REV W. H. COOPER v. MR J. GRIGG.

Press, Volume XX, Issue 2303, 18 December 1872, Page 3

REV W. H. COOPER v. MR J. GRIGG.

TO TUE EDITOR OP THE PRESS. , . Sir. —Iα reply to Mr Grigg'a stateqbieiif .,[", that a portion of my letter was ft " tissue of , - falsehood," I lose no timo (as Mr Coopotlfl ' 7 absent) iv returniug the complinicut, by in- . (iipnaatly throwiug the falsehood back in bjfl, j twth myself. - ~,.;■ I always thought, sir, that when ft map , made an assertion like tho above, he was, , j bound in honor ,to explain, or prQV,e as Mr Grigg has done neither, - and has--simply backed out by decUningfurtiiercotrespoadence, your readers can ccc that being debarred from argument, I have simply noi; alternative but to show up the (we wpl say, for the sake of euphony) gentlertiah himself ; although I cannot '.do so without first apolc-;, , gising to your readers for the' personal tbne| which I am consequently obliged to assume.* With regard to the " tissue ot the facts 1 stated were obtained from Mr Cooper himself. I have frequently heard him use the same argument, and' I appeal 1 to-1i the common sense of your readers, whether the remark complained of mutt, apt have, made " apropos" to whether that something would not naturally , haVe explaiiud its meaning, and whether, in suppressing that something, and simply quoting an isolated expression (which c&uld not be , ' understood, but would certainly be misread ■without its context) was not Jn itsqlf a dishonorable act on the part of Mr Grigg. Aβ to several of my remarke btiing " beneath his notice," Mr Grigg has unfortunately met with an opponent who intends gxvldgndquftJSi ter, and simply offers him the alternative of either descending from hia. pedestal to 1)00% ►> for and answer the remarks, or else of beingj exhibited as a self-made monument of SOlfcv sufficient folly. Mr Grigg regrets that I had been seea with Mr Cooper, as he (Mr Grigg) was in hopes that my letter, "had been written.: in Mr; i Cooper's absence." L : ; ' ■ Now why sho"ld Mr Grigg nave gono out of his way to hope anything half eg ridiculous ? Where could I have got my facjts/6u£ ff om : Mr Cooper ? Does Mr Grigg imagine that like.himself; 1 draw upon my imagination for. them, a can he point out any law human or divine, , that should prevent Mr Cooper from hanging, over his case to a friend ? ■ !.-n-.■■ a. ■. • It was at my earnest request that he did so, as I pointed out that the delay in reply; ing to letters caused by his frequent absence iv from town, effectually prevented him from doing justice to hiraself. , r Mr Grigg remarks " how easy it would be for " (Mr Cooper) " to have made the amende honorable by publishing the whole of my letter as written." .itIt would have been very easy, and if Mr Grigg had met with a fool for hie opponent it very likely would have been done, for, as , the public could not have compared the, letters, Mr Grigg'a insinuation ttjat the letter had been altered would have, been believed instead of exposed and foiled. I appeal to you, Mr Editor, whether tbe, whole paragraph in which tlie mistakes occurred was not repnblished by tne word for word —and what more could Mr Grigg want,? Of couree in justice to Mr Cooper I italicised ; ; and pointed out the errors. I dare Mr Grigg I to shew that the errora made any difference, and unless he,is unacquainted with the English language,, I ask your readers whether his taking advantage of clerical errors was not simply dishonorable 1 The following paragraph is so touching from its simplicity and pathos, that it almost tempted mc to epare my victim : 1 "I sincerely hope that ' the facts ' will never be made public, as they will be i very humiliating." // Very humiliating I allow, but Mr ; Grigg; omita to state to whom 1 ! Your readers wiU,.however, be enabled to judge for the,mselvee in a few days when tho correspondence is published. And now, uir, let mc ask if Mr Grigg has not somewhat mistaken his position ? 'What arq hie mental of theological.endowments that he ventures to sit in judgment on a clergyman of his own church ? Has be mistaken his shearers for his sheep ? Does he imagine that the private circle con- >. vened in his " drawiJQg-room," isa Synod qualified to pass judgment upon a clergyman who offers to preach in his " woolahed," orjis it a - parallel to the presumption by which the rank of captain given mc by my Sovereign was ignored by one' of her subjectie iiisWering to tbe name of ?' John Grigg." ' ; / To Mr Grigg's discovery that " equals with equals easily congregate together," I have no objection to offer. Mr Cooper was for' enjany years in the army, and ac brother soldiers we " congregate" very easily and with much pleasure to ourselves. '.: . - . But to his chemical deduction I decidedly . demur. It is as follows:—" Having I suppose a 'chemical affinity—the peculiar property of bodies- which causes them to' unite to form '■■ cemponnde." - : Mow, allow mc to auggeet to Mr Grigg that ife is from dissimilar, not from similar bodies, that we neually obtain; compounds, Ppr ■ instance—a combination of Mr Grigg and myself would make a compound, and a very disagreeable one too,. Whereae, on tbe other hand, if a duplicate of Mr Grigg could be procured, he would simply be multiplied by two, but the dose might still be labelled— The mixture as before, Tn conclusion, I leave your readers to de-t cide whether Mr Grigg's chemistry, -logic,. or theology has yet arrived at maturity, and beg to condole with him while pointing otit the unfortunate fact that as he has declined future correspondence, he cannot even prove : the truth of his assertion unless by telling a. falsehood. , , . Tt Aβ I have neither seen or "beard from Mr Cooper since MV Grigg's letter was published,'^' it is only fair I should state that b hare - wpitten this ori my own! responsibility A .'i i YonrS, &C, p.; ;i ; ~-, ■■:'•; Sianley Bullock. Hougbton, December j17, 1872. ; <<.: - >