The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-27 00:00:00

PRIVILEGE:

Mr. ROEBUCK rose amidst loud cries of " Hear,
hear,"and considerable confusion, in consequence of some
Hon. Members not having taken their places. We un-
derstood the Hon. Member to say (for he spoke in so low
a tone as to be scarcely audible in the gallery) that he
would not have risen if he had not felt himself
imperatively called upon to address the House.
Hon. Members would bear in mind, that on the last even-
ing on which the House met, an Hon. Member opposite,
namely, the Hon. Member for Canterbury, thought
fit, in the perfotmance of his duty, to make
certain observations upon himself. To those observations
he had given what-answer he thought sufficient. The
attack was made upon him in a speech which was some •
what elaborate ; but he thought the House would admit
that (Mr. Roebuck) did not lose his temper on that
occasion—(Hear, hear)—and that he spoke in such an
off-hand way, that it might have been supposed that the
matter would be suffered to rest..

An HoN. MEMBER here rose to order. If the Hon.
Member meant to complain of any proceeding tending
to cause a breach of the peace, he ought not to use lan-
guage tending to create a breach of the peace.—(Hear.)
The SPEAKER said the Hon. Member was perfectly
in order.—(Cheers.)
Mr. ROEBUCK said, that before he read to the
,House a letter which he bad received from the Hon.
Member for Canterbury, he would at once state that he
had no wish to give that Hon. Member the least offence.
He then said, and he now repeated, that whenever he
was called on to account for, or explain anything that he
might have said (as we understood), he should be pre-.
pared to do so.—(Repeated cries of " Speak up."). He
did not regret anything which had been said by him
after the sort of mode—(Cheers)—in which the Hon.
Member for
.Canterbury had alluded to him.—(Re-
newed cheers.) The expressions used by the Ho-
nourable Member conveyed en imputation of
a grave character upon him (Mr. Roebuck).
The Hon. Member said that he had deceived his party—
that he disguised servility by severity, and (as we un-
derstood) that he was seeking the favour of the present
Government, under the appearance of a foe.—(Repeated
cries of " Speak up," the Hon. Member speaking in an
unusually low tone, although with a very emphatic man-
ner.) He had been called a rebel -to the Queen, and the
friend of Papineau. To that attack he had answered as
he would answer over and over again, but he
answered only in fair Parliamentary retort. He would
now read to the House the letter he had received from
the Hon. Member for Canterbury. The Hon. Member
then read the following letter, but in the same indistinct
tone :

" Travellers' Club, April, 1844.
" Sir,—/ cannot determine from the newspaper re-
port of your speech in the House of Commons last
night, nor from what I understood when I heard it,
whether to me personally you meant to apply the words
dishonourable motives.' If so, . I beg to refer
you to a letter which I adfiressed to my
constituents, dated July, 1843, . in which
was this passage7—' That as' I never asked a
favour of Sir Robert Peel or of his Government,
I could not have been actuated by any disappointment
or obligation in voting against them. Now I call upon
you" to state that you did not mean to apply these words
to me ; and if you did so, either to retract them oryi,to
refer to a friend with whom my friend, Captain Garrett,
may communicate.
(Signed) " G, SMYTHE."
He (gr. Roebuck) did give answer that Mr. Smythe
should hear from him, but not not by letter; but in the
House of Commons. But he said to Captain Garrett,
" As far as You are concerned you need not be alarmed."
Mr. SMYTHE—That was not the answer.
The SPEAKER—Order.
Mr. ROEBUCK—Sir, I am now here to answer for
what I have said.

The SPEAKER said the letter just read by the Hon.
and Learned Member fur Bath, having been sent to him
as a Member of that House by another Hon. Member of
that House, and the subject-matter of that letter having
had its origin in same proceedings in that House, it
would be the proper course for the 'Hon. and Learned
Member for Bath to hand it over to the clerk of the
House, to be read by him at the table.—(Hear hear.)
Mr:ROEBUCK was understood to say he should not
give up .the letter, unless by express command of the
House. He had considered it his duty to advise the
House of a fact, but he declined tO give up a letter.—
(Loud laughter.)
Mr. CURTEIS said he' felt it his duty to move that
the letter referred to be read by the clerk at the table of
the House.

