L B S E R V A T I O N S 
 
 BY THE 
 
 DELEGATES 
 
 FOR 
 
 Concluding the Application to Parliament for a 
 Reform in the Internal Government of the 
 Royal Boroughs of Scotland, 
 
 ON THE 
 
 G AS E 
 
 OF THE 
 
 TOWN COUNCILS, 
 
 STILING THEMSELVES 
 
 The ROYAL BOROUGHS of SCOTLAND) 
 
 AND ON A PAPER, ENTITLED, 
 
 *' A Sriite of Fact's, upon which Objections, in Behalf of 
 " the fuid Royal Boroughs, are made againft the Bill 
 48 offered to Parliament for a pretended Reform*'* 
 
 1 OWER, however unjuftly attained^ and 
 however oppreffively ufed, has always made a 
 hard ftruggle for its own prefervatiori. The 
 XDoft wretched fyftems of government or fuper- 
 
 A Jftition
 
 ( 2 ) 
 
 jftition that ever exifted, have been defended 
 with violence. Thofe who poffe fifed power un- 
 der them, ftudious only how to maintain their 
 fituations, have generally overlooked the rights 
 of their fellow citizens, - together with every 
 idea of juftice and of the public good. To 
 cover or fupply their defect of right, they have 
 always difplayed the banners of power ; and, 
 by the boldnefs of their affertions, they have 
 ever attempted to conceal the weaknefs and 
 futility of their argument. 
 
 Thefeobfervations are not inapplicable to the 
 prefent conduct of the Town Councils of the 
 Royal Boroughs of Scotland. It was not by 
 any means to be expected that they fliould have 
 made a willing furrender of their unjufl power; 
 and they have had recourfe to the common arts 
 of every tyrant, great or little, in order to 
 defend it« 
 
 Lafl year they publifhed a cafe which was 
 pregnant with egregious errors, if not with jn- 
 excufable mifreprefentations. and falfe affertions. 
 In the prefent year there has been produced to 
 
 the
 
 4-1 3/3 
 
 ( - -\ 
 
 the world a new edition of the fame cafe, like 
 a new phoenix from the allies of the old one, 
 which probably has been configned to everlafl- 
 ing oblivion; but the new cafe is only diflin- 
 cuifhed from the old by ftronger features of 
 error and mifrcprefentation. 
 
 The new cafe, however, is prolific : it has 
 £ already produced from its womb a hopeful 
 child, exactly rcfembling itfelf in every fea- 
 ture of its countenance. It only differs in 
 point of fize. — There is however a manifeft 
 error in the name given to this new-born in- 
 fant. It is called a State of Fails ; but it 
 mould have been baptifed A State of Falfebood % 
 Error, and Mifreprefentation, tending modefily 
 * and decently to deceive Parliament, to impofe 
 upon the Public, and to mifreprefent and calum- 
 niate the cbjecls and motives of the Burgeffes of 
 Scotland. — This ought to have been the title of 
 the paper, becaufe it is the one which more pe- 
 culiarly correfponds to its nature and contents. 
 
 U-t 
 
 en 
 
 >- 
 
 <£ 
 EC 
 
 cn 
 
 3 
 
 cr 
 
 < 
 
 O 
 
 3= 
 
 The Delegates on behalf of the BurgelTes, in 
 the firft place, mean here to enter into a ihort exa- 
 
 A z initiation 
 
 00£? 
 
 U\.
 
 ( 4 ) 
 
 initiation or direction of the Stats of Fa£is 3 
 and afterwards to offer a few obfervations on 
 fuch parts of the Cafe as fhall not be animad- 
 verted on in what is faid with regard to the State, 
 of Fa Eis. 
 
 Examination -. -phe s tate £ Ya&s con fjft s f twenty-nine 
 
 and Refutation J 
 
 jw2f Stat£ ° f propofitions. Of thefe, nineteen are falfe in 
 fact or inference. The remaining ten are im- 
 material, being mere repetitions or things in 3 
 great degree foreign to the queftion. 
 
 Firft propofi- The firft proportion in the State of Facts is s 
 
 tion in State of * 
 
 fafts. 66 That there was a clofe refemblance between 
 
 <c the conftitutions of the Cities and Boroughs 
 V in Britain in the Charters of Erection, the 
 ff ufage following upon them, and every other cir- 
 cumftance of general fimilitude" 
 
 66 
 
 Anfwer. Although there may have been fome refem- 
 
 blance between the Boroughs of South and 
 North Britain, there are feature's of distinction 
 which are Strong and prominent: for, ift. 
 
