DUNEDIN. (From our own Correspondent.) October 3rd, 1864.

North Otago Times, Volume II, Issue 33, 6 October 1864, Page 3

DUNEDIN. (From our own Correspondent.) October 3rd, 1864.

A rather unusual affair occurred in Dnnedin on the day my last letter was despatched. Mr Turton — a gentleman lately admitted as a solicitor and barrister of the Supreme Court here, and well known probably to many of your readers in connection with the office of Mr T. B. Gillies, whose partner he now is, — lay in wait for and soundly horsewhipped Mr A. G. M'Combe, the accountant. It is not usual for a man holding such a position as Mr Turton does — for a lawyer especially — to commit a bieach of the peace, wilfully and in his sober senses, without extraordinary and publicly-known cause. In this c*ase the affair was so well justified that expectation was on tip-toe, and not a few were loitering in the neighborhood of the little scene for the express purpose of enjoying it. The primal cause of this escapade, and of a more serious affair which occurred in the Opera House on the following night, was a scandalous article in the Dunediti "Saturday Review" of the previous week, the authorship of which had been traced to Mr M'Combe. This article was an attack upon the Rev E. G. Edwards, and— to the shame of the author be it told — upon his wife, together with sundry members of the Church of England, Mr Strode in particular. On Tuesday evening Mr M'Combe, though well aware what the insult would probably be, presented himself at the Opera House, and attempted to take his seat there. He was instantly seized upon by Mr R. B. Martin, who is one of the churchwardens of St. Paul's Church, and ordered to leave the place, a command which he imprudently though naturally refused to comply with. Mr Martin attempted to put him out, and was rewarded with a severe blow, the marks of which he still carries in the form of a black eye. Mr M'Combe being the bigger man of the two, the issue of the fight might have been doubtful, notwithstanding the well-known pluck of the little churchwarden, had not Mr Teschemaker come to the rescue. That gentleman is quite a match for two M'Combes, but, if he had not been, many others would, I hava no doubt, given their help, for the wanton and shameless attack upon Mrs Edwards in particular had incensed all who knew anything about it. Mr M'Combe got the worst of it, and finally rushed screaming into the Athenaeum, cried out that he wasmuidercd, and then fainted. On Friday be attempted to leave Dunedin by the Queen steamer, intending, I believe, to bring an action against his assailers in the Supreme Court, Canterbury, on the plea that he could not obtairr an impartial jury to try his case here. This may have been his intention, but the general impression is that he was going to bolt, and his own statement is that he was only bound to your own delightful little town to recruit bis battered fram«. He was not allowed to escape, however ; his departure was heard of by a gentleman deputed by the Vestry of St. Paul's Church to offer him the alternative of a public apology to Mr Edwards or a criminal prosecution for libel. Of course a prosecution was immediately commenced, and a warrant sent after him to Port Chalmers — a telegram preceding it to secure his detention. When he stepped out of the closed car in which he had absconded he was arrested, and had to return to the place he has made so hot for himself. The case was heard at the Police Court on Saturday, and the report of it is worth transferring into your own columns if you can afford room for it, since it is not every day we can indulge in such sensation affairs in Dunedin. Your readers will no doubt be anxious to know what were the contents of the article which oc-

casioned this recourse to the tribunals both of Judge Lynch and Judge Richmond. To repeat a libel is, I suppose, libellous ; but in the present instauce, if it were not for the venemous spite of their wording, the libels nre all very ridiculous, and I think I may venture to satisfy the curiosity of the "quidnuncs" of Oamaru by stating them. The article is headed " The School for Scandal," and refers in unmistakeab'e language to the Parsonage as the haunt of a society of scandalmongers, of whom Mr Strode is indicated as the " President," und the quiet and inoffensive clergyman who officiates at St. Paul's as the " VicePresident." The whole gist of the affair appears to be that Mrs Edwards and some of her friends have been able in the Committee of the Bazaar held last week for the benefit of the Benevolent Institution, to overrule the pet project of some other lady. The " School " is accused of having decided that " all Victorians either are or were convicts," and of taking means to prevent them from obtaining seats in St. Paul's Church. As all vacant seats in that crowded church are apportioned quarterly by lot amongst the applicants for them, the grievance is as nonsensical as the accusation which precedes it. It is hinted in an obscene way that someone has taken improper liberties with the wife of someone else, and that the first someone is a distinguished member of the " school." A more definite accusation is brought against Mr. Edwards, of having refused to visit and to bury a " Victorian pauper or prostitute." This is the only serious libel in the article, and is simply a shameless untruth, no circumstance having occurred which could give even a colorable foundation to it. But the libel which has chiefly excited public indignation is the attempt to asperse the character of Mrs Edwards. This lady is said to oppose every charitable proposition which does not emanate from her own circle ; to treat " tradesmen's wives " and " Victorian women " with contpmpt ; and finally — the most dreadful accusatiou of all — to have been seen at the opera with a " young fellow of her own age." There are sundry other insinuations against one and another. The writer appears to have purposely imitated Grant's bombastic style; the following sentence is as refreshing as som. 1 of the veritable productions of that curious individual : — " Let only those whom the cap fits wear it ; but we will be immensely deceived if we cannot make every one of our shots strike home with telling effect, and we will test the matter by the quher of their eyes or the paleness of their checks when we confront the ofFenders in the public streets." If Mr M'Combe was not ao fortunate as to have an opportunity of " testing " the effects of his shots on " the offenders" themselves, he has had the opportunity of seeing the "quiver of the eye9" of' some of their Iriends, and had no reason to be glad that he " confronted" it. Rows are always contagious. Mr. Grant happened to be in the theatre also on Tue&day night. I fancy he went to see the fun, having an inkling of what would happen. About half an hour after Mr M'Combe's expulsion, Mr G. A. Henningham thought it incumbent upon him to turn Grant out also, the sour ink of the Saturday Re\iewer having often been poured out upon him. In Mr Giant's phraseology, the "Evening Star," Mr Ilenningham's paper, is a " penny candle " and the "Stafford street twinkler," and its editor a "vapid editorial stork "and an " inflated belltopper with a necktie," or something of that sort. I do not know whether Grant showed fight, as his contributor did, but an any rate he did not succeed in maintaining his post as a " musical critic," in which capacity he tells us in his last issue that he made his appearance at the opera. The funernl of the bite Mrq John Jones, which took place on Thursday, was attended by a very large concourse, including all our piincipal citizens. More than three hundred gentlemen were, I think, present. Mr Jones is much sympathised with, and looked, I regret to say, very much broken down by his loss. An important meeting of the Otago Local (Exhibition) Committee is to be held to-day, at which the honorary secretary of the Commissioners will attend to afford information on various subjects. A report of it will no doubt reach you before you tio to press. I may tell you that the people of Waikouaiti have displayed far greater zeal than those of Oamaru in this matter, if their subsciiption list is to be taken as a measure of their energy in other respects. The secretary of the General Committee tells me that they have applied to him for L50, an equal amount having been already deposited in the bank at Waikouaiti for the purposes of the District Committee.