The SPEAKER said he had before stated the course
that it would be the duty of the House to pursue. He
must now positively require of the Hon. and Learned
Member for Bath to bring the letter up in order to its
being read, as it must be the foundation of any such
further proceedings as the House might think due to its
OA n dignity to adopt.
Mr..l.3.oeisecie brought up the letter, which was then
read by the clerk to the House.
After a pause of a moment or two; •
Mr. SMYTHE said the Hon. and Learned Member
for Bath, true to his practice, as to his right," had taken
one Hon. Member by surprise, because the answer given
to him (Mr. S.) by the gentleman he had sent to the
Hon. arid Learned Member for Bath was not that which
the Hon. and Learned Member for Bath had just reported
to the House. The answer given by the Hon. and
Learned Member'for Bath to the gentleman sent to him
was this—" He shall hear of this." His (Mr. Smythe's)
Friend had replied that he must have ".a definite an-
swer," to which the Hon. and Learned Member for Bath
had rejoined, " He would send an answer." From that
hour he (Mr. Smythe) had been expecting an answer.—
(Roars of laughter.) He (Mr. Smythe) could give hie
sacred word of honour that, except to the friend
he had sent to the Honourable and Learned
Member for Bath, he had never opened his lips
to any person, or made the slightest intimation of the
course he was about to pursue. But this afternoon, he
(Mr. Smythe) by accident met the Noble Lord, the
Member for Newark (Lord J. Manners), who informed
him that he had been given to understand by an Hon.
Member of that House, that the Honourable
and Learned Member for Bath was about to
bring this matter before the House.—(Hoar, hear.)
Inasmuch as he had taken but one gentleman into his
confidence, while the Hon. and Learned Member for
Bath had chosen to take somewhere about five hundred
into- his—(oh, oh)—he (Mr. Smythe) was well content
that that confidence should be full, unreserved, and ex-
plicit.—(Hear, hear.) And he must say this—that
when the Hon. and Learned Gentlemen who had just
spoken about having only made use of a fair parliamen-
tary retort—he should have perfectly agreed with the
lion. and Learned Gentleman, that his remarks had
only partaken of the nature of a fair parliamentary re-
tort if be had made use of it fur the first time.—(Hear,
hear.) But it must be .in the recollection of
the House that that Honourable and Learned Gentleman,
of
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• Hon. and Learned Gentleman afterwards left town
to attend the circuit. But on that occasion he consulted
a ft'iend, who told him he could take no notice of what
had been said, but that he must contradict the insinua-
tion. And that insinuation he did now contradict, in the
most immediate, direct, and public manner, because he
must be permitted to say that it was a grave
reflection on a public man, that he should be supposed
to act from venal, low, and sordid motives.(Cheers.)
And now the Hon. and Learned Member for Bath had
brought the matter before the House, he must say that
he had done it in a different spirit from what he (Mr.
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to bring the matter before the House, he expected that he
would have done it in a speech somewhat similar to those
he was in the habit of making—a speech full of those.
aspersions he was in the habit of throwing out. But as'
the lion. and Learned Member had not done so, it only

remained for him (Mr. Smythe) most humbly and
respectfully to apologise to the House, if he
had done anything which involved a breach of its order
and privileges.—(Loud cheers.)
Sir R. PEEL said, according to the course usually
taken in such cases, it would be necessary that both
Hon. Gentlemen should give an assurance, which they
would have no difficulty in giving, that this matter should
not go further.
. Mr. ,ROEl3llCii olliectecl to comply with this, because
this would pre-suppose that he intended to •pursue that
course.—(Laughter..) _ _

Sir R. PEEL said that assurance clearly exempted the
Hon. and Learned Gentleman from any, suspicion of in-
tending to do so.—(Hear, hear.)

The—SPEAKER—It now only remains for me to dis-
charge my duty by calling on Mr. Smythe to give the
House his assurance that he will not take any hostile
proceedings.

Mr. S.CIYTHE—The thing is perfectly absurd.—
(Laughter.) If the Hon. and Learned Member chooses
to bring the matter before the House, and then says lam
not one to bring matters to extremities, thereby insi-
nuating that I am the person—(Laughter)--and throw-
ing the whole odium of the position on me—it is per-
fectly absurd, because you must remember the position
in which the Hon. Gentleman places me. If the Hon. and
Learned Gentleman is willing to state, that he has taken
the initiative in this matter, because he is the most diffi •
cult man in the world to deal with—(Laughter, and
cries of Order, order)—because he has engaged in some
half dozen affairs of this kind.—(Loud cries of Order,
order—Chair, chair.)

The SPEAKERL-The Hon. Gentleman must see that
his conduct was not respectful to the House. (He had
been asked not to engage in hostile proceedings ; and he
(the Speaker)-now requested that he would answer that
call.

Mr. SM YTHE—Then I will do so in one word. As
it is impossible to determine whether the Hon. and
Learned Gentleman is only here in this House as a
Member of Parliament, I beg in the most full and
unreserved manner to apologise, for any breach of
formulas or forms of the House of which I may
have been guilty. I have no more to say,
excepting that this matter will not go further.