CHANGES ARE SAID TO BELIGHTSOME.

Taranaki Herald, Volume XXIV, Issue 2453, 11 October 1876, Page 1 (Supplement)

CHANGES ARE SAID TO BE LIGHTSOME.

To tho Editor of -THE , BUDGJJT j! . Siu, — Having just «een: an your publication I o£ ]ust<aitrht the interesting epistles of M. S. Breach to tbo Board of Education, and road by tho chairman' at their meeting of tbo Gth, where lio refers to-Mr* G. O'Connell's oaso for; allowing the schoolboys ito use the..tiu*kottles : at n< wedding, souie six or ( seven months since.! Thia I know .very little j o^ i further , tb.au, your! publication; but this I .do know, that, when! Mr. O'Connoll was appointed, to j.ho High; School I withdrew,my boya from that school,', and placed tlicin under ,Mr. Opllis, Weslcyau! .School,, on aeaount of;, the Vepbrt that' Mr.| -O/o'pnucll was n .llqinnn, Cntliolip toao))t>iV while I belonged to tho Presbyterian Ciiurc)) ofj Sqolland. , Now r Mr., Breach was, the uiau who! ramo to my house aud bagged of nlc^o /withdi pi -njy, sons frojajth'p-\V>s)oyftn School, apd Ho'nd' tjieui to jSfy\, P'Oonnell's,, as, he h,ad a convcrHa.ypifyitlihirn.atiid had tho fullest confidence '^li.^im n,Su,d,t'eficUor, r .av\d likely to attend tlTeKirk.' I told Mr. Breach that I watf ' ojd! enough to judge o£ that for myself. 1 ' Should very much liko to know liow Mr. Breach re-» concjies* thoLotie vevaion with the 'other, wl^en hosayßin his lettor tothe",Boai'dthat he.fM.ri Breach) would pay the ■ oduoation rate under protest, as ho had no ontffideocefin the teacher; However, somo-timo after wardsl sent my boys, to Mr. O'CoiilieU's school, wlioro thoy have roi mained almost ever einco; and,, us far as, they itiao oojicemed,' Mr.. Q'Couucll need- not bo nshatuod bfi his Reaching. ■ I am very well pleased- with him (as. n .painstaking teacher <aud a gentleman, aud many others can corroboiato my. statements., ' • I ,only \visb,,wjth nearly all tho Scotch 'Presbyterians in; i ho ( place, that we could Apeak as .highly, of M, fcJ.,JUreacJi in his cajiaIfljty.— lam, &c, „ .I.' r • '•-, . . ,' , /,-, fIEXKY, i ! „: „ Rpringlmulc. „, , „,, Nq\v Plymouth; September 22, 187 G. 13k au Sin, — Permit mo to call, your attention to a fact which I forgot to inoution in my