 The
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 The conftitutions of the Boroughs of England 
 were dictated entirely by fpecial grants or pecu- 
 liar local ufages, without any connection with 
 each other, and independent of any general 
 law ; but it appears from the ancient books of 
 the Leges Burgorum arid Statuta Guilds, that, 
 even as early as 1124 and 12 £4, the go- 
 vernments of the Boroughs of Scotland were 
 regulated by general laws ; and the Act of Par- 
 liament of 1469 inconteftably proves that one 
 uniform conftitution, though a bad one, for all 
 the Boroughs of Scotland, was then introduced. 
 2dly. The Governors or Adminiftrators of 
 the Scottifli Boroughs have univerfally power 
 to dilpofe of or alienate the property of the 
 community, which is not the cafe in England. 
 3dly. In Scotland the Cpmmon-councilmen 
 have univerfally enjoyed the important power 
 of electing the Member of Parliament; but m 
 England this power is much more commonly 
 exercifed by the Freemen or common BurgefTes, 
 or by the Inhabitants at large, thari by the 
 felect or governing part of the Corporations. 
 4-thly. In every Borough in Scotland there is, 
 
 befides
 
 ( 6 ) 
 
 befidcs the Provoft and Baillies, a Common 
 Council ; but in many Englifh Boroughs there 
 are no Common-councilmen, but only Mayors 
 and Bailiffs, or Aldermen. 5thly, In Scot- 
 land all the individual Boroughs were, by the 
 authority of Parliament, erected into one body, 
 or great corporation, called the Convention, 
 with certain powers and privileges relative to 
 the* fuperintendance of trade and manufactures ; 
 but in England fuch an union among the Bo- 
 roughs never was eltablimed. 
 
 . From this comparifon it evidently appears, 
 that there are ftrong diftinctions between the 
 Scottim and Englifh Boroughs. There is, in- 
 deed, very little in which they agree, except 
 in this, that they are all corporations erected 
 by the power or prerogative of the Crown ; 
 and that they have certain officers for regula- 
 ting their police and managing their common 
 affairs, as every corporation or company muft 
 neceffarily have. 
 
 The
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
 The Second Proportion in the State of Fadts second PropoG- 
 
 t'on in State of 
 
 is, " That the Corporators, both in England F»a«. 
 " and Scotland, confided of a certain felect 
 " number of Citizens and. BurgefTes, in whom 
 " the government of the place was veiled un- 
 ei der the title of c Probi homines, cives poten- 
 C( t lores, boni & fufficientes viri : Capital Bur- 
 " i e JJ~ es i g°°d or honeji men of the Borough." 
 
 The meaning of this proportion is not veryAnfwer, 
 
 obvious. 
 
 If the Author of the State of Facts means 
 that thofe in whom the government of the 
 place was veiled, and whom he has called Cor- 
 porators, were the only Members of the Corpo- 
 ration, he is certainly under a moft egregious 
 miftake, for every Burgefs, fmall and great, 
 was a Member of the Corporation ; which, it 
 is conceived, is the meaning of the word Cor- 
 porator in the law of England. If every Bur- 
 gefs were not a Member of the Corporation, 
 he could have no privileges above common in- 
 dividuals dwelling within the Boroush ; and 
 the exclufive rights conferred on Boroughs, by 
 
 the
 
 ( 8 ) 
 
 the Charters of Erection and Incorporation^ 
 would be entirely confined to the Governors or 
 Adminiftrators. This is an idea of the rights 
 of Boroughs, which, it is believed, never was 
 entertained by any perfon except the Town 
 Councils of Scotland. 
 
 But the State of Fads fays, u that the go- 
 " vernment of the Boroughs was veiled in a 
 u feledt number of Citizens and BurgefTes." 
 Let that be fuppofed; but by whom was that 
 number feleRed? Was it by themfelves ? This 
 can fcarcely be maintained. By whom, then, 
 was the felect number chofen ? In England 
 the ele&ion was, in general, by the BurgeiTes 
 at large, who had the natural and proper inte- 
 reft in the good government of the Boroughs. 
 Jn Scotland this was univerfally the cafe prior 
 to 1469, as mall be afterwards more fully ex- 
 plained. 
 
 Third Propofi- Here it is affirmed that in England ft the ori- 
 
 tion in State of 
 
 Fafts. " ginal fabric continues entire; and that the pre- 
 
 (t fent Mayors, Bailiffs, Aldermen, and Common- 
 
 " councilmen ?
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 ct council men, are the direct fucceiTors of the 
 ■* original Corporators/' 
 
 If by this is meant that the prefent officers Anfwer, 
 enjoy the fame offices that former officers did, 
 the propofition is certainly true ; but if it is 
 meant that the officers of the Corporations in 
 England are univerfallyy?//*-<^#^, the affertion 
 is unquestionably falfe : for the Delegates are 
 authorifed, from good information, to fay, that 
 in a great majority of the Boroughs of England 
 the Magistrates and Common-councilmen are 
 elected by the Freemen or BurgefTes at large. 
 It is only in a few that the officers of the Cor- 
 poration are felf-elected* 
 
 The State of Facts, after reciting the Statute Fourth Propofi 
 
 _ tion in State o 
 
 of 1469, ufes thefe words : — " By this ancient Fafts. 
 " Statute it is proved) that none but the Alder- 
 f< men, Baillies, and other executive officers, 
 le were annually chofen ; and that before this 
 " Act the Councilmen were permanent, as in Eng- 
 " land." 
 
 B Thefc
 
 ( »° ) 
 
 Thefe afifertions, however bold and confident, 
 are contradicted by the plain words and mean- 
 ing of the very ftatute to which they allude. 
 The truth of this will be apparent from a little 
 attention to the terms of the Ac! of Parliament 
 itfelf, which proves the very reverie of what is 
 afierted. 
 
