establishing himself which failed him some weeks after his acquittal. He was, at that time exposed as having spuriously gained acceptance as the Presbyterian figurehead for the small rural community of Colonel Lights Gardens, South' Australia. . . The fundamental dictates of Christianity cannot help but leave the chambers of human sympathy an everopen door to such social scorpions as those, who, clutching at the garments of assumed godliness, would trespass upon the credulity of their, fellow-men. If Ronald Griggs is identical with Robert Irvine, alias John Wilson, he now ranks with the most despicable usurpers who ever debased the Word of God. Should Griggs have decided to try New Zealand, wherein to lose the brand of notoriety attendant upon his acquittal for murder, it is not the purpose of "N.Z. Truth" to victimise him and. hound him down. . The finger of justice pointed to innocence and freedom — and it would be ruthless injustice to tag his name to any one incident on the frail grounds of supposition. . But m view of the strong set of circumstances' accompanying the suspicion of highly-responsible members of the Methodist Church, ■ it becomes "Truth's" " duty to the community to throw light on the extraordinary significance of the facts which link up the chain! of probability. Whether Griggs; Irvine and Wilson are one and the same person is still a matter for some, conjecture, but, whoever he may be, the unscrupulous impostor is still at large— a menace to every branch of church work m New Zealand. . Towards the end of July, a young Eloquent Sermon^, man presented himself to the authorities of the Invercargill Methodist Church, stating that he had just arrived from Australia for the purpose of recuperating his health, following a serious motor accident m which he had ilbst his wife and two children. The catastrophe; he said, took place just outside Sydney on Boxing Day. To give his story some degree of authenticity, he produced a newspaper (photograph of a motor accident, which, he claimed, was the .scene of his terrible marital bereavements. It waß noticed, however, by those to whom it was exhibited, that the caption beneath the illustration had not been retained. • < '.' . He gave .the name of Robert L«. Irvine and confirmed his .alleged.identity by handing m a "removal certificate," testifying to his status., m Darlinghurst, Sydney, as a "local preacher, sunday-school superintendent and circuit steward," Attached to the "certificate" was a letter of Introduction signed by "George S. Watts, superintendent minister, The Parsonage, 66 Albion Street, Darlinghurst, Sydney," the authority whose name appeared on the certificate" — a correct specimen of the forms used by the Methodist Church of Australasia. On the strength of his credentials, and from a rising feeling of sympathy for the young man on account of his alleged misfortunes, he was taken into the fold. It was only a matter of days before his apparent, fervor and piety gained him a place at the head of prayer meetings, which, m turn, led to his being assigned to the pulpit at Edendale (a suburb) and later at Bluff. ■ As a preacher, Irvine manifested a complete knowledge of his subject, delivering his 1 sermons m a captivating and thoroughly experienced manner. His presence was soon accepted by the congregation as something of an asset. He enjoyed the respect and generosity of every church worker who Entertained King heard of the sad experiences which he claimed had recently befallen him. Deciding, no doubt, that he had flopped right into a bed of feathers, Irvine betook himself to the printing department of the "Southland Times," where he lodged an order for an elaborate "prospectus," which was to pave the way to further riches— whether at the expense of the publlo, Irvine did not stay long enough to demonstrate. He had often spoken of his elocutionary abilities* so that it was m no way surprising to his new associates when they were handed an imposing pamphlet embellished with the rhetorical propensities of "Robert L.. Irvine, A.T.C.D. (London and Sydney); lecturer m vocal physiology, phonology and speech culture.", "Teacher of elocution, voice. production and dramatic art. . .- If you think a course 'of elocution will benefit you, see me, and I will advise," Irvine's pretty little hand -bill— like a dance programme — told Invercargill folk. "Church, platform, bar, stage, private, tuition, voice training, reading, recitation, public speaking, dramatic art and class tuition," were the accomplishments which Robert Irvine wished to impart to .New Zealanders. And he'd do it for the modest figure of £1 Is. per quarter (classes); double the dose, for "private tuition." . "Single lessons," he '. Would throw over for a modest five shillings. , Just to fill m the back-page of his "prospectus," he let the public know that' "Mr. Irvine was associated with the Coo-ees Concert Party (A.1.F.), which gave & command performance before ' His Majesty. King George V. ■'". .. . .Mr. Irvine has al3o .■•ad- ; judicated at the following Eisteddfods:. Lismore, Wagga Wagga, Bathurst, Armidale and Granville (N.'S.W.);" ■■ But when those who had swallowed Irvine's floriferous bait toddled along to his "studio" m the V.M.C.A. buildings, they found the cupboard of cul-

Is Pastor Ronald Griggs, Disciple of Infamous Practice, Preying Upoh New Zealand Churchmen?

