THE ALLEGED OUTRAGE AT CAMBRIDGE.

Waikato Times, Volume X, Issue 570, 15 January 1876, Page 3

THE ALLEGED OUTRAGE AT CAMBRIDGE.

grß)g rB) —There i« an old A.rab proverb wl.ich says, (♦"Tis the last bair breiks toe cvmels back "Up to the pretent time I have restrained myself fr )in referring to the subject of this letter in expectation that some one or more of those whum you rec >gnise as correspondent* would have written to let you and the public right ; but the paraoraoh in jest«rday's paper, under the heading " NbW Year'aDay Larrikins'' \r, as »he last hair upon the camels back, nud has broken down my re.tr.unt, I can no longer keep silence and live In tint paragra. h you say *' great credit is dun to Rdferond -Mr Neill for bringing tha matter i .to promin-nee <w he did " I underline th>word* "a* ht» did." You n ver frll into a deeper nint, you never made a greater mistuke ia your .journali-ticcireer ; the universal condemnation txpre-icd throughout the district against Mr Neill ftf t th« manner in which he took action in this »flUir has been loud and emphatic. Then general ridicule wilh wmch bis rambling senselets, and inco isnqueutial letter of the 3rd nut, which appeared m your journal of t.ie 4tU has bnen received ; the gratuitous and malm>us attack he therein make* upon the officer of police at Cambridge, Mr WutU, aod >u\ro.i -MTgi.iul Chittv ; his filly allusions to, and reflection* upon the officer tsomumndin^ the district; bis attempts to ami odium upou all thus ■, implying, and more than implying, tint from top to bot'om they are imb<-cilea. incapable and unwilling i-i their several offices have unpre-med tue minds of his neighbours and parishioner* generally w.tli a very diffar«ut tie* of hu condu;t, tuan that ■you seennto entertain. With the exercise ol good niiure I putieuce, a little ordinary tact, and •olioolhi>y duoretioo, dunag h» short interview wiih the midnight revellers, he would have got rid of them a< peaceably aa hi» next door n-igh-bnuri, Mijot WiUon did, and as others throu,»«« iui, tue village dil, but a na»t.y surly temp-r got the b«Uer of him and his expressions of anger against those who bad thus disturbed his ■lumbers »eein to have provoked one or iwo of the larrikins engwged in the " tin canning," as lit is termed, to unjusntiabb excess, insomuch •that this one or two, and it was the act of this • one or t*oonli, broke nine panes of glass. His assertion ;that there was an attempt made to break into the house is, and I say it deliberately, wi'hcut foundation, other than that of bis own distempered brain, which caused him also to • represent the tin canning and accordion playing as a horrible din of pistols, bell nnniug, Ac, the noise o r fier ds and not of men. The Reverend Mr Neill, be assured Mr. Editor, made a curious mistake when following the course you applaud, be sat down and dTew >h*t highly < coloured picture. I might use a stronger phrase than highly coloured; hisohunh and people will be the »ufferen. Tru ythe Presbyterians of Cambridge hare been unfotunste in their mimstt-ra, the fir«t, too proud a pnest'for ordinary -laymen to appreciate at his own valuation of himself , the second, talented, wi»o, and useful in Ins !jnini«tenal sphere and pulpit, has made a very ■orry exhibition of himself out of it. If he will take my aVlTtce, and it is the advUe of one of his -hithorto friends and supporters, "he will in future refrain fromigoing so iar out of his way to foul the nest he lives in, to cast baseless reflections upon other*, to make s'atements as of facts un•uppoxL»<i •■by any evidence except thut of a uniS'thßt miking dissatisfied man equally with bimMtf a Johnny Newcome in 'the place, moru- • over he«hould«ee it to be hi< wisdom to wuhdraw the unjustifiable and injurious acfu-ai ion he has so gratuitously advanced If Mr Neill has at any time a social grievance to omplain of Mprhicb his physical tempcrunent, and his ignorance of the world's ways disqualify lnm from applying tiie proper remedy to, his congregation will, lam sure, always be ready to up'iold him >in his position and right. He would have met with all sympathy >in this instanae. instead of <b inging down ridicule upon himself, had he sought redress in the ordinary course-; but no, in bis blind wrath he struck out right and left to throw dirt upon others w good ns himself, and as ready to fulfil thmr duties as he is his. To u<e his own phrase, ' more might be said" but I fear to trespns too far upon your patience "Si r , and will conclude by signing myself — FreeciiuacH.