The Sun.
London, England, 1845-06-17 00:00:00

Sir ROBERT INGLIS wished to ask a question of the
Under Secretary for the Colonies, viz., whether the represen-
tatives of her Majesty's Government in Ceylon had paid
honours, or in any way countenanced idolatrous worship in the
island of Ceylon.
Mr. HOPE in a few words replied that no such countenance
had been given to such worship. The Government offi-
cers had given directions to discountenance the idolatrous cere-
monies referred to.
Sir ROBERT INGLIS was satisfied with the explanation.
An Hose. MEMBER, whose name we could not learn, put a
question to the Secretary for the Colonies, whether he had
seen an edict issued at Hong-Kong, for the suppression of
Secret Societies there, awarding a sentence of three
years' imprisonment and hard labour, and branding on
the right cheek, after the manner of deserters
'The following remarkable words concluded the edict, that if
any member of that society should be slain by the people in any
disturbance, no inquiries should take place as to the manner in
which the death of the individual had been occasioned.
Mr. HOPE was aware that stieh a society existed as that
mentioned by the Hon. Member. It was a society consisting
of a considerable number of persons, who were ail bound so-
lemnly by oath to obey the directions, whatever they might
be, of one person, whom they regarded as the head of their
establishment. he society was a band of robbers and assassins,
and was a terror to all well-disposed Chinese, upon whom the
confederacy were in the habit of levying a species of black mail,
for the rreservation and protection of their lives and property.
It was also true, that the members of this society possessed
power to brand on the cheeks any persons who withdrew from
their association, hut it was not comet to say that the punish-
ment of deserters in the royal army consisted of a visible brand
on the cheek—it was only a secret mark, by which they might
be ident,fied on inspection. In all the jurisdiction of the
Tryad Society over the Chinese subjects their powers were re-
ported to have been supreme, and no notice would at present be
taken with respect to the power they posses-ed.
CHALLENGE TO MR. ROEBUCK.

Mr. ROEBUCK rose and said he had a very important
matter to bring forward with regard to a question of the privi-
leges of that House. He would wish to call the attention of
the House to a letter which he had received on Saturday last.
A carriage drove up to his door, and a person having knocked
at the door, the letter which he held in his hand was
left at his house. The letter was addressed to him
personally, and was dated from the Reform Club. The letter
was to this effect, that the writer wished to know if he (Mr.
Roebuck) had used these words as reported in the Morning
Chronicle, or words to that effect. Here the Hon. Member
read the passage as enclosed by the writer of the letter, the
substance of which was, that he (Mr. Roebuck) had said that
the parties to whom he had alluded, under the peculiar cir-
cumstances, deserved very little respect for their position or
their intellect. The writer then went en to say that if he
(Mr. Roebuck) used those words, the insult to him, the writer,
was plain. His second question, then, was, was be (Mr. Roe-
buck) prepared to justify them ? He (the writer) presumed
that he(Mr. Roebuck) was too well read in the history of
chivalry to misinterpret the meaning of this word, which the
writer had underlined three times.—( Loud laughter.)
Sir V. BLAKE rose to order. He was ready to admit that
the Hon. Member (Mr. Roebuck) had an undoubted right to
express his opinions in the House, upon any measure brought
before it, but he had not a right to catechise or to lecture any
Hon. Member who—( Loud cries of Order, order.")
The SPEAKER said that the interruption of the Hon.
Baronet was most irregular.—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear.)
Mr. ROEBUCK thn proceeded to read the conclusion of
the letter, which was that the writer enclosed the Morning
Chronicle, and had marked the passage. In answer to that
letter he had written what he would now read, and which he
delivered himself. The Hon. Member then read his answer,
which was to the effect that he would answer the Hon. Mem-
ber's letter in his place in the House of Commons : that the
House should not be coerced in his person—(Cheers)—and
that he would take the proper means of punishing such threats.
(Cheers.) He concluded by expressing a hope that the writer
of the challenge was sufficiently read in the law of his country,
not to misinterpret this.—( Great laughter and cheers.) Sir,
I am now about first to move that the letter be read by the
clerk at the table.—(Cheers, and laughter. )
The SPEAKER asked whether the Hon. Member for
Sligo was in his place ?