QUEER PARALLELS OF HIS AUSTRALIAN CAREE

(From "N.Z. Truth's" Special Dunedin Representative.) WHO IS ROBERT L. IRVINE, alias John Wilson, alleged A.T.C.L. (London and Sydney), bogus minister of the Methodist Church and self -described lecturer m vocal physiology, phonology and speech culture, who recently preyed on the confidence and human sympathies of Invercargill and Dunedin churchmen, and is now wanted by the police ? , "N.Z. Truth" has very tangible reasons for asking : "Is he Ronald Griggs, the central figure m the amazing Omeo (Victoria) murder trial ?" Officials of the Methodist Church m Invercargill and Dunedin, who were closely associated with Irvine (or Wilson) during his questionable sojourns of several weeks m either town, have credited him with a 70 per cent, likeness to portraits of the minister whose acquittal — on a charge of having poisoned his young wife, m order to free himself for the consummation of an illicit romance— was the culminating feature of a most sensational trial.

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ture was bare. Robert, by some supereffort of his own "dramatic art," had disappeared; - . • Gone . . . - with the lock, stock and barrel of his big-gun tutelage, leaving nothing behind him but a.wondering congregation and an unpaid bill for board. ' ' s Yet the yteldings of the Methodist community of ' Invercargill .to the would-be professor's eloquence were not so complete as might, be imagined. The young man's demeanor, his appearance and certain other salient circumstances m connection with his alleged previous associations with the Church, were pieced together by those m authority and led to a very feasible suspicion, that . - Irvine might be no other than Ronald Griggs, formerly of Omeo, Victoria. Over and above this, the young preacher's apparent partiality for the fair sex reinforced the suspjL cion m the minds of responsible members of the congregation. • It was with no inconsiderable feeling ■of relief that his disappearance from the Invercargill district was accepted. Nothing of Irvine's brief office as a minister of the Invercargill Methodist Church was-, made known to ministers of the Dunedin branch. Somewhere about the time that Irvine had so abruptly severed his connection with Invercarglil, there arrived on the doorstep of a Dunedin Methodist minister a young man who , called himself John Wilson, late of | Darlinghurst, Sydney. | He pitched exactly the same tale which had floated him Into the confidence of Southland churchmen and presented a similar type of "removal certificate," together with a covering note. ■■„-■' i This time the bearer's name was /'John WilBon" and the letter of introduction read: "To whom it may. concern: This will serve to introduce Mr. John Wilson, who has decided ' to reside'in New Zealand for a short period. He was Involved , m a serious motor accident at the beginning of the year, from Which he is just recovering. "My knowledge of him extends over a considerable periods both dn active' service and m the Sydney district. "Whilst abroad, he ever maintained a devout and manly Christian profession, and since his return has rendered yeoman service m connection with our own circuit as a local preacher and Sunday-school superintendent, also fitting other positions of importance.

* Wilson Vanishes

"I trust that wherever he" may be, he may find himself among friends. I therefore commend him to your pastoral oare and oversight. Fraternally yours, George S. Watts, superintendent minister." The document was written on a sheet of . cheap writing paper, m an uncertain and illiterate hand, not unlike that of Irvine (or Wilson) himself, so it transpired. As Irvine was received at Invercargill, „so was Wilson accepted into the warm circles of friendship m Dunedin. He became a noted leader of prayer at the Dundas Street Church during his several weeks' stay. His mention of elocutionary knowledge led to his being featured on a social programme, though his performance met with a very indifferent reception. It has since been ascertained that the total extent of his entertaining' index was "The Fireman's Wedding" and "The Road to Heaven." At the last quarterly Sunday-school meeting and tea m connection with the j Dunedin Methodist ■ Church, Wilson was a guest. .In view of his "sad hisI tory," he was very much m the. limelight: . However, it was unfortunate for him that a member of the Invercargill congregation named Brown was also a guest at the gathering. . Subsequently Wilson was arraigned before responsible ministers "of the Church as betag Robert L. Irvine. Still somewhat sympathetic towards the young man, Brown did not attend the meeting at which Wilson was questioned and the assertion' was given a flat denial m his absence. Rev. W. H. Hodking, who conducted the cross-examination, was insistent, however, and invited Wilson to face Brown, who happened to ; be superintendent of the Sunday-school- at which Irvine had been teaching m Invercargill. : ' But on the plea of indisposition, Wilson declined and compromised by stating that he would meet anybody at 8.30 the following morning. . He failed to turn up at the appointed time and place, and has not since been , seen by -any of the church members concerned. Nor has his • landlady, to whom he owes his board, had . the pleasure of resuming his plausible acquaintance. The young parasite-parson has also been 'successful m evading the police, m whose, hands the matter was immediately placed. .".; Since the disappearance of Irvine (or Wilson), the ministers to whom he had made himself friendly have been m deep conference. In an unbiased and unanimous opinion, they describe him as being- "70 per cent identical with portraits of Ronald Griggs." In giving the man's description to a "Truth" representative, Rev. W. H. Hocking,, m whose company , Wilson spent much of his leisure time, submitted the following impressions: Age, between 30 and 35; eyes, dark grey; hair, slightly tuffed in' centre of forehead, with receding patches of