I letter of the i2th instant, written for tho in- ' formation of the Education Board at their .next' mectiag, viz., the suppression by Mr, ißreach of Mrs. Inch's testimony, giveu to himself at' his request, and which proved conclusively tho charges made by hiih to tlio Secretary [to 'lib unfounded. Mr. Breach ' has thought ,I)jroper to suppress the direct tostimouy of this jrespcctable and credible female who saw the Jwhole occurrence, , and is one, of the females, tref erred to in my former statement^ and to jsuustitutc letters' Of k questionable character, iwritten at his instigation, montha after the occfin'oncc. ' „' ' I, would respectfully' call the Board's attention, td th'^ fact that Magce is a total strangpr ■ to riife.' I ' dbn't even know his appearance ; j ! he is al§o an illiterate man, whom, lam informed,' cucptiraged the boys to continue the ,tin-kettlingV and gave thorn oako and ginger [b6er." How this; man, a stranger to me, could' haVo inf6i J mcd Mr. Breach that I was a ( Jesuit, ' seems strhugo, unless, indeed, it was ; 1 supplied bytbe.reyerend gentleman in question. , ' ' ' ' , Persons who' I 'know' Magee well,' infoi-m me tljtit iip could n6t even jpl-onouucc tlie word, innd/as to :(fcs' ipiport 1 ho 1 wbuld not have' thti I mpst a i om'o't6 ednception. ' I ( As tli 0' suppression of Mrs. Inch's evidence , clearly 'shows' "tl^a^ Mr. 'Breach has not acted' , honornbly in, this last act 6f his, I will feel obliged by your laying this letter, with my previous statement,, before the Board. — I am, ,5tC.,' (i ' '"" ( GEORGK O'CONNELL.' 1 \ Benjamin. Wells, Esq. i s ' , New Plymouth, September' 2B, lß7G. ' ' Dear Sir, — Pleasoto inform the Board of , Education at its'next that I'' am prepared to Bubroit to theni the dirpct evidence of Mr.and ' Mrs T Thqmas Inch, who live next to Douglas'hoqse, A3. also .that of, Mrs. Brooks. Mrs. 1 Brpo^s,£or thje fiyst time! spoke tp me,yestor4^, aud the. following statement is as near , her, w,Qr,ds/as, possible; — At the request of Miss Kiugcome, whp w,aa married on the occasion in,,q.uestion,|to Magee, Mrs. Brooks, who lives ■ iv. tho adjoiningihqu.se, \vent to act tho part of female friend to tho, bride., Mrs. Brooks states confidently that she., left, her house at 2.16 p.m,, , and waited in Mr. Douglas' hpu^o,' iuljy, twenty-fiy^, minjit^a before. Mr. ; I^r.each came,'. On-Mj,, Breach's, arrival,' ho inaclo. au excuse to Magee for being late, and said business detained , him, and then commenced to write' for , about fifteen minuses. This femalp is positive that.ltr. Breach ,did npt comme,nce to marry ,ttie .parties .until 2.50 p.m., aud.her exact, words are — " Tho ring was on the woman's finger befcr.e t'fye boys catnQ near the pjace." She also corroborat«d what the boys have told meTrviz., that Uageo encouraged the boys, and when they were leaving asked them to. give another rattle; aud that Mr- Breach seemed highly amused at tho proceeding. Mr. Inch and his wife can speak positively jis to the time my pupils were dis-niipped-a^that day. £,wouid respectfully reqnest to be informed if I might be present during this enquiry wjthout.its being considered a breach of etiquttto. However, I phall be at the Institute pn the diiy tho Board meet 3. — I am, &c, ! GEORaE O'CONNELL. W. Northcroft, Esq., Secretary Education Board.,, The followjugi&Mr. Northcrof t'sstatcmont:— ' . • '.September 23, 1 S7G.— Called on Mrs. Brooke. Read the portion' of this letter referring to her, and asked' if. the 'statement was true. She replied 'that it was. ' • Called on Mrs. Inch, vrho confirmed all that Mr.O'Gonneirhod previously told'mb. ■ Then weiit to the school, to hoar- -what the boys had to 'say in the 'matteri They say' they were dismissed iti tho 'usual manner at 3 o'clock, and that when 1 they loft the school they did nob know auy thing about the wedding. 'They say that Ma^ee was not 'offended, but asked for another rattle. W. NORTHCBOFT, ' • ■ :': ' • ■ ■ Secretary. At the request of Mr. Standish, Mr. Northcroft repeated tho .cd'nVersatioti lie had with Mrs. Inch on 1 the subject.— -Mr. 'Nbrthc'rbft said : Mrs. Inch, can' you -tell me what took piacc jegarding the tii.i»kettling afthe wedding opposite you¥ hbiiso 1 ? — Mrs. Inch: Yes, sin boys Vere rattling their cans and making |a'Ti6ise, and'l'snw Mr, 1 0'Connell coming from ! his garden ghf.e' holding up' his hands' and calling 'to' the' bbyi| and asldng what all that uoisn was about. I went to him, and told him that tliere had been a 'wedding. He tolit the l bo3 f s to, desist, and then weutbnck homei lie lihil 100 cbat on. This was at n Httlo after '.) o'clock. • ■'■' • ' ' '■'' v i St. lAudroWd 'Manse, October' 2) 18715. ' . B. Wojls, Esq.,' <. ■ '. 111 1 • - . Chairman Education 80ard.,,, SIH,-— At tho meoting of your' Board iv September last, thcJsecretavy,.iu a very undigui* fled inauuer, intcrrtipted the official reading of my papers by prematurely proposing to swear that my statement was not true, and also appealing to yne. through tho Board to know if I would' swear to what I had written. I respectfully sought your permission to reply to him then and there, but as you did not doom it wiso and prudent to grunt tho request I resumed my soat in silence Consequently I have taken thig course of coolly replying to Mr. Northcroft's excited question iv tho jilßpnuitive. 1 am, (jiiitcjn'aj) o,7'cd to nrvcar. And now I have answered him his questiou I also will nsk him mine. after his example. Will Mr. Northcroft swear — I 1. That no disturbance whatever took place at Mr. Magec's wedding? 2. Thnfc Mr. O'Counoll did not intimate to me in wi-nhiy, ufW ho had privately sottlcd the matter, tiio reason why ho resumod tho agitation was having hud another interview with Mr. Northcroft ? ■ . ;