 The words of the ftatute are thefe : — Iteffly 
 et touching the election of officiares in bur* 
 " rowes, as Aldermen, Baillies, and other qffici- 
 " ares, becaufe of great contention zeirly for 
 " the chufing of the Samin, throw multitude and 
 (( clamour of commounes ftmple perfons, it is 
 " thought expedient, that na Olficiares nor 
 " Council be continued after the Kingis Lawes 
 ss of Burrowes, further then ane zeir ; and that 
 (( the chufing of new officiares, be in this 
 " wife, that is to fay, the auld Councel of the 
 *'_ Towne fall chufe the new Councel, in fik 
 " number as accordis to the Towne and the 
 " new Councel, and the auld in the zeir fore- 
 " faid fall chufe all officiares perteining to the 
 <c Towne; as Aldermen, Baillies, Dean of 
 " Guild, and uther officiares; and that ilk craft 
 
 " ftiall
 
 t 'I ] 
 
 * f mall chufe a per Ton of the famin craft that 
 " fall have voit in the faid election of officiares 
 " for the 'time in likewife zeir by zeir," &c. 
 
 In that Act of Parliament the term, offi- 
 ciares, evidently comprehends the Councilmen, 
 as well as the Aldermen and Baillies. This is 
 plain to demonstration, from the following ex 
 preflions in the ftatute : — " And that the chujlng 
 " of new officiares be in this wife, (that is to 
 u J li y>J th e °!d Council fhall chv.fe the new Coun- 
 w ciW Here the term officiares undeniably 
 fignifies, the Councils as well as the Magistrates. 
 This being the cafe, it follows as a necefiary 
 confequence, that, prior to the act, the election 
 of the Councils, as well as of the Magiitrates, 
 was annual ; for the acl: cxprefsly fays — " Item, 
 " touching the election of officers in boroughs, 
 " as Aldermen, Baillies, and other officiares, 
 u becaufe of great contention yearly for the 
 " chafing of the fame." Here it is plain that the 
 contention was about the election of Aldermen, 
 Baillies, and other officiares ; under which laft de- 
 fcription, as has been already proved, the council- 
 men are comprehended. The ftatute alio proves 
 
 B 2 that
 
 ( ».» ) 
 
 that the contention was yearly. How then is it 
 poflible to contend, that, prior to th s Statute, the 
 election of the Councilmen, as well as the Ma- 
 gistrates, was not annual ? Till very lately it had 
 pot occurred, even to the Town Councils them- 
 felves, to difpute this fact, which is not only 
 proved by the aft 1469, but confirmed by the 
 additional authority of the Leges Burgorum and 
 the Statuta Guild*. And indeed it will be ob- 
 ferved, that this very Act of Parliament of 
 1469 makes an exprefs reference to the laws of 
 Boroughs, as authorizing an annual election of 
 Councils, as well as Magistrates ; for the Statute 
 fays, f It is thought expedient that na On> 
 " ciares nor Council be continued after " (ac- 
 cording to) " the Kingis Lawes of Burrowes, 
 " further than ane zier." This is the plainest 
 poffible declaration of the fenfe of the Legisla- 
 ture, that, by the antient laws of the Boroughs., 
 the election, both of Magistrates and Councils^ 
 was annual. 
 
 What has been here offered affords demon- 
 itration, that, prior to 1469, the election, both 
 of Magistrates and Councils, was annual ; in 
 
 direct
 
 ( *3 ) 
 
 direct oppofuion to what is fo boldly advanced 
 ip the State of Fails. The fame pofition will 
 be flill farther confirmed in the fequel. 
 
 It only rern'ains to enquire by whom the Ma- 
 iftratcs and Councils were annually elected. 
 
 a 
 b 
 
 The Committee for Reform in their Refolu- 
 tions have referred to evidence, that the right 
 pf election was veiled in the ordinary Burgeffes, 
 otherwife called the Honcil Men, the Probi 
 Homines, of the Boroughs. 
 
 To elude the force of that evidence, the State 
 f/ FaRs fuppofes, without the fmalleft autho- 
 rity, that the expreffion of Honejl Mm of the 
 Boroughs fignified the governing part of the 
 community, and not the ordinary Burgeffes. If 
 that was the cafe, what, pray, was the ufe or 
 meaning of the Act of Parliament 1469 ? for 
 by the laws of the Boroughs, and the ftatutes 
 of the Guild, the eleftion of Magijlrates and 
 Councils was as far back as 1124 and 1284, 
 veiled in the Honejl Men of the Borough, that is, 
 according to the State of Facts, in the governing 
 fart, §r Magijlrates and Councils thenifehes. 
 
 Why
 
 1 ( n ) 
 
 Why then was the Act of 1469 made for the 
 veiy purpofe of depriving the common and 
 fimple Burgefles of the rights of election, and 
 veiling it in the Magiilrates and Councils, that 
 is, in thofe who, according to the State of 
 Facts, already had it I 
 
 This is an abfurdity into which the State of 
 Facts is neceffarily involved, by an attempt to 
 ^pervert the meaning of words, and the truth of 
 hi (lory. 
 