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baldness on either side; stature, not more than sft. 7in. In height and of medium proportions; general demeanor that of a man . more or le3s under nervous tension; clothes, shabby; and shoes, heel-less, with rubber soles like those of a tennis -shoe.

In conversation with Rev. and Mrs. W.-.H. Hocking, WHson had discussed the Omeo tragedy and Its various aspects as reflecting on Ronald Griggs. He expressed an emphatic belief that m acquitting Griggs, justice had not miscarried.

The manner In which Irvine (Or Wilson) presented himself to the Church authorities, -conducted his prayer meetings and Sunday-schoola, and delivered, his sermons, left absolutely no doubt In the minds of those capableof judging that the young man possessed an intimate knowledge of church affairs and the duties of its ministry. ,

The fact that the bctgua young clergyman was m possession of authentic forms, to which none but those m office. have access, establishes the contention that Irvine (or Wilson) was possibly, , at one time or other, closely connected with the Methodist Church. „

The forms referred to are ; those specifically, used for transfers, two of which the masquerader 'presented.; as credentials. - . ■•

It might well be asked: "Who Is this man- Griggs?" '-, . - If "Robert L. Irvine," of Invercargill, and "John Wilson," of Dunedin, are but little more than temporary

mantles of hypocrisy and deceit, adopted by Ronald Reeves Griggs and affected for, the sworn purpose of deluding simple-minded church folk, then ft remains. the obvious duty of "N.Z. Truth*, to tell what it knows of, the life of/ this honey- tongued scoundrel, parsonicai pharlsee and betrayer., of a girl whose father was deceived when Griggs glibly swore before his God that he was innocent of any guilty relationships with Lottie Condon, the girl concerned. - . '. ...'<..■ Nearly three years ago, -Griggs and his bride sat on . the bump -b umping seats of a motor-coach, as it rolled along on its dusty way over., the serpentine road which communicates Omeo, a small mountain-locked hamlet, with its other neighbors of Eastern Gippsland. ■/. . » ' - Fifteen mites away lived . tha Condons, a fine, God-fearing family whose members clung dearly to 'the Methodist faith, m which community John Condon, his wife and their three daughters had inspired the fraternal spirit of unquestioned esteem : and deep' friendship. ! If only ' Lottie, the second of the three daughters, had been gifted with the .precious faculty of foresight, she Would- then have perceived -the distant .cloud of ignominy and bitter shame,] which hovered over the birthplace of time, when Griggs and his wife of but I a week first entered the. front door of the Omeo parsonage; ' This had been. Griggs' first call, after a brilliant academic career it Queen's .College,' Melbourne, from whence he; had served as a missioner m Tas- 1 mania, his birthplace and also that of Ethel; White, a school teacher on the i island where his father was a well-tb- ! do-drchar-dist. • ' In the pleasant manner of out-back folk,, the people of Omeo made Griggs and his young wife welcome, and the animated way m which the youthful minister conducted the office of his pastorship, encouraged the " townspeople to like him, even if they did look askance' at his attitude towards the younger members of the feminine

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section which helped to fill his church,

