The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-01-15 00:00:00

amongst men smarting unde

Proved to have

and wishe

I his removal,

belief, expressed now ak.
tent of holding up your chaplain, (to whose knowledge th,
supposed words were never brought that he might clear thei
up) to degradation ? Can you on such testimony c0n....
,_
ruin a person who having addressed nearly 1,000 lectures and
sermons to prisoners since his appointment in Feb-
-1838, is reported in three of them to have offend,.
in saying that a sinner's justification -
of his own good works. Once for expressing d
tiou of the sentiment of one
Psalms ; an,l

se of lki months

not on th

pproba-

new version of

meats adverseto3rison b
non ternere in agendis neaotiis computantur.
You cannot, gentknien, as men of reflection,
know the world, as -valuing the character of the munsti
generally, silence a minister of Christ on such suspicion
evidence ; any man, the most careful, the most upright
could be ruined if sm,h

Lng dan

vernment

quv2 rara acc

Rs men who

_ were allowed to rea
These observations might beaddressed to yop vill
u, if
admitted the truth of the statements made against me, which
Ido not. But on what evidence is that charge founded ?
Your info' tnation is derived from some
during 18 months, and m
light of day, that they
guilt, and utter worth!
pressions not nut t

ers kept secret

r the first tune, brougilt to the
of my

may become damning'

suppose you will allow me to v
scale. Let us, then, consider the evidence connected with
these papers.
Law's Evidence:—":
the sermon of the chapl
port on my own suggestio

not insult you so far as to

a feather in the

I did no

e notes of

purr• The governor: ordered r
chaplain were then on extreme
know that the porp”,,,„. ti

Bard to keepine,
her having threatened to repo,
swear that I have not done it.
" I did not go to the chapel on purpo._
Dr. Buck might have s..en me writing at
was speaking from the pulpit. I was -
put in. Ido not know of any turnkey besides myself writing
at the time. I think I wrote down in chapel the chapter and
verse, and the names of the prisoners to report upon ; the
prisoners seemed to take great notice of what the chaplain
was sayine.

g or lOSIllf

y appointment
the gi

I do not remc

averno

)t writing the report

The governor ordered

" i was ordered to draw up a report. r.
me. I believe the governor and chaplain
tremely unfriendly terms.

re then on ex-

" I have often Said I did not like Dr. Buck. I have never
said I wished him discharged."
Gillet's .vidence.—"l wrote a note at the time at the re-
quest of the governor.
Being asked was there much cony
among the officers? He replied,
report, but after there was."
" Have you heard Law call the chaplain a hypocrit
" I think I have.
" Have you heard him speak disrespectfully of him on
other occasions ?

ation on the subject

` Not before I made-the

" Yes, I think I have
" Have you heard him say we have overthrown the chap-
lain ?

" I think he has said the chaplain would he overthrown."
The Governor's Evidence.—" Law once made a report to
me about what took place in chapel. I told him to commit
it to paper. The paper now produced is the report. Two or
three- officers came to me. I did not lay the report before
the magistrates.

" At the time of receiving the paper from Law, relative to
Dr. Buck's preaching, I deemed it of importance. I did not
communicate its contents to him, nor lay it before the ma-
gistrates. The entry in the Governor's Journal on the 11th
June, 1839, and in the Magistrates' Journal in reference to
it, had reference to orders for admission by the magistrates
contrary to the rules, and to Dr. Buck's preaching on that
occasion, both combined. In telling Dr. Buck it had refer-
ence to the magistrates, I did not also tell him it had refer-
ence to him. I sheaved Dr. Buck the whole of the rules re-
ferred to in the entry. I also said to him, both you and I
are probably breaking these rules according to the strict let-
ter. I have not that lam aware of any papers affecting the
character of the chaplain. I think I have some copies, the
originals being gone. D think if a turnkey offers any infor-

Illation to me, I have a perfect right, in my own discreti
to tell him to put it on pant

nd to act on it or is

please, or to communicate it to him or not

I never

any explanation of the er
. My reason for detaini

to the magistates.
that a short time previous there was a little disseution be-
tween the chaplain and Joe, and I did not wish to revive it—
that was the sole cause.
Whereas Law has previously sworn—" I was ordered to
draw up a report. The governor ordered me. I believe the
..s4 chaplain were then on extremely unfriendly

governor

It so happened, gentlemen, as you have seen from the go-
vernortol 's evidence, that he made an entry in his journal. He
me, you will perceive, that it had one meaning. He has
told you now it had two. Though, at the time the entry was
made, and you called for explanation, he declined to give any,
on that occasion you entered a reproof in your journal. I
have not been successful in obtaining copies of either of these
entries, or I should be able to make sonic remarks on them,
which many might think well deserved and richly merited.
I shall satisfy myself by entering Mr. Bacheldor's apology
for the line of conduct he pursued : " I never gave any expla-
nation of the entry in ray journal to the magistrates. My
reason for detaining the papers was, that a short time pre-
vious there was a little dissention between the chaplain and
me, and I did not wish to revive it. That was the sole cause.
The turnkey, Law, says, " I was ordered to make a report.
The governor ordered me. I believe the governor and chap-
lain were then on extremely unfriendly terms.