 Aware of that meonfiftency, the State of 
 Facts, in order to extricate itfelf, has re- 
 courfc to another ingenious ftretch of fancy, 
 but incidit in Scillam, cupiens vilare Cbarybdin. — 
 It fays, that although the common Burgefles 
 diflurbed the elections, they had no right to 
 do fo; and therefore the act" provides that the 
 old Councils fhall chufe the new ones. Let us 
 examine a little this kind of reafoning The 
 common Burgefles, it feems, attended and dis- 
 turbed the elections, but they had no right to 
 be prefent; and therefore an Act of Parlia- 
 ment was made to deprive the Burgefles of 
 
 what }
 
 ( w ) 
 
 what? — Of rights of election, which, accor- 
 ding to the State of Facts, never were verted in 
 them ! Nav, the State of Facts carries the ab- 
 furdity ft : li higher ; for it fuppofes that the fo- 
 lemnity of an Act of Parliament was interpofed 
 to deprive the common BurgefTcs of the right 
 of dijhirbing the elections 1 Thus, to explain 
 the Acts of the Legillature, is not merely to vio- 
 late the truth of hirtory and of facts, but to offer 
 an infult to common fenfe ; for whoever yet 
 conceived that an Act of Parliament was ne- 
 ceflary to (trip men of what they never had, 
 or to take away a right of diflurbance). If the 
 common Burgertes had no right to attend the 
 election, was not the executive power fuffipi- 
 ently warranted to prevent them, and to protect 
 the proper electors from difturbance ? of this 
 it is impoffible to entertain the fmallcll doubt. 
 
 The Act of Parliament was therefore made, 
 not for the abfurd and needlcfs purpo'fe of 
 taking from men what they never had, or of 
 aboliihing a right to dijiurb, but to limit the ex- 
 ercife of the right of Election, and to deprive 
 the ordinary BurgeiTes of that right. This is 
 
 evident
 
 16 ) 
 
 evident from the ftatute itfelf. The evil which 
 it mentions is the yearly contention arifing in 
 elections through multitude and clamour of com* 
 monjimple perfons : Is it pofiible to offer a clearer 
 or more convincing demonstration than this, 
 that the common BurgefTes were arriong the num- 
 bers of electors ? The remedy applied, how- 
 ever bad, was the natural one for correcting 
 the pretended evil. It was to exclude the 
 common and fitnple BurgefTes from the rights of 
 election, and to entitle the old Councils to elect 
 the new ones ; or, in other words, to elect 
 their own fuccefTors. 
 
 To all this fatisfactory evidence, that the 
 common BurgefTes very anciently enjoyed the 
 rights of election, the Delegates, were it ne* 
 cefTary, might farther add the actual practice 
 of fome Boroughs long anterior to 1469, par- 
 ticularly of Aberdeen ; the records of which 
 are prefcrved for near one hundred years before 
 the 1469, and prove, beyond difpute, that for a 
 very long period prior to the Act 1469, the 
 BurgefTes at large exercifed the right of elec- 
 ting annually their Magistrates and Common 
 
 Councils,
 
 ( V ) 
 
 Councils. The fame records alfo prove, that 
 the BurgefTes continued the antient practice of 
 electing the Magistrates and Councils even for 
 120 years pofterior to the Act 1469; fo far 
 was that flatute from being quietly or univer- 
 fally fubmitted to, as the Town Councils affirm, 
 and fo ftrongly did it militate againft the fpirit 
 of the people, as well as againft the principles 
 of liberty, and the ideas of juftice and public 
 utility. 
 
 It is here afTerted, as proved by the Att i46o, F ; fth Propofi . 
 that the craftfmen were among thofe citizens, ot Fatfs. 
 who, prior to that ftatute, " had no right to vote 
 " in elections, and that an intereft was thereby, 
 " for the firft time, beftowed upon them." 
 
 1 
 
 This is a moll: extraordinary perverfion of the Anfw „. 
 ftatute, which proves no fuch thing as is here 
 advanced. It proves the direct contrary. It 
 has been already demonftrated, that the com- 
 mon BurgefTes at large and the Craftfmen, 
 among others, had, prior to 1469, a right to 
 vote in elections of MagiH rates and Common 
 
 C Councils.
 
 ( i» ) 
 
 Councils. The effedt of the ftatute, therefore, 
 was not to confer any new right on the Craftf- 
 men, but to limit, to a very great degree, their 
 antient privilege of election ; becaufe, for- 
 merly, every individual craftfman had a vote as 
 a Burgefs; whereas the ftatute declares, that 
 only one man of each craft fiiall have a right 
 of voting in elections of Magiftrates and Coun- 
 cils. This being the cafe, it is not a little fur- 
 prifing that a ftatute, which limited the rights 
 of the Craftfmen to fo great a degree fhould have 
 been conftrued into a charter of new and high 
 privileges ! — An adt of deprivation is thus con- 
 verted into an exertion of liberality and a dis- 
 play of favour ! 
 
 sixth Propofi- In moft of them (i. e. of the Boroughs) " a 
 
 tion in the State 
 
 of Fafo. « peaceable rotation of the urbane offices is 
 " fecured to all concerned" 
 
 Anfiv«r. Than this, there never was a greater mifre- 
 
 prefentation. It is a matter of the moft pub- 
 lic notoriety that there is no fucb rotation of of- 
 fice among the Burgeffes at large ; and indeed 
 there is no rotation at all, except within the 
 t . narrow*
 
 ( 19 ) 
 
 narrow circle of the juntos in the Councils, 
 and their immediate connections and depen- 
 dents. 
 