, , . . ' 3. That he did not advise tho teacher to try*' to make a tool of Mr. Standish for stirring up the sottled waters of strife by meaus of. the, r half letter handed to him complaining of the course taken by the Chairman and Inspector 1 , [Mr. Wel^s, with reference to this remark, said he might explain that when the Rev. Mr. Breach gave hin> the letter one side of it wai' written in black ink and the postscript in red." Thinking tho postscript was intouded for his private reading he hud cut it off, and handed ' in half tho letter only.] 4. That he did not, on the 3rd of August, ask the Editor of the Herald to suppress tho public discussion of the case at thu Board bo- - cause it was a private matter 7 6. That the Chairmau did not say to tho' Board, "AU I know is that the charge was' wrongfully made ?" <». That the Inspector of Schools did not Write to me- and say, " The charges you have ' brought against MivO'Conuell are basu'd Upon fact, which I 'find, on enquiry;" 'are •utterly false ! which, if truel would cause his instant dismissal lrom his situation}" • 7. That the Secretary did not say to tho Board, "All I know is that the ' charge has beori wrongfully made. I inquired into tho matter, and fouud -there was no truth' in the statement?" '>' ' ' 1 8. That when a person guts tho hands of 'a timepiece 'forward' lo or do minutes too fnr for the time of day, to suit his convenience, when the clock striked it tells the truth ? 9.' That at the last monthly meeting of the Board, which I attended to watch the co«e, the Secretary did not rash to tho door the moment I entered, and, in a manner unbeeofcning his station, 'endeavour to put me out of tho public meeting of tho Board ? To tho'gentleinan, whom I need not name, the gentleman who iutimated that my having obtained the signatures of witnesses to the evidence produced' was PuperfluoUs, I reply, that my reason'-for having done so was tho 1 part played by tlio Secretary at the previous meeting. For tho same reason I have requested my wituenses, in adding to the evidence already handed to tho Board, to stttto nothing they are nfot perfectly prepared to swear to as tho truth. : Here I repeat, as at the first private conversation with Mr. Northcroft,-that the boys of Mt\ O'ConneH's school arrived in riotous tumult around the ' houseliceused for » marriage, between 2 and 3 o'clock. I believo it was about 20 or 23 minutes past 2 \vheu they began their deafening noise. I am prepared positively to swear that it was before" B'o'clock p.m.— l remain, &a, ' M. Somes Breach, Egmont Village, September 2!}, 1876. This is to certify that Mr. Breach was invited to marry us at 2 o'olock p.m, On the'day in question, and, being 10 raiuu'tcs behind his time, he' apologised, and commenced atotice. Mr. O'Connell's school boys came to the house tin-kcttliog about 20 or 25 minutes after ho began the marriage service. We are prepared to swear to this Btatemcnt if required.— -We are, &c, J. Magee. Sarah Magee Egmont Village, September 21, 1870. r This is to certify that the Rev. M. S. Breach arrived at Mr. Douglass' house to marry John Magoe about" 10 minutps after 2 o'clock; tho service commenced immediately after ho came. The boys began their tin-kcttling about half-past 2 o'clock, aiid , tho marriage service was over before '3 o'clock. AVilmam James smart. P.S. — I am prepared to swear tho above is correct. — W. J. S. Now Plymouth, October 3, 1 870. On the day of Mr. Magee's wedding, I saw Mr. O'Connell's school hoys tiu-kcttling them, about half -past 2 o'clock. The wedding was over, aud tho party away to the country by half -past 3,. o'clock. I a,ia prepared to swoar to this statement. ' . Louisa. Burby. September 12, 187 G. On the day of Mr. Magce's wedding, I saw Mr. O'ConucU's school boys.dcumniing at Mr. Douglas' house. I looked at my watch aft or the drumming was over, aud saw it was 3 o'clock p.m. I think the boys were drumming about 20 or 25 minutes. lam prepared to swear to this statement. John Eielly. ' New Plymouth, October 2, 157G. ' la giving evidence respecting the nmrriago of. Mr. John Magee, which was held at my house, I gave Mr. Breach notice to bo at my house p.t 2 o'olock, , and wo were waitiug 10 minutes after tho time. He commenced tho service as soon as ho <?ame, and at half-past 2 o'clock I had to .leave the house to try to get tho boys to leave off their noise, which they had then been making some time, I felt it very much, not only on account of the wedding, but also because my wife was on her death bed at, that time. I am prepared to swear to the truth oi this (statement. John Douglass.,