Mr. SOMER.'S rose in his place, and bowed to the Speaker.
The Clerk at the table then read the letter at length.
The following is Mr. Somers' letter, with Mr. Roebuck's
reply:—

" Reform Club, June 14, 1845, 6 p.m.
" Sir—Unfortunately I was not in the House of Commons
last night when you spoke in committee on the Irish Colleges
Bill. If I had been present the necessity of addressing to you
a letter like this, which is one of inquiry, would not have
existed. But having been absent, lam compelled to rest on
the newspaper reports, and I wish to ask you if the following
words were spoken by you, or words to that effect :—' Those
who follow such a leader deserve little respect either for their
position or their intellect.' [So we understoed the Honourable
and Learned Member's reading► of the letter, but he spoke in
so low a tone, and se rapidly, that we followed him with some
difficulty.] If you did use these words the insult you convey to
me as a repealer is plain. My second question is, are you pre
pared to justify these words. ( These words are underlined.)
The meaning of the words I have underlined I am sure you
are too well read in the old histories of chivalry to misinter-
pret.—(Loud laughter).—l have the honour, &c.,
" J. A. Roebuck, Esq. "J. P. SOMERS."
" Sir—You shall receive the answer your letter requires in
the House of Commons on Monday.—(Loud cries of " Hear,
hear")—and I now give you the following warning for your
guidance in the meantime. lam determined that the free
expression of opinion shall not in my person be coerced or
checked.—(Loud cheers from the Ministerial benches.) I
shall, therefore, use the most stringent and effectual means to
punish your present menace, and to put down all future violence.
I trust you are sufficiently well read in the laws of your country
to understand this.—(Loud cries of " Hear, hear," and cheers
from the Ministerial benches. )—I am, &c.,
"J. P. Somers. Esq. " J. A. ROEBUCK."
Mr. ROEBUCK said, fir, I am exceedingly sorry to
be obliged to adopt the course which I feel it my duty to pur-
sue. 1 feel it, however, a paramount duty—not as regards
myself, but as regards the privileges of this House—to make
the following motion, " That J. P. Somers, Esq., having
sent a challenge to a Member, for words spoken in this
House, is guilty of a contempt and breach of privilege." My
reasons for taking this course I shall state as calmly and
shortly as I can. If it were a question that regarded only
myself, the law would have afforded me instant protection,
and I would be quite prepared to throw myself, in such a case,
on the law's authority. But this is not a matter in which I
am concerned. It is the House that is concerned—and the
privileges of the Members—and the most valuable
of those privileges is the free expression of their opinions as to
the conduct of public men. Under these circumstances I
claim the right of availing myself of the privileges of the House,
certain as I am that I myself have committed no breach of its
privileges. I thought proper to refer to the superiority in intel.
lect of some of the Hon. Members in this House, and I have
received in consequence a letter suggesting that an Hon. Mem-
ber should be allowed to shoot at me.—( Laughter and cheers.)
I do not think that that shows any superiority or that it proves
any superiority of the intellect. I throw aside all other consi-
derations. I feel as a Member of this House that lam acting
in a proper manner when I pursue this course, and, therefore,
assuming that Hon. Members will not deny my right to do so,
I shall move the motion which has already been received by
the House,
Lord ASHLEY said, I rise with great satisfaction to second
this motion with the most heartfelt thanks, not only for my-
self, but also for, I am convinced, a great majority of the
Members in this House, and of right-minded persons through-
•ut the country—the thanks of those persons who look with
alarm at any breach of the privileges of this House. The
motion will go far to establish not only a social, but a very
great constitutional privilege. I can foresee, Sir, the time
when, if this system which the Hon. and Learned Member for
Bath has called our attention to, was introduced into this House,
and into a deliberative assembly—l can see the time when
liberty of speech would be at an end, arid when we should
meet here as our ancestors met here, not for the exhibition of
reason, but for violence and for the sword.—(Chens). In
seconding this motion, 'therefore, Sir, I tender to the Honour..
able and Learned Member for Bath, in my own name and in
the name of many gentlemen of England, and as I said be-
fore, in the name of thousands of his fellow subjects, I do
tender to him my most sincere thanks for the manly, the cou-
rageous, and the constitutional course which he has taken.—
(Loud cheers).
Mr. SOMERS then rose and said—Sir, seeing the feeling
of the House, I have no hesitation whatever in withdrawing
that letter which he has read. It was merely a letter of in-
quiry.—( Great laughter). The Honourable and Learned
Aletnber for Bath did not condescend to answer these in-
quiries. Ido not call in question his motives for not doing
so. I am here, Sir, in the hands of the House, and I bow
with unaffected deference to the decision of the House.

