The Sun.
London, England, 1841-06-04 00:00:00

BURDER V. SPEER.

Sir HERBSRT JENNSIL gave judgment this morning in this CASE',
in which the office of a Judge was promoted by Mr. John Bunter,
the Secretary of the Bishop of Winchester, against the Reverend
WeWord Speer, Perpetual Curate of Thames Ditton, in the county
of Surrey, for drunkenness, and the neglect and improper perform-
ance of his clerical functions. The Learned Judge said the cita-
tion in the eau se was returned in 1839, and by that citation Mr.
Speer was called to answer certain articles exhibited to him in the
usual form, setting forth in the first instance that he was art habi-
tual drunkard, and had repeatedly committed the crime of
drunkenness, and that he was guilty of indecent lan.
guage as well in as during the time of the performance
of Divine Service, and also before and after the performance of such
service. An appearance had been put in for Mr. Speer on the
29th of June, 1839, and the admission of these articles was op-
posed. One of the witnesses being under the necessity of quitting
England, application was made to the Court to permit that gentle-
man to be examined, which the Court allowed, and Captain Wil-
hams, the witness, was accordingly examined upon the articles, but
it was not thought proper on the part of Mr. Speer to put any inter.
rogatories to him. On the debate as to the admissibility or the ar.
ticles, the Court thought that, with a slight alteration in the 11th
article, it was proper they should be admitted to proof,
and they were accordingly admitted. An appeal was
then made from the decree of the Court, and the Privy Council be-
fore whom the appeal was heard was of opinion that the Court had
judged rightly in admitting the articles, and accordingly remitted
the case to the Court, and the party was condemned to pay the
costs of the appeal. The case being thus remitted proceeded in the
usual course. The next step was to give an issue to these articles,
and a negative issue was given to them arid fourteen witnesses ex-
amined on them, including Captain Williams, who was examined
de bene esse. Fourteen other witnesses were also examined
at great length on the pail of Mr. Speer, and the case
came on for hearing upon the evidence which had been given
by these twenty-eight witnesses. It would be proper to state
the contents of the articles given in confirmation of the citation
that had been issued. The first article pleaded that Mr. Speer
was admitted to the perpetual curacy of Thames Ditton on the
13th March, 1835. The second article pleaded his license to the
said curacy. The third article pleaded that ever since he had been
admitted to the spiritual office of that parish he had been addicted
to the immoderate use of wine and spirituous liquors, and in the
habit of frequenting a public.house or inn at Thames Ditton called
the Swan, there drinking to excess to the great scandal of his pa.
rishioners. The fourth article pleaded that ever since he aad en-
tered upon the duties of his curacy he had been in the habit of
performing Divine Service in an indecent: and irreverent
manner, and had thereby also caused great scandal
and offence to his parishioners and persons assembled for Divine
worship, and that many persons, in consequence, had been driven
away from attending Divine Service in the church. The article
also pleaded that during the time of divine worship Mr Speer
was in the frequent habit of receiving from the Swart a bottle of
wine, which he drank in the vestry during the service, and that,
in consequence, he frequently became so intoxicated as to be un-
able to go through the service. The fifth article pleaded that on a
Sunday morning in July or August, 1836, during the performance
of divine worship, Mr. Speer was evidently in a state of intoxi-
cation, and totally unfit to conduct the service, thereby causing great
scandal and offence to the parishioners, and that at the end of the
Communion Service Sir C. Sutton and INlr.Seeley, the Churchwardens
of the parish, remonstrated with him, and urged upon hem that by
reason of his intoxication he was not in a fit state to proceed with
the service, and offered to take upon themselves to say that the
congregation would dispense with the sermon. The 6th article
ple.,deti that in the summer of 1836, while the church was under
repair, Mr. Speer called upon Captain Williams in a state of intoxi.
cation, and when about to mount his horse to return home, in
consequence of intoxication, fell over on the other side. The 7th
article pleaded that on the 25th March, 1837, on the occasion of
christening a child, Mr. Speer read the service in so indecent a
manner as t o be unintelligible, and showed, by his conduct, that
he was in a state of intoxication; that, after the christ-
ening, he called the parties back, and holding up the money,
said " Look at this fee. The Clergy are said to rob the poor,
but this does not look like it." The Bth Article pleaded that in
the afternoon of Sunday, in July, 183 e, in consequence of in-
toxication he read prayers in an unsuitable manner, and with
extreme difficulty, and was unable to preach the sermon. The
9th article p'eaded, That on the morning of Sunday, August
12th, 1838, he performed divine service in an irreverent and
indecent manner, made many mistakes, and was unable to go
through the duties of the day, being in a state of intoxication.