Save for occasional tittle-tattle, m which the names of Lottie Condon and Griggs were invariably bracketed, the first twelve months passed with comparative smoothness, and even if the minister's predilection for the rather I attractive daughter of his principal oommitteeman excited comment, her previous record, irrespective of her father's unquestioned standing and personal integrity, ; was sufficient to I gainsay any suggestion of serious moment. " At Christmas, 1926, Lottie accepted an invitation to spend a week at the parsonage. . • Now, although for. some time the womanly perception of Mrs. Griggs had prompted her that Griggs was unduly fond of the girl, she forbore to definitely charge him with \ infidelity, whatever the degree; but when the girl came to stay at the house, Mrs. Griggs decided that she would see for herself the exact extent of her husband's affection. One afternoon, Mrs. Griggs unexpectedly entered the kitchen, and was horrified to see Lottie Condon lying on the couch, the Rev. Griggs, with a good deal more than, pastoral tenderness bending over her and stroking her head. . At sight of the shamelessnesa of her husband, Mrs. Griggs collapsed, screaming, ,■• to the floor. So -pronounced, and so violent was her hysteria that a medical practitioner was urgently summoned to administer restoratives. *

When the popr woman had.Bufßciently recovered, she turned upon the girl who had so brazenly disillusioned her, called her a "shameless, vicious hussy," and ordered her out of the house, warning her never to return. The hypocritical Griggs urged and pleaded that the girl was suffering a headache, that he had been stroking' her head to relieve the pain, but all his empty pleadings, his assurances, his cajolings were m vain, and Trom that time onward the domestic happir ness of the Griggs family underwent a complete and irrevocable change. : Not that the minister was outwardly perturbed, for on many occasions after that, afternoon as well as evening 1 , he and the girl Condon were to be seen riding m his motor-cycle outfit along the country roads! .. Soon after the unfortunate incident m the kitchen, Mrs. Griggs became a mother, and as soon as. she 'was. sum*- \ ciently well to travel, she escaped from the uncongenial surroundings of her home life m the. parsonage, and went on an extended holiday, to the home of her parents m Railton, Tasmania. .jpuring her absence of four months, her husband and the girl Condon continued, their liaisons m a most abandoned manner, and the flagrant way m which they -conducted themselves soon became the ' focussing point of bar conversation and lewd suggestion. ■•:. On irmny pretexts she succeeded jn staying with friends m Omeo, and during these visits the infatuated girl spent the night with Griggs;- returning from the parsonage to- her own. room . where she was staying, at some ■ early hour m the- morning. \. V ; ■ On Saturday, December 31, 1927, Mrs. Griggs returned unexpectedly to Qmeo, but it was not until half past ten on, the Monday morning, when the minister rushed into the house' of his next-door neighbor, that anyone m Omeo. had any Intimation of Mrs. Griggs' return. It was at the hour mentioned that Griggs hurriedly entered the homestead of Mrs. Mitchell, his neighbor, asking for a bottle of soda water, saying: "Ethel is ill." " -

