LAYING CHURCH FOUNDATION STONE.
A CORRECTION.
TO THE EDITOB.
Sib, — It is not necessary to go back to antiquity and Egypt to ponder the fact that a new king arose m that country who knew not Joseph its benefactor, for such cases m all grades of life have been common enough down t,o our day— that of new people arising •who either knew not, or ignored tiieir benefactors. lam led to these remarks from
reading m the Expbess the report of the
solemnity-of laying the foundation stone —of the Presbyterian Church on the 26th. Above all foundation stones,- that. of a church should rest on Tktjth and Veeitt. Such, however, will not be the case m respect of. the above stone, if the Rev Mr Bobb's speech is to be, as is said, deposited therein, for it contains statements utterly the reverse of truth. I wholly acquit the reverend gentleman of wilful unvercsity, for no doubt he spoke from the information of those who mis-led him. But surely he could have ascertained the truth
from bis leading Elders— Messrs John M.
Hutcheson and Charles Fulton— unless, indeed, they were piously absorbed m the contemplation of Ahab and his wife Jezebel's exploit, as narrated m I. Kings, xxi, 1 to 24 verses. .
Mr Robb is reported to say that " The Church and School stood on ground gifted
to the Presbyterian Church by Mr Alexander MoLachlan and Mr^Ajfiliibald McCallum." Now the truth is Mr A. MqlSoHlSrraitirnot gift as much ground as the point of Mr
Bobb's walking cane could cover ; but like a man of sense rejoicingly pocketed the £50 I handed him, for what he but lately before
paid only £10 ; and transferred, as agreed upon, all bis interest remaining m the section, to me ; while only wishing for a few more such profitable transactions ! Some time thereafter a -more equitable Superintendent and Executive came into power, and I repurchased from the Provincial Government, the roadline they had forcibly acquired through Mr McLachlan's property ; and I also purchased from them, the adjoining abandoned portion of the main trunk line of road, which Mr A. McCallum
is credited with having gifted. These parcels of ground I instructed the Provincial authorities to convey, and which they did convey accordingly on the SthDeeember, 1869 to. Messrs George HeflXTef son,' Raines - J (rorrie, and John M. Hutcheson, as trustees, to the Presbyterian Church. Thus and thereby did the Church become endowed with section 452 upon which the new building is being erected, and the adjoining ground whereon the aid Churoh or School now stands, at my sole expense and cost — ftnd entirely my gift. . fourteen years aftewards, about the end of 1883, but during which interval Provincialism was abolished and Blenheim had r got a Borough Council; and these village wiselings fancying they had unlimited -powers (though m their minute book it is entered that they doubted their power) they pretended to exchange with Mr A. McCallum (for his opening a road which he required for his_own necessities through a part of his farm) this piece of abandoned main trunk roadline which I had bought and assigned to the churoh m 1869 ! °If my purchase had never barred the way, the Borough Council had not, nor has a shadow of right to deal with the original main trunk road lines. Consequently they could make no exchange with Mr McCallum • or for that gentleman to affect to donate to'the church what it had possessed fourteen years previously by a superior title was simply absurd.
The foregoing are the true facts, and they defy anyone to impugn them.— l am, etc., James Sinclair. Park Terrace, Blenheim, 29th Feb., 1892.
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Bibliographic details
LAYING CHURCH FOUNDATION STONE., Marlborough Express, Volume XXVIII, Issue 50, 29 February 1892
Word Count
663LAYING CHURCH FOUNDATION STONE. Marlborough Express, Volume XXVIII, Issue 50, 29 February 1892
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