The 10th article pleaded that on the afternoon of Sunday,
March 10th, 1839, he was likewise in a state of intoxication,
that he read the prayers in 'a manner almost unintelligible,
and in consequence of such intoxication sat down lin-
able to give the benediction. The 11th article pleaded
that by such conduct he had given great offence and scan-
dal to his parishioners, and other persons frequenting the church.
That complaint was made to the Bishop of the Diocese, who directed
an inquiry into the truth, which having been done, and the result
reported to the Bishop, the present proceedings were instituted,
since which Mr. Speer had ceased to perform his duties in the
parish. The remaining articles were those of form, which it was
unnecessary that he should enter into. These, then, were
the charges brought against Mr. Speer, who had set up
eight articles as a defence to them. The Learned
Judge then recapitulated the articles of the defence, which
amounted generally to a denial of the articles of accusation,
admitting that the defendant was in the habit of taking wine in the
Vestry during divine service, in consequence of being of a weakly
and nervous constitution, but never to excess, and denying that
his conduct, either in the performance of divine service or other-
; wise, had given scandal or offence to his parishioners. Now,
these were the allegations given on one side and on the other,
and on which, as he (the Learned Judge) had stated, twenty-eight
witnesses had been examined. The question was simply the truth
of these articles ; it involved no consideration on points of law, but
was merely a question of evidence whether there was sufficient
proof of the charges brought against the defendant, and whether
they were sufficiently rebutted by the evidence given in by
him. No person who had heard the charges could doubt that
if they were established they constitute an offence of a gross
and serious nature, and were such as would subject Mr. Speer
to Ecclesiastical censure, proportioned to the offence established for
habitual or even frequent drunkenness in a clergyman, whose duty
it wasto set an example of sobriety to his parishioners, was an
offence highly penal, and involving serious consequences on the
person guilty of it. It would necessarily create great scandal and
offence to the parishioners of whom he was the minister, and the
offence was greatly increased, undoubtedly, when the habit
was indulged in, as pleaded, at the time when he was
actually engaged in the performance of Divine service, and yet the
defendant did, as charged, in the intervals of Divine service indulge
in wine, and was supplied with a bottle from the Swan almost every
Sunday, the effect of which upon him was to render his perform.
ance of Divine worship irreverent and indecent, as stated in the
article. Now, these matters having being represented to the Bishop
he was called upon to inquire into their truth, and he accordingly
' directed the Secretary to enter upon the inquiry, and the result
being: reported to his Lordship, he directed these proceedings to
' be instituted. The Learned Judge then proceeded to discuss the
propriety of those proceedings having been instituted by the Bishop,
and said that whatever might be the case in ordinary cases, in the
present case there was not only sufficient to cause proceedings to
beinstituted, but that he could not with propriety have refrained
from doing so, after the complaints that had been made to him.
Now, it was stated that this prosecution had originated in
spite and malice—it was said that the Churchwardens, Sir Charles
Sutton and Mr. Seeley, had excited it against Mr. Speer from mo.
tivea of private resentment, arising out of circumstances
that had taken place in the course of business,
It was possible that evidence might be adduced to make out a case

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of conspiracy and perjury against the persons by whom the charge
was brought against Mr. Speer, and by whose evidence it was sup.
ported ; but the probability that such a case could be made out was
extremely remote indeed. There was no likelihood of those per.
sons engaging in a conspiracy against an individual, who, from his
position, ought not to be made the subject of such a prosecution.
They all spoke of Mr. Speer as a man of mild and amiable manners,
an affectionate son and father, and an extremely kind-hearted man.