 The Proportion here laid down is, « Thatsc^th^po 
 « the mode of Election in Scotland, as mo- sutc of na*. 
 « delled by James the Third, has remained 
 " above three hundred years without a com- 
 " plaint on the part of the Public, and with 
 " the entire approbation of the Legiilature." 
 
 In anfwer to this ftrange affertion it is onlyAafwcr. 
 ncceflary to obferve, that the London Com- 
 mittee, in their refolutions, have referred to a 
 feries of evidence, derived from public records, 
 for the purpofeof fhewing that nearly from the 
 very period of the Act of 1469 the internal ad- 
 ministration of the Boroughs had been a fubject 
 of long and repeated complaint, both to the Le- 
 giilature and executive government of Scotland. 
 
 It is true the Acts of Parliament and Royal 
 Commiflions, which condemn the adminiflra- 
 tion of Boroughs, do not mention the words 
 " modes of Eleftion in Boroughs-" from which 
 
 C 2 the
 
 ( 20 ) 
 
 the Town Councils take occafion to fay that 
 thefe modes of Election were not complained 
 of. This is a pitiful evalion, under which the 
 Town Councils chufe to take ihelter. The 
 Acl:s of Parliament and Royal Commiffions re- 
 ferred to in the refolutions of the London 
 Committee, do, in the molt pointed terms, ar- 
 raign the whole administration of Boroughs, 
 particularly in relation to the revenues ; and it 
 is utterly impoflible to difpute that the grofs 
 abufes, fo loudly complained of, originated 
 . from the felf-elefting power of the Councils, 
 by which a junto preferved the perpetual ma- 
 nagement. Has there then been no complaint 
 of the mode of Election or Government of Bo- 
 roughs, while their administration has for ages 
 pair, in repeated inftances, received the highefl 
 difapprobation both of the King and Parlia- 
 ment of Scotland ? 
 
 ijghth Propofi- This proposition affirms, that it is the ob- 
 
 ion in the 
 
 itatecf Fafts. jecl of the reformers to give the choice of the 
 Magistrates and Councilmen to the whole bur- 
 gelTes, heretors, and inhabitants, of each town, 
 annually. 
 
 This
 
 ( 21 ) 
 
 This is a glaring falfehood. No fuch ideaAnfwer. 
 ever was entertained by the friends of reform. 
 The obje<ft of their application to Parliament 
 is to veil the right of electing the Magiftrates 
 and Councilmen in the burgefies and heretors 
 of .certain defcriptions and qualifications. But 
 an indifcriminate communication of the powers 
 of election to inhabitants at large, is a meafure 
 which never yet has been thought of. 
 
 Here it is affirmed, that the election of Mem- Ninth Propofi. 
 
 tioivin the 
 
 bers of Parliament is the real object of the state of fa^s. 
 burgefles, and not a reform in the internal go- 
 vernment of the Boroughs. 
 
 This is another attempt to miflead. At pre- Anfwer. 
 fent the election of the Member of Parliament 
 is in the Town Councils ; and this right of 
 election is not propofed to be touched. It is to 
 remain with the Town Councils as formerly, 
 and will be as quiet and practicable as in pall 
 times. How then can it be pretended that the 
 view of the reformers is to alter the mode of 
 electing the Member of Parliament ? The real 
 fact is, that the fole, direct, and proper object
 
 ( is ) 
 
 of the prefent reform is, to eftablifh a falutary, 
 internal government for the boroughs. 
 
 Tenth Propo- • The Tenth Proportion is expreffed in the 
 
 fitipn in the 
 
 state of Fafts, following words : in allufion to the Reformers, 
 it fays, ** At the outfet they declared their 
 " Lives, Liberties, and Properties to be wholly 
 " dependent upon the right of chufing Mem- 
 " bers of Parliament; fince that hope has been 
 f< loft, they have found means to continue in 
 " the enjoyment of thele invaluable bleffings, 
 *' by difcovering that they did not depend 
 " upon the right of naming Members of Par- 
 u liament, but of Magiftrates and Counsellors." 
 
 Anfrtcr. This is a rniferable attempt to mifreprefent 
 
 the language and fentiments of the friends of 
 Reform, and it defer ves no other anfwer. 
 
 Eleventh Pro- Of all the Proportions advanced in the State 
 
 pofjrion in the 
 
 State of Fa<b. jf faEls this is the molt curious : it fays, that 
 the Reformers " attack the ffotute of James 
 " the Third of Scotland, as deftructive of the 
 u former freedom of the Burghs of that King- 
 rt dom; and in doing fo, they have either 
 
 " committed
 
 ( 2 3 ) 
 
 (l committed a mojl egregious wijlake, or wilfully 
 i( ventured upon a bold mifreprejentation. Of all 
 " the Scottifh princes, James the Third was 
 «f the moft partial to the clafs of Burgeffes and 
 " Citizens : upon their account he quarrelled 
 " with his nobility; by them he was refcued 
 44 when a priibner in the cafcle of Edinburgh, 
 " and to that Prince the artizans of Scotland 
 rt owe the chief honours and diftincYions they 
 " have to boafl of. Amongjl the favours be- 
 " flowed by James upon the Citizens, the very 
 " Aft of Parliament is to be ranked, which is 
 " now arraigned by the Reformers as the 
 " blow of a Tyrant againft the liberty of his 
 " Subjects." 
 
