"THE ESCAPED NUN" CONTROVERSY.

Oamaru Mail, Volume X, Issue 3458, 3 March 1886, Page 2

"THE ESCAPED NUN" CONTROVERSY.

(Otago Daily Times.) H Since the evening when Sir Gaofo.M| Grey delivered his last politioal addrewS fl Dunedin, the Garrison Hall has prob»b], fl never been besieged by auoh a fl crowd as gathered about it laat night, t , fl the occasion of the encounter fl Mrs O'Gorman Auffray and Mr 1W fl Fulton, of this city. The cash proceed) fl of the entertainment (for tho affair fl to be regarded as something very in the entertaintnont line) are to L B devotod to the Home for Fallen Women U and those interested in the welfaro of thijfl excellent institution must have experience a thrill of satisfaction as they gnzod the uncomfortably wedged mnltitnj, in the hall last night. Tho platform galleries, and floor space were packed' tho outer eutrnnoe hall tho nanie! and even tho staircase outside th« doors, a point from which tho splintering of lances on the platform could be b»t»l» hoard, was made to accommodate Its con, plement of spectators. Tho aamoephti, was therefore as warm as tho _t°mpor o( the discussion, and that is' saying avert great dea>. Tho order of battle waa u follows :—Tho Chairman (Mr A. C. Bo w \ in tho centre, wi'h I ho attacking foroo(m the person of Mr Fulton) on his right and the defending (in tho porson of Mtt Auffray) on hia left. Mr Fult >n wna im. mediately supported by Mr A. Brnntun who appeared on the faco of it to bo tg ally, but subsequently proved himself t 0 bo nothtng of the kind ; whilo near Mhs Auffrny sat her husbnud and the Uov. M, Ward. A ecoro or two of clergy and Wtj and tho war correspondents of the varioiu newspapers occupied tho rest of tho plm, form spaci>. Owing to the crowded etal« of the building, proceedings wore com. monced a quarter of an hour beforo the advertised time, and it was yet fitj minutes to 8 o'clook when, aftor a few words from the Chairman, Mr Fulton rose for the charge. Ho was in fanltlen evening dresSj and soon proved hima«t( ■ in fine speaking voice and in fir»t-ola«, training for heavy work in the gestloulating line. Some little vigor was certainty necessary, for the spoakor was received with a storm of hisses and applause (the former greatly predominating), whioh »u repeated at short intervals during hia re. marks. The " oscaped nun " moanwhlli ( sat with statuesque immobility, her left hand resting upon the t*blo In front of her; and sho vouchsafed nothing beyond a patient sneer whon Mr Fulton, aftot i string of plaiitudes upon tho text " Afnoiw est vcritas ct prevalent," declared that although he was restricted to an hour tin lady might afterwards talk till doomsday, It may bo reported, as a.matter of dry fact, that tho laurels of victory foil to Mn Auffray after a conflict of two honra and a-half. As a controversy, tho affair vijv unquestionably lame, but it presented i good many points of interest and amuse, ment. Mr Fulton's ohiof strength lay in his resonance of voice and a gest : onlation,' so passionate as to involve some little pet* Bonal danger to himself and those in hit. immediate vicinity. It was probably the violent manner even moro than tho matter, of his discourse that drew upon him such frequent and vociferous hooting from the audience. For example, when ho declared that Mrs Auffray had beon playirifc upon one string until sho had becomta, veritable Paganini, tho audience, by the? tumultuous indignation they showed, evidently labored under tho impression tint some vituperativo opithet of terrible force':, had beon applied to tho escaped nun, This was hard lines, for Paganini waa not such a very disreputable oharaotor after all, and the denunciation was one of the; mildest that passed Mr Fulton's lips in the course of the evening. Without following the tourney in detail, when Sit Fulton at last approached tho point the gravamen of his charges resolved itself into this :—That the escaped nun was a Yankee i( show-woman, and that sho was guilty of! obtaining money under false pretonoei and of blasphemy. Immense uproar; i during which the speaker faced Mtl Auffray with clenched fiats, and strove to, j annihilate her with a look. Mrs Auffray fanned herself and continued to wear an ;' aspect of comparative cheerfulness, and ; her assailant then turned to the reading op certain alleged letters from tho eaoapedj nuu to tho Mother Superior of hereon''; vent, which were originally published in ? the Boston Pilot, and concerning whioh so much has been lieard of late, Theie proceedings woro varied by a lively altotr. cation between Mr Fulton and a young ; gentloman in tho front, row, whom hi,'.: acensod of having "a cricketer's moustache ' —ll hairs on eaoh side." Almost - the J only passage at whioh the assailant did secure some genuine applause was that , wherein he recounted hia offer to defray all the costs of a libel action against thou ( responsible for tho publication of the : letters which Mrs Auffray declared to be forgeries. But Mr Fulton soon after-; wards lost his advantage by another Injudicious conflict with a member of the audience. The individual in question, at a certain Vioint in the harangue exclaimed " You're no geatleman " and Mr Fulton, rounding with marvellous alacrity, anxious like Shylock that no viper should have the chance of stinging him twice thundered forth "You're a liar." Thii interchange of civilities not ohiming in' with the Chairman's views of decorum, Mt Fulton made the amende Iwnorabk aa fol* lows: —" I apologise this time to the chair ; but (with startling energy) if any* one tells me again I am no gentloman, chair or no chair, ho is a liar," So the , play went on, Mr Fulton shaking his shirtcuffi in frenzied declamation, but unforlnnately neglecting to advanoo niuoh logical argument. In fact, he virtually admitted a present lack of proof by stating that he : should trace out Mrs Auffray'a career like > a sleuth-hound until he waa able to prove her what ho believed her to be—a' "fraud." He further roferred to her aa I " this new Jorsey lily," and oonoluded by ', a glowing eulogy of nuns who worked, at :' he had seen them, on the battle-field—-(loud laughter)—and a recitation, the effect of which was a good deal marred by uproar among tho audience. Mr Fulton's oration having yielded nothing at all substantial, Mrs Auffray had the ball practically at her feet when sho rose to reply. She was reoeived with a protracted round of applause, and from this stage her assailant must be com* ■ plimented upon tho fortitude and equanimity with which he encountored a perfect hurricane of opposition. It did not look at all times as if the meeting would come to a peaceful termination, and any undertaker who happened to bo preeenf might be pardoned if ho were tomptod 10 mentally calculate the possible profitl attendant upon a free fight, a crush, and a panic in the crowded state of the building. But fortunately there was nothing more serious than sound and fury. Mrs Auffray prefacing her defence by the remark that. Mr Fulton possessed moro Belf-conoeit than any man she ever met, proceeded to crossexamine him over the Chairman's table upon dates and such liko details with no little skill. The gentleman, however, consistently declined to fix dates, or to define tho "earmarks" by which he waa con* vinced of the genuineness of the esoaped nun's letters. The lady showed an occasional tendency to be betrayed into > woman-like cul de sac argument 5 but on the whole she stuck pretty consecutively to her work, and Bcored heavily in several passages. Her first distinot viotory was gained in reference to Mr Fulton's champion cbargo of tho bedroom beating scene at a hotel iu MineapolwIf sustained, it is difficult to see ho* tho passive offence of being beaten wo 0'" materially affect Mrs Auffray'a character, but Mr Fulton scarcely made out his ca« under cross-examination. He profesieo himself unable to aiy whether tho affai'