This, gentlemen, shews that kindness to me was not the
cause of his silence, but a full conviction that if the affair
were then inquired into, he could have established no case
against me.. It was therefore needful to lay it by in secret
for eighteen months. The chaplain might then not find it
so easy to reply.
I forbear making other remarks which the case justly calls
for.

My observations on such a system are not brought before
you now for the first time. On the 7th of November, 1838,
you had the subject brought to your notice by the following
entry in my journal:— • .

" I cannot but call most earnestly on the magistrates to
cause to be overthrown the wretched system of espionage
which prevails at present in this prison, where there is not
an officer who is not watched in the most unfair way one
against the other, all confidence in each other being in con-
sequence destroyed. But, above all, I beg of them to do
away with the secret examination of prisoners, by the gover-
nor, against even the chaplain of the establishment ; a sys-
tem so despicable, so fraught with evil, so certain to lead to
the worst possible consequences amongst the men confined."
My prognostic is now verified, and a place which was, un-
til within tw• or three weeks since, in apparent peace, is now
distracted to the most alarming extent—the secret system
being the cause of all--a system which our best writers have
declared to be aimed at the destruction of the innocent, and
the advancement of the most base and unprincipled.
I thought I saw (I hope I was not deceived) a burst of
manly, of English feeling, a burst of horror and indignation,
escape some of the 'gentlemen attending a late committee at
the gaol, when these long hoarded papers were first produced.
I thought they were regarded as vipers to be shunned, as
fiends to be- avoided. I know that at the time I expressed
my hopes that the justices would not allow of espionage, Sir
Joshua Walmsley spoke at the moment in proper indigna-
tion, saying, Dr. Buck, you surely do not mean to accuse the
magistrates of this committee with employing spies. I there-
fore thought that the death warrant of these papers was
signed. I was deceived : they are still in being, and their
venomous sting is directed against me. I learn that the way
in which evidence is procured is no answer to the charge
founded on that evidence : I therefore proceed in my reply
to the fifth charge specifically.

FIFTH -CHARGI

" Whether the chaplain, when officiating on the Sabbath,
has not indecorously called the attention of the prisoners to
a portion of the 108th pslam, new version, sung by them that
day in the prison chapel, warning them against the use of it,
and characterising it to them as blasphemous."
You have, gentlemen, a letter which I addressed to Mr.
Batcheldor, commenting on certain disputes with his daugh-
ter, in evidence. That letter has been produced as against
me. I presume I may also make use of it in my justification.
That letter shows that lengthened disputes had been going
on between Miss Batcheldor and me as to the psalmody. I
wishing to select the psalms—she determining to oppose my
will. Mr. Buckley says—" I have heard several times that
the psalmody was a subject of contention between Miss Bat-
cheldor and Dr. Buck." The fact is, this lady was, at that
particular period, beginning to practise on the organ. Being
a novice, she was obliged to limit her performances to three
or four tunes, which she could then mechanically go through,
if certain words, to which she was well accustomed, were
sung ; but if the words were altered, the tune lapsed, and we
were left in sad confusion : our selection from the 150 in the
new version was, therefore, limited to three or four psalms
—exclusive of the morning and evening hymns, which used
to be sung with such an attempt at the sublime, as used to
be highly ridiculous : so that with a tolerably scientific know-
ledge of music, I never could detect the air, nor could any
persons join the execution, except the poor washerwomen,
who constituted, at that time, our choir. These artistes
screamed, under the name of chanting, the service, and caused
mynecessary presence to be extremely irksome to me.
I endeavoured to correct the evil, being uncommonly tired
of hearing the same stanzas dayafter day, but the more I ob-
jected the more Miss Batcheldor resisted, and the continual
• ding dong of

" Happy are they, and only they,
Who from thy judgments never stray ;
Who know what's right,—not only so,
But always practise what they know."
called forth at length some remarks, which, (and I wish to
be thankful for the circumstance) have kept this unserintural
ditty from my ears, until the words were solemnly brought
to your notice on the oath of good men and true. Look to
Mr. Batcheldor's evidence, and you will find that I bad pre-
viously expostulated with him against the use of these words.
" Dr. Buck has objected to the use of a part of the psalms
mean to certain verses. Dr. Buck bad not the full con-
trol. My daughter used to attend to the singing, and selected
the. psalms. Dr. Buck objected to the 3d verse of the 106th
Psalm, and spoke to me anima. my daughter using it. Dr.
Buck wished that he should select the psalms, and that my
daughter should sing them, under his direction : my daugh-
ter objected : Dr. Duck stated his objection to me. He
thought " ' Happy are they, and only 'they,' " irreligious."
t Now I beg prayer, emember that it was after prayer, (ex-
aenmporaneous followed always by the Lord's-Prayer)
in_c,eaftr sermon had began, that the supposed remarks were
that
is, in the course of preaching, at the very time
when,a difficulty all se in the lessons of the day, or on
any other subject, a clergyman of the Church of England
woaldueeessarily, au. as a matter of duty, offer explana-