* * * * *
ANOTHER FACT.—It appears from the testimony of George Turner, and James
Russell, of Redcross-street, of Richard Jessop, of Cattle-street, and
William Williams of the Mint; that the _Revd. John Church_, on the 16th
of November, 1809, attended at the funeral of Richard Oakden, a clerk in
the Bank, who was executed before Newgate on the 15th for a certain
horrible crime. The hearse and coach set out from the Hat and Feathers
public-house, kept by a Mr. Richardson in Gravel-lane, to which place
Church and his company returned to partake of a jovial dinner. In the
course of the evening the latter behaved with great indecency.
The following bad character has also been given of Church, by Mr. George
Gee and his wife, who keep a cake shop in the New Cut. I have heard them
both declare it to be true:
“Mr. Church the Minister lodged at our house a year and a half, and
left last year at Lady-day.”
“We were in hopes that we were about to have a godly praying minister
in our house, and to be sure, the first night he had somewhat like
prayer, {21} and that and once afterwards, were the only times he
ever went to family prayer in our house. Nor could they have any
prayer as he would be frequently out almost all hours of the night,
and would lie in bed till ten o’clock in the morning. Several times
he and his wife would have skirmishings and fightings between
themselves, while their children would be left to run about the
streets out of school hours, and allowed to keep company with
children, that would swear in our hearing most shockingly. His
children were always left to be very dirty, and would be sent
sometimes three or four times in the morning for spirituous liquors
of all sorts, as for reading good books or even the Bible, he scarce
ever thought of it, but would spend a deal of his time in loose and
vain talk, in walking about, and in fawning on young men, that was
his chief delight.”
“Sundays and working days were all alike to them, for they would send
out to buy liquors and whatever else they wanted, on Sundays as well
as other days.”
“The house would be frequently more like a play-house, (I might say a
bawdy house) than a minister’s house, where a set of young people
would come, and behave more indecently than ought to be mentioned.
Even one Sunday morning they made such an uproar, as that they broke
one of the windows, and after that, they would go with him to his
Chapel, and after that he would give the sacrament to such disorderly
people, let their characters be ever so loose.”
“He was always ready to go fast enough out to dinner or supper, where
he could get good eating and drinking; but poor people might send to
him from their sick bed, times and times before he would come to
them. Seeing so much of his inconsistencies and shocking filthiness
in their rooms, (though they always paid the rent,) we were
determined to give them warning to quit our house, and we do think
that a worse man or woman ever came into any man’s house before;
especially as Mr. Church pretended to preach the gospel; such
hypocrites are much worse than others, and besides this, we never
heard any man tell lies {22} so fast in all our lives. It is a great
grief to us, that ever we went to hear him preach, or suffered him to
stop so long in our house.”
“GEORGE AND FRANCES GEE.”
I now proceed to relate and comment upon some remarkable circumstances
that have occurred since my last publication. During the greater part of
Sunday, my office was beset by _gangs_ of fellows who came in
successively and threatened prosecutions for what appeared in the paper
about Church. In the morning a constable named _Holmes_ (hired no doubt
for the purpose) was employed with a ladder, in tearing down the bills
that had been posted up, announcing the publication of that morning
respecting Mr. Church. About noon, a man of the name of _Shawe_, who, I
understand is a sort of an attorney, residing in St. George’s fields, and
who, it appears has also been employed by Church, was standing in the
midst of some persons outside the door of the chapel, with the newspaper
in his hand, and was commenting on the _infamous_ libels, as he called
them, that were published against that _most virtuous character_, Mr.
Church. He seemed as if he wanted to provoke somebody to speak: and he
soon had his wish; for a Gentleman of the name of Webster, with whom I am
well acquainted, and whom I know to be as peaceable and correct a young
man as any in the world, came up, and feeling indignant at the
recollection of _certain transactions_ which I shall state presently,
declared that every thing stated in that paper (_The Weekly Dispatch_)
was true. This was the _tremendous_ riot which this most _dangerous_
gentleman committed. The _peace-restoring_ Mr. Shawe went immediately
for a _peace-officer_—the same fellow of the name of Holmes who for three
hours before had mobs of people collected around him while he was tearing
down my bills, gave charge of Mr. Webster as a breaker of the peace, had
him dragged like a felon to the watch-house, and afterwards conveyed him
to a filthy lock-up-house in the Borough, where he was kept in a state of
imprisonment, from his comfortable house and family all that day and
night, until 12 o’clock on Monday, when he was brought before the
magistrates at Union Hall. Of the proceedings that then took place, the
following account appeared in the Morning Chronicle of Tuesday:—
RIOTS AT THE OBELISK.—Tuesday, a Mr. Webster, who is employed in the
house of Messrs. Evans and Co. eminent hop-merchants in the Borough, was
charged by a person of the name of Shaw, with committing a riot and
breach of the peace, on Sunday morning, at the Obelisk, in St.