Now certainly it was difficult to conceive that an individual of that
description, possessing so many amiable qualities, should be selected
as the subject of such a prosecution as that brought against him, un.
less there were some grounds for it—something that in the eyes of
the parishioners counterbalanced those qualities, and prevented
his having that influence in the parish which he other.
wise must have. Now who wers the parties that were
snpposed to have taken up that unfounded prejudice against Mr.
Speer? They were persons of respectability and station in life,
persons on whose conduct, independent of the present proceedings,
no imputation had beets cast, or attempted to be cast, and it was
not to be supposed that those persons would lend thomselves to
proceedings so derogatory to their character unless there were
some grounds for so doing. When it came to be considered what
could be the grounds on which private revenge was alleged to be
the motive that prompted those proceedings, it was found that
they were perfectly inadequate to sustain the charge. It neat be.
came necessary to inquire into the evidence by which the charge
against Mr. Speer was sustained. The great objection whielt was
made against the admissibility of the articles was that they were
of too general a nature, and that, therefore, it was impossible
fur the accused party to defend I 'melt' against them. To that
it was answered, that it was impossible to specify any particular
time or day on which the habit of intoxication was indulged in so
as to bind the parties down to that particular period. The Court
was of opinion that the charge should be specified as much as
possible, and that in such a ease as the present the evidence should
he as clear and decisive as possible. The Court had every incli-
nation to give Mr. Speer whatever benefits might arise from any
peculiar feature of the evidence, and would next proceed to exa.
mine the articles which had been exhii ited against the defendant.
The Court here went through at considerable length the articles
and the evidence by which they were sustained. The principal wit.
tresses in support of the allegation of drunkenness were the landlord
of the Swan Inn, at Thames Ditton ; the clerk of the parish and
the master of the national school established in that parish. The
clerk stated that he had frequently seen Mr. Speer in the Swan
Inn, with brandy and water before him, and more than once saw
him under the influence of liquor, and that the matter was the
subject of much conversation in the parish. The landlord of the
Swan deposed, that he kept that inn about four years and a half,
from about the year 1536 to the latter end of 1835, or the begin-
ning of 1840, the period during which Mr. Speer was perpetual
Curate of that parish. This witness stated that Mr. Speer was in
the habit of going to his house to read the newspapers—that
he appeared on several of those occasions in estate of intoxication
—that he often came there under the influence of liquor and that
from what he took in addition at the Swan he became intoxicated;
that that intoxication was evident to all who saw Mr. Speer, as he
reeled about the house when he attempted to walk. It appeared
that the Swan was a very respectable establishment, and that the
landlord was a very respectable person. The ; rounds upon which
his evidence was impeached could not by any means Le sustained.
The fact of his receiving a letter which lie had forgotten, having
some reference to the prosecution, was not sufficient ground to im-
peach that evidence. The next witness, the master of the national
school, in his evidence stated that he had seen Mr. Speer fee.
quently, at least twenty times, in a state of iptoxication. That
was the e.idence by which the third article of that allegation,
which charged Mr Speer with habitual drunkenness, was sus.
tained. It the charge of habitual drunkenness was not proved
by those witnesses, at least it was shown that he was very fre-
quently drunk. The fourth article referred to the conduct of Mr..
Speer while performing Divine Service in the church, and eliatgesi
him with having been in a state of intoxicatioVti or under the io-
fluence of liquor, so as to render him unable to perform Divine
Worship in' a decent and edifying manner. He via. also
charged in this article with having beets ftlrn!';red during
the hours of Divine Service, witt a bottle of wino
on each Sunday from the SWan. The person wha eseivc yeti the
wine was the beadle of the parish. No le,ts than 13 witnesses were
examined in support of the eli:\rgo. witnesses consisted of
persons of M.le::.st apparent respectability, and of rank anti station
In the Pats-t i h—persot:s not likely to lend themselves to a prosecu.
Lion of this description unless there Woe aeri:sus grounds for it.
One of those witnesses was the laudiord of the Swan. That wit.
tress stated he every Sunday Morning
v/,r the habit of, sending'