, i ,<• at Detroit or Mineapolis, an< ttSring he had travelled on foo «« inch of the Mineapr.hs country 0T - f . e 'ascribe, when challenged, an; c , a! ano. {he snrrml _d in , •"' locals of* ecc-nery, - - wag farf j, rr nn at the «lista«w be able to hsz.rd g - Mines'"'' 13 Rna ° . '!" ,7, ■rff-'V tM '' wi,l ' fl " * hc V ,Vnt the two towns were fco ileal aßer r n »hV it was even contempt** d tc trjzetner "Vhm '* one cUv - her tr '" m P F ineirT° r ''" e a , co mp!ete. Upon the brd *» the" *>«• enncminp -hicl Ko: XfmX™ affidavit ' 3 / r . Fu,tor he h * failure and his fair ant* *" * Wh-d the table and d* g° Dl! i wSer .he locked like „ 108 who would take a beating „otn»n hia br.aincss was very fraß any man. d t<j the echo . •fte ! »''* n „*„ j„ s .ico it mint bo ad.even, .ore upon orh-r n.,into. S tLd to re'sent with .ope little S?of b «^» f^;KSn"rf M *». rrh^ " ir.'i when *:> c hn.-.'ly handr-d fens 1 "-"-; ' ' „ >r .:fic,'e to ths Chairmm h ' r m r^',f so far a, the Mftiew* »«£; '' vs anfl chiefs tfC, n r t A the hall, a dealing np- '" P dK>od cries of "apologise," insoit was some time before pro- *«™ eonld be rammed. The lady mean--7 LVa and Sir Fulton took a careful f °? nf th"cert ; Tha only other no°LVonhy point in AnflYav'a defence & reference to a manuscript note by SSehMrFnltou'. m-.uory <i the AmenIt incidents bad teen refrcsn.-d, and £ i« he tcld Mr Brnnton, had crao •Ifhis in America and had £ rce'fy discovered by him among t> ~,n„r* Mr Brunt.m produced a fncdocument, which bad beon £ILS to a Tablet of recent date n.Danedin newspaper office, and the IS tl-chred thpt one memorandum 2?SJ -"ho other, and thU both in the s,me handwriting. At this ,L e the audience disdained to hoof, "i howled instead, and another lively S minutes followed, dnnng wh ,ch Sirs Infer induced in a little pardonable nrire npnn the use of such ternw «» >m«tnr," &c She Lclnded with a peroration descriptive of her conversion, and by formally extending . Chriittan forgiveness to her antagonist Mr Brunton then pronounced I benediction, which the andienca scarcely, received in the spirit in whicn it was offered, and the meeting dispersed after the Chairman hid demanded a show of hands for and tho contestants, which resulted in a win for the escaped nan hv all against nothing. None of the ipedatc-H seemed upon deparnnjj to grndfe the modest sum they had p*id for admission, and rho Home for F.tl.'en Women can scarcely expect another Euch bomper benefit for a long time to come.