George’s-fields, near the entrance of a chapel belonging to a preacher,
named John Church. The Magistrates said, that as Mr. Birnie, who had, on
a former day, heard another case similar to this, was absent, they wished
the case might be deferred until next day, and desired Mr. Webster to
attend accordingly. The prosecutor observed, that it would be dangerous
to allow Mr. Webster to be at large, and desired that he might either be
kept in custody or held to bail. The Magistrate asked if there was any
person present ready to be bail for his appearance. Mr. Robert Bell, the
Editor of the WEEKLY DISPATCH, who accompanied Mr. Webster as his friend,
a housekeeper in Lambeth, said he was ready to bail him. The prosecutor
then said, he had also a very serious complaint to make against Mr. Bell,
for the article which he published in his last Sunday’s newspaper,
respecting Church, and he had one of the papers in his hand. Mr. Bell
told the Magistrates that he was ready to meet any complaint of this
kind; that he conceived it to be his duty as one of the guardians of
public liberty, and public morals, to send forth the statement in
question; that he could prove the truth of every thing he had written and
published. The worthy Magistrate then asked Mr. Webster if he would
promise on his honour to attend next day, which Mr. Webster assured him
he would do, and he retired. It is necessary to mention that Mr. Webster
had been in a state of imprisonment during the greater part of Sunday,
and all Sunday night.—_Morning Chronicle_, _April_ 20, 1813.
This report is very correct, so far as it goes; but the reporter might
have added, that I told the Magistrates I had a volume of documents in my
possession to prove Church to be a most infamous culprit, and that it was
a disgrace to the moral character of the nation, to suffer such a man to
be a minister of the Gospel. I have now a short comment to make on this
occasion. I am still at a loss to know what complaint it was that Shawe
intended to prefer against me. I had committed no riot, nor did I ever
mix in any crowd, (in fact there was no crowd or noise, except what the
associates of Church had created). Did he mean to complain to the
Magistrates of the publication in my paper? If so, he must be grossly
ignorant of law, not to know, that the magistrates for the county of
Surrey could take no cognizance of that which I published in the city of
London. And if they had, did he imagine that I would enter into any such
recognizance as Mr. Theodore Page, the printer, in Blackfriars road, was
obliged to do? No, Sir; so long as I continue to live in a free country,
I will suffer no Justice of peace to lay an _illegal imprimatur_ on my
press. Mr. Page, as quiet and discreet a man as ever existed, who was
not seen in any crowd, and who would be the first to get away from any
place where there happened to be the slightest disturbance, is now bound
in the penalty of 100l. to preserve the peace! and for what, because he
printed some hand-bills, giving an account of Church’s infamous
practices. And now, reader, mark again the conduct of this _immaculate_
preacher. He adopts no course of proceeding, by which he may be enabled
to falsify the accusations made against him. No,—he wants to crush and
smother everything by violence; and still continue to levy contributions
on some poor fools who go to hear him; or, perhaps, occasionally to
convert his conventicle into an _accommodating shop_ for the _use_ of
others.
On Tuesday last Mr. Webster again appeared at Union Hall, accompanied by
his father, his brother, and some friends. In support of the charge of
riot, an old man and an old woman, of the meanest appearance, declared,
that Mr. Webster expressed a wish to set the chapel on fire; but their
evidence was not believed, and they were turned out of the office. Goff,
the officer, had seen no act of riot. Mr. Webster being called on for
his statement, said, he had not uttered a word that could provoke any
disturbance. When he made the reply to Shawe’s comments on the
Newspapers, he did assert, that he could prove Church to be the character
therein described, because, about ten or eleven year, ago he had been
guilty of most abominable conduct toward, his (Webster’s) brother, then a
lad of 16. The moment the Magistrates heard this, they appeared struck
with amazement. They stopt all proceedings against Mr. Webster, and
desired his brother to be brought forward. The office was cleared of all
persons, except the parties immediately concerned; the brother’s
deposition was then taken, and a warrant was issued for Church to appear
there the next day.
On Wednesday J. Church appeared in consequence of the warrant issued the
day before for his apprehension on a charge of abominable practices,
attended by a number of his deluded followers. Mr. W. Webster having
deposed as to his attempts on him, Church was ordered to find bail for
his appearance at the next Middlesex Sessions and Mr. Webster bound over
to prosecute. The magistrate observed that from the length of time which
had elapsed since the offence had been committed, he thought a jury would
not feel justified in finding him guilty. Mr. Johnston, a young
Gentleman of the law, who attended for Mr. Webster, replied, that it was
not the time for them to discuss what was likely to be the verdict of a
jury; that he had recommended Mr. Webster to prefer an indictment against
Church, and Mr. W. had come to that resolution; and that whatever might
be the result of the trial, the evidence relating to the conduct of
Church would be of that disgusting nature as to stamp his name with
eternal infamy and disgrace. Church’s attorney observed that it was a
conspiracy amongst another sect to ruin Mr. Church’s character. This Mr.
Johnston denied, and said that it was only a desire to bring him to
merited punishment. Mr. Johnston also said that if Mr. Church acted like
a man of prudence, and consulted his own interest, he would desist from
preaching until the indictment had been tried, as it would be the means
of preventing a breach of the peace, but this he declined; and Shawe his
attorney said they should follow their own advice. Mr. Johnston informed
Church’s attorney that it was Mr. Webster’s intention to indict, or bring
an action against him for assault and false imprisonment.
On that very evening (incredible as it may appear) this very man, held to
bail for trial on the most horrid charges given on oath, had the
impudence to go into his chapel and preach to a crowded audience. But
his is a very _convenient conscience-healing_ system of faith, {27} and
perhaps his followers do not like him the worse for his system of
_practical morality_.