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Mrs. Mitchell ;was astonished at this I piece of information, ..as she had no Idea that Mrs. Griggs had been living In Omeo over the week-end, but she did not permit her' surprise to overcome her presence of mind, and within a few minutes she and the local doctor were ministering to the palpably sick wife of the parson. ' . Mrs. Griggs died that night, and when Dr. Mat hew was summoned he pronounced that the poor little woman had died half an hour earlier, from heart failure, and he issued a certificate to that effect. But if Dr. Mathew was satisfied, the humble parishioners of Omeo and the contiguous districts were -not. Suggestion and contention became so blunt, so openly expressed, that at length the local constable was constrained to make a special report to headquarters; with the effect that one of the most experienced criminal investigators on the Btaff of the Melbourne detective force received instructions to closely investigate the death of Ethel Griggs. While a high-powered touring car conveying Detective-sergeant Mulfahey was traversing the 260 miles which uncoil the devious way between Melbourne and Omeo, the serene countryside life of Eastern Gippsland was suffering an upheaval of brus.que comment and decided feeling against the wanton conduct of Griggs, many Af the parishioners expressing the belief that the minister was now unfit to wear the sacred cloth of his calling. . So pronounced was the agitation against Griggs, that a local justice of the peace urged the necessity for convening a committee which, would demand the satisfactory-. clearance. 'of the minister's name, or sustaining the charges of immorality which were openly levelled against him! As the name of his girl was being impugned with dishonor, John Cxmdon summoned Griggs to appear at the Condon homestead. / "Griggs, I want you to tell me the truth, so that I can make, up my mind what course of action I shall take at the committee meeting,!' said Condon. "Tell me the truth, man— is there anything wrong between 'you and Lottie?" Then, as Judas Iscariot before him, Griggs raised his sacrilegious gaze to that of the man whose name, whose hospitality, whose very honor he had betrayed, and, m a simulated throb of spurious I sincerity he declared: "Upon Griggs Unmasked my God, Condon, I swear that there has been nothing but friendship between Lottie and me." . And Condon, distraught with the anxiety which had afflicted him since the night when poor Ethel Grlggre' troubled spirit had cleared the Vale, and relieved beyond human assessment by ihe assurances given by Griggs, said: "Griggs, though it takes the. last penny I have, I will stick tb you and fight for you" throughout. thls^troubie." And that night Griggs was a guest at the Condon home. . „ But on the very night when he had so unotuously declared his Innocence, Lottie Condon crept along to the bedroom of her lover. . « Next morning, Griggs arid his host went to the committee meeting; m Omeo. ' • Many of the more senior members pressed for his resignation, but Condon, his rugged, implicit faith kindled with the seemingly.,' sincere "avowal .:.of Griggs on the previous afternoon, said: "If this man' ls wronged, and turned put, I arid 'the whole of my family will withdraw from the church." This proved the switching point towards/the achievement of complete victory for Giiggs and his champion, but whilst this course of progress was being carried to fruition, Detectivesergeant Mulfahey was. closely, questioning Lottie Condon, at the home of her parents, fifteen -miles from where' her betrayer was cynically at the men who, thinking to arraign him, found the sword •:' turned upon'themselves. ■ ■ .-■■ ■ - ■ ,-■"■ ■'• '"■ :'■"'■.■■■■'• i Not a .'single fapt concerning her liaison did she conceal from the;;, detective, and when her heart-broken parents sought the truth from her she told them all, even to Griggs' blatant perjury, the day before, and their amour during the same night. v • "He promised to marry me— he ) promised to marry me when his \ wife left him," she sobbed. '^He said that his wife and he would part soon." -\' • • v■ v ■; When Mulfahey had concluded his examination of the girl ' Condon, he hurriedly crossed the distance separating the Condon house from the meeting hall m Omeo, and adjudged the time of his arrival so that neither Griggs nor the girl should have an opportunity of' communicating with each other. ':.; , r Just as the clerical Judas stepped into the street; a sardonic, - self -satis -' fled smile wavering on hid mouth,'-Mul-fahey stepped forward -and lightly touched Griggs ori.y the arm, at the same time suggesting that he should accompany him to the police station. Griggs was rigorously questioned as to his associations with the girl Condon, but. at first he positively denied any improprietyi until . the detective apprised him of .what Lottie had yolunteered. He then made an . unreserved confession, admitting that, he had seduced the girl with a promise to marry her when his wife left him. He said he was satisfied that his wife: had come back' for the. one purpose of collecting her. "personal belongings, then return-