am little inclined to play with the authority of the House.
The sense of the Speaker is paramount on all occasions, and
the sense of the House I conceive is on all occasions para-
mount. I certainly do deeply regret this matter.--( Loud
cheers). I do deeply regret that any matter so personal to
myself should has,e occupied the attention of the House for
one moment.--(Cheers). If the Honourable and Learned
Member for Bath is satisfied with this explanation I trust the
House will be satisfied. I think I can add nothing to what
I have said. I trust, however, that the House will bear with
me for one moment, while I call the attention of the Honour-
able and Learned Member for Bath to the observations which he
frequently makes, and the gross imputations which he occasionally
casts upon certain Members of this House. I will take the
liberty of saying that the Hon. Gentleman's observations do not
always correspond with—(Here the Hon. Gentleman hesi-
tated for a moment)—I must take the liberty of saying it—do
not always correspond with the truth so as to entitle him to
permanent respect. I beg to apologise to the House generally
for intruding on its attention. and for being the cause of en-
croaching so considerably on its time.—( Loud chem. )
Sir. G. GREY assured the House that he felt deeply for
the Hon. Member who had last addressed the House.—
(Cheers.) He understood him to say, at the commencement
of his explanation, that he retracted the letter which had been
the origin of the present discussion; a more satisfactory line
of conduct could not have been pursued, still he confessed he
should not be doing his duty did he not deprecate the practice
too often adopted of resenting supposed injuries. He thought
the course adopted by the Hon. Member for Bath was the
only one consistent with his duty to the House and to himself
which he could have pursued ; and he at the same time hoped
that this, the second example presented to and by that Hon.
Member, would teach others to value a similar course, while
it warned himself to be more regardful of the feelings of others.
—(Loud cheers.) He agreed with all that had been said by
him against the immoral and unchristian practice of duelling;
but his approval was limited to that one sentiment, and was not
extended to the unwarrantable course he pursued on Friday
night. While Hon. Gentlemen made it a point of conscience
not to give or accept a hostile measure, instead of yielding to
the feelings of indignation or resentment, they should at the
same time be particclarly sedulous of preserving the language
of gentlemen.—( Reiterated cheers.) He did not wish to give
offence to the Hon. Member for Bath, but he only felt he was
doing his duty in reminding him that there was a tone and
a gesture calculated to give offence.—(Prolonged cheer-
ing.) He heard his speech on Friday last with that
attention which the addresses of the Learned Gentleman inva-
riably demanded, but he felt at the time that it was calculated
to produce needless irritation. Truth might be spoken with
plainness and with honesty without wounding feelings or pro-
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made every reparation in his power..—(Cheers.) He had
retracted the letter which had given cause to the present un-
fortunate discussion, he had regretted the hasty course he had
adopted, and had apologised to the House. A more complete
reparation could not possibly have been made by any man.—
( Loud cheers.) At the same time he thought, as the Hon.
Member had made the fullest reparation in his power, that the
Hon. and Learned Gentleman should be satisfied with the ex-
planation which had been made.

AIL B. ROCHE did not rise for the purpose of prolong-

PARLl.Ailtizti
11U USE OF COMMONS. June
DI..NDEE WATERWORKS.
The Dundee Wa,eru orks Bill was read a third time and
passed.
IDOL ATRO4IS WORSHIP IN CEYLON.