MELBOURNE.

Otago Witness, Issue 931, 2 October 1869, Page 11

MELBOURNE.

(r&o&r our own oorrbspohdbnt.) Tuesday, 14th September. The political position is untltored. When tbo Houso met on Tuesday last, Mr Grant rote in his placo in the Houso, and stated that tho charges which had boon brought against tho Honourable tho Attor-ney-General, to which I reforrod in my last, wore untrue so far is that gontloman was concerned. Tho Minister of Mines, in the absence of tho leador of tho Governmont, the Chief Secretary, then moved the adjournment of the Houto ovor Wednesday, out of respect to the memory of tho iato Mr Fawknor. There was tome detiro ovinood to go on with businoss that night, but after a little sparing, a division took plnoo on tho question of adjournment till next day, *hich waa carried by a majority of one. Tho numbort being 30 to 20. On Wedneaday, then wm ft oount out, and it wm

not expected that even- on Thursday night real bjisinessshould be resumedr Shortly after the House met,' Mr .Blair, rose mi his place,) and referred to this {paragraph, which' had appeared in the Age of that morning, and which, I believe, it is now admitted gives a truthful account of the great (Grant and Smith scandal : — , " As 1 Mr Grant did not return' when expected, his family sought him in several places. If we are not misinformed, he was found at the residence of his brother-in-law, 1 ' Mr Blair. There, members bf the family only being present, one who has Mr Grant's ' honour, and interest most dearly at heart reproached that gentleman with being reckless about his health. Either through natural ex± citeme'nt or for the purpose of frightening Mr Grant — as patients often must be frightened into accepting what is gopd for them — it was threatened that steps would be taken to place Mr Grant under duress ; that it would be quite easy to get the Attorney- General'^ consent and' Dr Tracy's co-operation." . The truth of this in its main points was. not denied, but when the AttorneyGeneral rose and followed Mr Blair 6n the same subject, the ' excitement was intense. . Calmly, and with a tone which showfld, how deep was the regret he felt for the step which had been forced on him, he told the real truth;- That real truth is, that the Minister of Lands of the Oolony of Victoria — the mainstay of the M'Culloch Ministry, the man whose name has long been a household word amongst vs — is a dipsomaniac! That was all. As far as he was concerned, he proved that the statement which had been made that he, for purposes of his own, endeavoured to place Mr Grant in a private asylum, was denied emphatically ; a letter from one of our leading medical men being read to prove that, so far from Mr Smith having endeavoured to molest Mr Grant in any way, he had always acted as his best friend, and had indeed been ignorant of the extent to which his disease had gone till a day or two before the attaok was made'oh'hira." ( So satisfactory was the Attorney- General's explanation, that the next, morning the Argus published a leading article, apologising for the statements it had made with regard to him. But, at the same time, it urged that, on his admission, it was time for Mr Grant to retire from office. On the other hand, the Government journal declares that the knowledge of Mr Grant's infirmity is not of today. That it was patent to his political foes as well as friends years ago, and that it has only now been raised as a cry because of the disaffection in the Ministerial ranks caused by the appointment of Mr Bolfe to the office of Commissioner of Customs. So the matter rests till .tonight, when Mr M'Culloch, who has been unwell, will come down to the House and make his Ministerial statement. How that will be accepted I can't say. Both parties are very confident. The division will not take place till Thursday morning,, and then, I fancy, it will, be found that the Government have a majority of something like three. This is from a. reliable source, and you may take it as such. Should this prediction turn out to be correct, we are curious as to what the after action of the Ministry will be.

Mr Fawkner was buried on Wednesday, and as ono paper aptly said, never was there a spectacle more tbnehingly illustrative of tho grief of . a young cation at a great loss. There was no attempt at pomp or parade. The remains were borne to the grave in a simplo hoarse, ornamented only by a few plumes^-but behind that hearse was every man' of mark In the' oolony, £nd thousands 'of. people' whoso honrts beat the hoavior for the loss of the white haired patriarch who had founded for them a home, in a now land, whore tho lines of most of them are oast in more pleasant places' than they would have been had Victoria remained as the, Batman party would have wished it to remain — a mero sheop run. , Tho streets from Colling wood through the city tp.CarUon were lined with dense masses of people, and .every shop in. the olty and its suburbs, was closed.. .:■ r< • A case has ooourrod which. i-frora«th6 charaoter of tho, person implicated, -has' caused somo painful feeling. : Patrick Nl*U,' a Catholic priest, 'aged about 40, has boon' charged with an abominable offence committod nt Dromana, upon one 'Fairlom) tho mate of tho ship Hurricane. Between rho first hearing and the remand, to" the, locality of tho alleged orimo, the tnfbr* mant saw fit to publish a tort' , of notioo denying that anything of , the kind, had occurred. He thon attempted tot/ got away by a thlp bound to Oaloutta, bqt jhj> detectives wore too many for him,' and iho wm bound ovor in an amount of bail wbfoh, oompollod him to remain. On Saturday, whon brought boforo' the Berioh, 1 ho'bbmpletely tuttainod hit former information. Tho innkeoper, Mr Scarfleld, gatb lf ovl-i denoo of a generally oorroborativo oh** racter to thai of Fairlem, ;tuppltoaent*^ | by a ttatoxnont that the rovarend offender

had ajjted improperly- towards, his .son, Scarfield inn. The result has been the' committal of the reverend : gentleman to take his trial for the offence, charged against him. Meanwhile,' I need hardly | say the affair has caused an immense sen- ' sation' amongst the Roman Catholic portion of the community here. ' l ' . -• " Our New Town Hall, built principally of Oamaru stone (above the basement, which 1 is of granite), rapidly approaches completion. The stone is beautifully' worked, and the building will, when completed, be one of the most splendid in the southern hemisphere, and a really fitting companion to our Post Office. ' The Hall proper will be about 180 feet in length by a span, arched iron girders, of 70, feet ; indeed, the largest in 'the world, 'save Westminster Hall, and though varying in some 'proportions, it has actually more oubio contents thaa the great Birmingham Town Hall. What will you say of Melbourne progress after that ? '.' ' • The 1 Rev. James,Taylor, whose escapade you will remember, still thinks he has fully expiated his offences'. He has started again 'at the Polytechnic Hall, but. is not—as the theatrical , people say — doing good business. The fact is the really religious portion of the community cannot overlook , the past, and with the curious he is about \ played out. So that the Rev gentleman must seek fresh fields, or else vary his mission. • • - • The Age newspaper has just been the defendant, through, its proprietor, Mr Syme,' in a libel action between Mr Jordan, of the firm of. Jordan and Beck, proprietors of an anatomical museum, similar to Kreitmayer's, which some of your readers will . remember. ' The action was laid criminally, and the alleged libel consisted of a broad statement that the museum was unfit for the public to witness, and that its proprietor was a charlatan who had been struck off the rolls in England for selling indecent publications. The prosecution was a miserable failure, and the Magistrates^ without .calling 1 on Mr Syme (for whom Mr Higinbotham appeared), dismissed the case. The' Melbourne journals; in a body, have applauded the Age for its courageouaneas in the affair ;• and I expect the Museum will shortly be closed on compulsion by the Ministry.