Omeo,

iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiiiiniiiiiiiiiiniiiijiiiKi Ing to the borne of her people m Tasmania. . . •' • . ;. ■ \ : -f : A few days afterwards, Mulfah'ey submitted the result of his further Investigations concerning the sudden demise of Mrs. GriggH, with the consequence that shortly afterwards the Attorney- General gave his sanction lor the exhumation of Mrs. Griggs* body from the pathetic little mound m 'the Omeo churchyard. 'i; A pathological investigation of the ' dead woman's internal organs disclosed the presence of arsenio m a comparatively large quantity. ' Dr. Mollisoh, leoturer m" medicine, r member of the Royal College of Surgeons, and for the past thirty years surgeon to t:he coroner m Melbourne, said that he had no. hesitation m declaring that Mrs. Griggs had died of arsenical poisoning. - h : Fifteen and a-half grains of :the poison were found by the analyst, arid the eminent pathologist said he felt certain that Mrs. Griggs must have swallowed a far larger quantity, pro- , bably m two, if not three, doses. ; Griggs was arrested on the charge of murdering his wife, but he pleaded hit Innocence. : : After many weeks of nerve-wracking suspense, of remands and changes of venue from the little mountain-side hamlet of Omeo to the jangling, hurtling rush of Melbourne; of fighting, scrambling crowds outside Pentridge prison, later crowds herding themselves before the doors of the Melbourne Supreme Court, Griggs ' at last stood, ■ trembling with agitation, behind the dock rail, awaiting the pronouncement of the jury's foreman. fv "Not guilty," said the foreman, and ; a faint wraith of the self-same snfeer which had crept to the corners of his lips as Detective-sergeant MulfaHey touched him on the arm, came to, the mouth of Griggs as he heard- the blessed words of freedom .which fell -from the lips of the jury's spokesman. Some little time had passed when Hasty Departure John Condon received a letter; from the ex-parson, who said that it was his intention to visit the. Condon homestead to claim' some personal property !he left there, at the time he was ar- ; rested for the alleged", murder ti£ his 'wife. . ' -;'.'. ■' : : .'XS/, "' Vy; Condon was astounded w.hen he received this precious intimation .. from the man who had smashed the delightful happiness of the Condon family, and the father lost no time m rfemovr Ing the goods from his house dd' the : shed of the nearest railway stiation, hastily speeding m the direction! '■', of a '"■■/■ station farther up the line to intercept Griggs and. inform him of what he had done with Griggs! property. . : 'p ■ ■■: , Griggs -sold' his= chattels at auction, and hastily returned to Melbourne. > For a long, time nothing was!" heard of him until he. made a sensational re- ' appearance In Adelaide, unde£ cir- , cumstances wnich; clearly Indicate that he either labors under the disadvantage of colossal self-conceit, or else he is the most unprincipled, cleft-tongued Pharisee who, ever stood at thei-street and, like his Biblical prototypes, thanked; God,: ; that he^was not as,;: 'other men.. " ; --; >W' *.y~:l--i>£ ■■•-. ■■'■■'.-''■. . Some time m May of this year he happened -to Center -the same railway carriage as two other Adelaide clerics.. ,- the Revs. A. A. MacKenzie and D. Chapmani m whose'-company he was not long, unidentified as a pleasant* mannered .young man with agreeably smooth ways of speech. It may be that as the result of his conversation Qbiggs, who . employed the pseudonym of i "G. R Maxwell," applied for employment, and was engaged on trial r bjr the Presbyterian Home .Mission committee, his appllcation being given a certain degree of stimulus by the fact of there being a '■, shortage of clergymen at that particular time. He was asked to produce his credentials, and without hesitation he tendered a certificate, subsequently proved to have been altered to suit the circumstances. : I With Clean Hands Does this feature provide a striking parallel to . the New Zealand Incidents of "Irvine" and "Wilson," or are the three circumstances merely a string of unusual .coincidents? * . ': However, Griggs, or^"MaxweH" : was allotted to the Presbyterian Church at Colonel Light Gardens," where the Reverend J. A. Mao* Unnon was deputed to observe , the manner m which the fledgeling . comported himself. ''...;. In the meantime, the governing . body of the Presbyterian Church had conducted certain Inquiries, and it was ;, not long before these disclosed the m- 1 • formation that the Melbourne Univer- , sity authorities had issued the certificate to one "Griggs" and not "G. B. ...'■.■■■ Maxwell," which was the name of the blind barrister who had so ably de- s fended him - during the course of his- ; ; trials m Melbourne. V . During . one of his sermons y in the church of Colonel liight Gardens, "Graeme Maxwell" exhorted his congregation to keep its hands clean, not i mere physically V 'clean" hands which < ■■': had been scrubbed, scraped- and mani- •;; cured, but hands that were fre^ from ■ ' ■sin!- ■■■' : -■ . '-■■'■■ ■■'■■ ■.^•■- -.'•- ■■-■' - '■- God, he. said, wished all of his. child- - ren to keep their hands from sin, for assuredly hone who are not. free from sin would ever enter into the Kingdom- , of Heaven!' ■"■-■■' '■'.:'■■ '.. "'■! v V;,*. ; - ; Does. one detect In the .same smug* oily sincerity of those, -utterances pf - : > : "Maxwell" m the Adelaide church,, a, similar unconvincing rtng :; of - : . those other sermons m the southern ■; towns : of New Zealand, supposedly delivered : by different men?^ ' \: •>:.■ ' If Griggs believed •••; that -Adelaide clergymen would take him aitythe face! value of a spurious certificate, Js it Inconceivable.; that he would attempt a similar venture m this country? '-;■'• -'•- "Whatever the -'possibilities inayv be. it is unlikely that Griggs,- orVMoSt* well," or "lrvine,'* or ; ( Wilsori"iwill."ar= tempt his (or theu"),.rehttiaiitation:a« the estimable commiinlty of hie ?i5l«1---cal brethren m Ne^w Zealand, -,:■' • . ■ .