 That the ftatute of James the Third de-AnfWr 
 llroyed the freedom of the BurgefTes, has been 
 demonftratcd in a manner that cannot now ad- 
 mit of difpute ; yet, according to the State of 
 Facts, that flatute is to be ranked amongft the 
 favours bejiowed by James upon his Citizens ! the 
 abfurdity of this idea cannot be heightened 
 by any powers of language. 
 
 The
 
 ( a* ) 
 
 The State of Facts, dictated as It would 
 feem by a fixed habit of mifconception or mif- 
 reprefentation, fuppofes, that the Reformers 
 impute the Act 1469 entirely to the tyranny of 
 James. 
 
 It is remarkable that the State of Fails can 
 ftate almofl nothing right. In the paper pub- 
 limed by authority of the Committee of Re- 
 form, the flatute of James the Third is fpoken 
 Of in the following words : after ftating the 
 ideas which led to the enactment of that flatute 
 of 1469, and which are afcribed to the ariflo- 
 cracy of Scotland ; the paper fays, " Upon 
 " thefe principles, however illiberal and unjuft^ 
 " an Act was pafTed in the Parliament of Scot- 
 " land, in the year 1496, Cap. 29, touching 
 " the election of Officers in Boroughs,- obtained 
 i( in the minority of the reigning prince, by the 
 " power of the Scottifh Nobles " 
 
 The account therefore which is given by 
 the Reformers of the origin of the flatute of 
 James the Third is perfectly confident "with 
 his character, and his differences with his No- 
 bility
 
 ( *5 ) 
 
 bility, as defcribed in the State of Fafts ; and 
 for once the friends and enemies of Reform 
 feem to be agreed : biit iurely the Statute was 
 not the lefs'oppremve, that it proceeded chiefly 
 from the tyranny of the Ariftocracy, rather 
 than that of the Prince, who was a minor at 
 the time. 
 
 The Ad," fays the State of Facls, " ^-TwdfthPro- 
 
 position in the 
 
 cc 
 
 X ti^ iivi. lay j nil, ulull wi. *. u\,ljj **t- 
 
 monjlrates that the Common- councilmen of Scot- Sute of F3 - a$ - 
 
 " land (as in England at this moment) were 
 " Stationary ; that the executive Officers only 
 i( were elective, and that the Craftfmen or 
 " Artizans had, before that time, no intereft 
 " of any kind in the governors or government 
 ic of the Scottifh Boroughs." 
 
 Net one of theie particulars is demonstrated -A&f"^. 
 by the Act; on the contrary, it proves the 
 very reverfe, arid in this refpedr, is confirmed, 
 in the ftrongeft manner, by collateral evidence, 
 as has been already clearly eiTab'lifhed : but 
 upon what authority has the author of the State 
 of Facts ventured to aflume it as a given pre*. 
 pofition, that the. Common-councils cf England, at 
 
 D this
 
 ' ( 2 6 ) 
 
 this moment are flationary ? He appeals to the 
 City of London, and yet the Common- councils 
 there, are annually elected. Scarcely any thing 
 can be affcrted as a general proportion with regard 
 to the conftitutions of the Englifh Boroughs; 
 they are fo various, and fo different from one 
 another ; but this, it is thought, may fafely be 
 affirmed, that there are more Common-coun- 
 cils annually elected than flationary in Eng- 
 land. 
 
 Thirteenth Pro- £j ere t ^ e g tate f p a( ^ s has ventured pod- 
 
 volition m the x 
 
 statecrafts. t « ve ]y t0 a ff ertj « That the perfons complaining, 
 u have in general no concern with .the Bo- 
 " roughs : the majority of them are Gentlemen of 
 « c the Law" 
 
 lufwcr. This is a moft glaring abufe of truth, in the 
 
 light of day, and in the face of Parliament. 
 For about nine thoufand actual refident and 
 trading Burgeffes and Hcretors, have fub- 
 {bribed the petitions to Parliament, complain- 
 ing, in the moft forcible language, of their 
 fyjlems of Borough government ; and it is be- 
 lieved,
 
 ( *7 ) 
 
 lievcd, not one of the Gentlemen cf the Law - 
 alluded to have figned thofe petitions ; yet it 
 is pofitively afTer ted in the State of Fafis, that 
 the perfons complaining, have in general no con- 
 cern in the Boroughs , and that a majority of them 
 are Gentlemen of the L'iw. From this, the 
 Public and the Legislature may conceive what 
 ftretches of fancy the Town Councils are capa- 
 ble of making, in order to ferve a particular 
 purpofe. 
 
 It is true, that in the general Committee of 
 Convention at Edinburgh, there are. federal 
 Gentlemen of the Law, which has naturally and 
 neceffarily happened. Edinburgh is the place 
 where the general conventions of Delegates 
 from the Burgeffes have been held : by this 
 means it is the general center of communica- 
 tion among the Burgeffes ; and as the eftablim- 
 mcnt of a Committee there was unavoidable, 
 fo it was naturally compofed of perfons in 
 whom the Burgeffes repofed confidence, being 
 partly Merchants and partly people of the 
 Law, and other gentlemen who were thought 
 \o be qualified for the bufinefs. 
 
