The Sun.
London, England, 1835-06-04 00:00:00

BREACH OF PRIVILEGE.

Mr. HUME rose to call the attention of the House to a
series of circumstances that took place last night, because he
felt it his duty to support the orders and regularity of the
proceedings of the House. Although it was probitisle that
during the number of years he had sat in that House, he
might on some occasions have been betrayed into a
warmth of expression, he never when satisfied he was wrong,
considered it beneath him to avow it.—( Hear, hear.) On
every occasion he had bowed to the authority of the
Chair and the House, becauma he knew that one is not
always the best judge of his own conduct, which those
around looked on in a cooler temper. It would be
recollected that late last night, or rather early this morning,
at the close of the debate, the Honourable Member for
Ludlow persevered in addressing the House, contrary to what
appeared to be the wish of the House.—( Hear, hear.) In al-
lusion to what had fallen from the Noble Lord, the Member
for Lincolnshire, that Hon. Member said the Ballot had
entirely failed in the United States. At that moment, he
( Mr. Hume) remarked to his Honourable Friend,
the Member for Bath, who sat near him, with the
recollection of what had fallen from the Noble Lord—" Such
a thing is not true,"—in a tone scarcely more than a whisper.
The Hon. Member for Ludlow, who was behind him,
stopped, and addressed himself to him (Mr. H.) saying—
" Hold your tongue, Sir 1"—( Laughter.) He, told him he was
not speaking to him, upon which he replied again—" Won't you
hold your tongue Sir ? If you don't I'll make you I"
(Laughter, and cries of " Hear.") He continued—" You
are an impertinent fellow, and we don't want Republicanism
here."—( Laughter.) He ( Mr. Hume) replied, " You are
an impertinent fellow," but he refrained from using his hands,
out of respect to the House. Nothing more passed then, and he
(Mr. Hume) having some motions for Returns to make, re-
mained in the House until he was called out by another Hon.
Member, who put a note into his hands, which was from the
Hon. Member for Ludlow, and was as follows :—" House of
Commons, Tuesday Evening--I heard you make use of the
words impertinent fellow' while I was speaking. Believing that
you meant them to apply to me, I am desirous to know imme-
diately, whether you did so or not." He told the Honour-
able Gentleman who conveyed the note, that he did make
use of the words but in answer to the gross attack
which the Hon. Member had made upon him, and that he
considered that it was the duty of that Hon. Member to make
an apology to him.—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear, hear.")
He returned to the House, and remained three quarters
of an hour until the House adjourned, and on his way
out he was again met by the Honourable Gentleman
who conveyed the note, and who told hiss that the
Honourable Member for Ludlow was not at all satisfied, and
that he had better appoint a friend to negotiate upon the
matter-4 Loud laughter.) He told the Hon. Gentleman
that he had no other answer to give, and that be had
most reason to be dissatisfied.—( Cries of Hear, hear.")
He thought no more of the matter, because be considered
that the warmth into which the Honourable Member had
been betrayed might, in the course of the night, be sobered
down, and that he would think differently. However, he
(Mr. Hume) received this morning the following note, which
had been published in the papers of the evening :
" Sir,—l have just been informed by my friend, G. W.
Forrester, that you refused to give any answer to my letter, cc
to enter into any explanation, or name a friend to whom he might
refer. Under these circumstances, I regret that lam reduced to
the necessity of publicly declaring that you have shown yourself
wholly unworthy of the title of a gentleman.
" L. CHARLTON."
Thinking that he might have possibly made some mistake,
and said something wrong, he wrote a letter to his friend,
the Hon. and Learned Member for Bath, who had heard
all that passed between them, determined, if he were satis-
fied that he had committed a mistake, that he should not
hesitate in making reparation.—( Loud cheers.) He re-
ceived from his friend an answer fully corroborating the
view he (Mr. Hume) had taken of the subject.--( Hear.)
The Hon. Member referred to the notes that had been taken
by an Hon. Member (we believe Mr. Roebuck) of what had
taken place, from which it appeared, that in consequence of
some observations of Mr. Charlton in his speech with respect
to the Ballot, Mr. Hume made some observations to an
Hon. Member near him, which caused Mr. Charlton
to say, " Hold your tongue, Sir, if you want to say
• anything you may reply to me." To this Mr. Hume
said he would not hold his tongue, as he was not amenable to
him ; to which Mr. Charlton replied, " I will make you--you
are an impertinent fellow, and we want no Republicans here."
As this House might not be aware of all the future circum-
stances he would detail,—then Mr. Roebuck rose to call the
Hon. Member to order, at the same time as he (Mr.
Hume) did. Mr. Roebuck gave way. The Speaker was
then calling order. The Right Honourable Ba-
ronet below ( Sir R. Peel) said he thought such interruptions
improper, and he (Mr. Hume) believing that those obser-
vations were applied to him, he sat down.--( Loud cheers.)
Such being the facts, he put it to the House in what
situation an Hon. Member would be placed, who was liable for
such an interruption, to be told by an Hon. Member, either in
a passion, or for the purpose of notoriety, that he was to be
called out, and liable either to have a ball sent through his
own body, or to send it through the other's ?—( Hear, hear.)
He considered he had a just ground of complaint against the
Hon. Member who published the correspondence that ensued,
and he thought it better, and it was the course be always pur-
sued, to settle disputes in the House that originated in the
House. He said he had no intention of offending the Hon.
Member.
Mr. CHARLTON did not feel himself prepared to bring
his case before the House in the same way as the Hon. Member.
It was sufficient for him to say upon the honour of a gentle-
man, and in the strongest language the rules of the House
permitted, that what the Honourable Member had stated
was not true. On the honour of a gentleman, he repeated
he never used the expression " impertinent. " The Ho-
nourable Member (Mr. Hume) did not deny that he
employed the expression " impertinent." The least that
can be expected from Gentlemen in that House was that
courtesy should be extended to them, and no interruption
should at all events be given by those who would not be