 D 2 « The
 
 ( 28 ) 
 
 ■urteenth Pro- " The caufe is fupported and carried on by 
 
 Iition in the ' 
 
 iteqfFaas. tc a ffc raH g er influence with views diametri- 
 ic cally oppofite to thofe which are publicly 
 
 <: avowed," 
 
 ifwcr. To this, the Delegates are authorifed to give 
 
 the -mod unqualified contradiction, and to at- 
 firm, that the Burgeffes have no views but 
 luch as they openly avow and profefs, that is, 
 to obtain from the juftice of Parliament a be- 
 neficial fyftem of internal government for the 
 Boroughs. What is meant by a flranger in- 
 fluence is not underflood : the caufe is fup- 
 ported by the declared voice of nine thousand ac- 
 tual Burgeffes and 'fradsflnen rejident in the Bo- 
 roughs. Js that a flranger influence? The State 
 of Facl's glaringly contradicts itfelf. In one 
 part, it afcribes the Reform to a flranger in- 
 fluence ; in another part, it afcribes the fcheme 
 entirely, as in the very next propofition, to the 
 ♦ Crajtjmen or Mechanics, who certainly are not 
 Strangers in Boroughs. 
 
 t*enth Pro- Here it is averred that the prefent fcheme of 
 
 ition in the L 
 
 eoiFafts. R e f orm ; s dictated entirely by the Craftfmen 
 
 or
 
 ( *9 ) 
 
 or Mechanics, and that the rights of the Guil- 
 dry or Merchants are overlooked or luppreffed. 
 This is the meaning of the State of Facts, 
 when it fays, on page 16th, " that the Bill is 
 " framed with a defign to raife the leffer clafs 
 iC of citizens to fuperiority and influence over 
 " all their neighbours." The fame idea is 
 more flrongly expreffed in different parts of 
 the Cafe ; — on page 33 it fays, " The tradei- 
 " men feized the conduct of the'bufinefs, and 
 " framed a Bill for themfefoes. This is the 
 " Bill now offered to the Houfe of Commons." 
 The Cafe, on page 3%, fays, " The Bill ob- 
 <r jected to is an unparallelled attempt of a few 
 (i tradefmen, to fecure to themfelves the nomi- 
 " nation, both of the Magiftrates and Members 
 " of Parliament, qf all the chiefs Burghs of 
 <i Scotland." 
 
 Thefe different averments fo confidently Anfvm-. 
 made are direct falfehoods, as well as a grofs 
 impofition, on the Legifhture and on the 
 Public ; for, 
 
 Firfl,
 
 ( 3° ) . 
 
 . Firfr, In the general conventions held for the 
 pfcrpofes of Reform by the Burgeffes of the 
 concurring Boroughs, there were Delegates 
 prefent for the Merchant or Guild Brethren, as 
 well as for the' Craft fmen or Mechanics ; and the 
 Delegates for both thefe bodies, or descriptions 
 of men, heartily and unanimoufly approved of 
 the Bill of Reform, which is now objected to 
 on the falfe pretence, that it is the fcheme only 
 of the Craft fmen, 
 
 Secondly, The Delegates do directly af* 
 firm, that, according to the propofed Bill of 
 Reform, the Merchants, or Guild Brethren, in 
 every Borough of Scotland, without exception, have 
 a decided majority in the Councils over the craftf- 
 men or mechanics. How then is it poflible for 
 the Town Councils to maintain, or for others 
 to believe, that the prefent Plan of Reform 
 has originated from, and is fupported only by, 
 the craftfmen ? To prove, beyond difpute, the 
 fallehood of the averment, the Delegates fub* 
 join, by way of examples, a fcale of the num- 
 bers of the trades and merchant Counfellers, 
 in many of the Boroughs, according to the 
 
 Bill;
 
 ( fi ) 
 
 Bill ; and in the other Boroughs, the number 
 of the merchant and trades Counfellors bear 
 nearly the fame proportion throughout. 
 
 Glafgow, 
 
 Aberdeen, 
 
 Perth, 
 
 Dundee, 
 
 Stirling, 
 
 Linlithgow, 
 
 St. Andrew's, 
 
 Coupar, Fife, 
 
 Dunfermline, 
 
 Irvine, 
 
 Dunbarton, 
 
 Burntifland, 
 
 Sanquhar, 
 
 Arbroath, 
 
 Number of 
 
 
 Merchant 
 
 Number of 
 
 or Guild 
 
 Trades 
 
 Counfel- 
 
 Counfellors. 
 
 lors. 
 
 
 l8 
 
 14 
 
 *7 
 
 6 
 
 - 14 
 
 12 
 
 *7 
 
 9 
 
 14 
 
 7 
 
 - 19 
 
 8 
 
 - 23 
 
 6 
 
 - *5 
 
 a 
 
 - 18 
 
 8 
 
 11 
 
 6 
 
 10 
 
 5 
 
 • *5 
 
 1 
 
 12 
 
 5 
 
 12 
 
 7 
 
 L< 
 
 jchmaben,
 
 ( 3- ) 
 
 Lochmaben, 
 
 Lanerk, 
 
 Jedburgh, 
 
 Banff, 
 
 Elgin, - 
 
 Edinburgh, 
 
 Number of 
 Merchant 
 or Guild 
 Counsel- 
 lors. 
 
 Number of 
 
 Trades 
 
 Counlellors 
 
 
 IO 
 
 
 s 
 
 - 
 
 IO 
 
 
 7 
 
 
 *7 
 
 
 8 
 
 «p 
 
 1 1 
 
 
 6 
 
 - 
 
 ii 
 
 
 6 
 
 m 
 
 l 7 
 
 
 16 
 
 With regard to Edinburgh, it has always 
 been allowed that the number of the Guild or 
 Merchant Counfellors is too (mall, confidering 
 the weight and importance of the Guildry ; 
 and therefore it was, on every occafion, under- 
 ftood, that a proper addition was to be made 
 to the number of the Common Counfellors of 
 Edinburgh, eligible by the Guild Brethren, 
 fo as to give them a decided and confidcrable 
 majority in the Council. 
 
 Sin P ti°* This propofition afferts, " That the un- 
 
 " avoidable confequence of the regulations 
 
 • " propofed
 
 ( 33 ) 
 
 sc propcfed by the Bill of Reform Is, that the 
 " election for all the Members of the Bo- 
 6i roughs of Scotland muft remain with the 
 " faid Companies of Artifans, though fecond 
 " in rank, and feweft in number." 
 
 This afTertion cannot be true, for two rea-Anfwer, 
 fons : Firft, the election of Members of Par- 
 liament is expreifly to remain with the Town 
 Councils as formerly, fo that the Companies of 
 mechanics have no power in that matter, ex- 
 cept in fo far as they have reprefentatives in 
 the Town Councils ; and, 
 
 Secondly, It is an inconteftable fad, beyond 
 the power of cavil, that, by the propofed 
 fcheme of Reform, the Merchants, or Guild 
 Brethren, in every Borough cf Scotland, without 
 exception, have a decided majority in the Councils 
 over the Craft/men or Mechanics. How then is 
 it pomble that the Counfellors of the Com- 
 panies of Artifans, or Mechanics, confeffedly 
 far inferior in numbers to the Guild or Mer- 
 chant Counfellors, can command the election of 
 the Members of Parliament ? 
 
 E In
 
 ( 34 ) 
 
 Seventeenth In this proposition a pcfitive affcrtion is 
 
 Propolition in 
 
 the state of madej " That no evil of any kind exifts to 
 
 Fads. 
 
 " juftify the hazards, the idlencfs, expence, 
 " and dif order of fuch a dangerous Revolu- 
 " Hon" 
 
 Anfwer: In anfwer to this, it is fufficient to refer 
 
 to the Refolutions of the London Committee 
 of the 6th of May, 1788, which enumerate 
 fome df the evils and grofs abufes that exift in 
 the government of the Boroughs. To grant 
 illegal and partial exemptions from the duty 
 of quartering foldiers ; to exact large fums of 
 money, illegally, in name of cefs ; to dilapidate 
 the public property j to mifapply the public 
 revenues ; to contract enormous debts ; to job 
 the public works and bufinefs ; to have Magis- 
 trates and Councillors of Scottifh Boroughs 
 refident in England, Newfoundland, and Hin- 
 doflan ; to raife, exorbitantly and oppreffively, 
 the dues of admiffion of Burgeffes ; and above 
 all, to impoje and levy taxes without the authority 
 of Parliament. Are not thefe abufes that re- 
 quire the correcting hand of the Legislature ? 
 That they are abufes of the moft enormous 
 
 kind
 
 ^ ( 35 ) 
 
 kind cannot be denied ; and it is equally unde 
 niable, that they admit of no poffible remedy, 
 other than that of deftroying the felf election 
 of the Common Councils, in itfelf the greateft 
 of all abufes, and the fource of every other evil 
 in the adminiftration of Boroughs. 
 
 But what are the hazards, the disorders, and 
 the dangers, with which it is alledged the Re- 
 form would be attended, and which produce fo 
 much terror in the imaginations of the Town 
 Councils ? It is only afked, that their felf -elec- 
 tion mall be deftroyed, and that they mall be 
 bound, in a proper manner, to account. Are 
 they really ferious in endeavouring to perfuade 
 the world, that fo fimple and ufeful an arrange- 
 ment would involve a hazardous and dangerous 
 Revolution in Government ? 
 
 It is here afl'erted, that " the regulations pro- Eighteenth Pro- 
 
 pofition in the 
 
 " pofed for execution of the fcheme are compli- State of Fafts. 
 
 « 
 
 cated, numerous, troublefome, and variable." 
 
 If the falutary principle of Reform is adopt- Anfwcr# 
 ed, the wifdom of the Legiflature will like- 
 wife eftablifh proper regulations for carrying 
 
 E 2 that
 
 ( 36 ) 
 
 that principle into execution j it is therefore 
 premature and idle at prefent to enter into a 
 debate about the manner of executing the prin- 
 ciple of Reform. 
 
 At the fame time the Burgeffes cannot help 
 thinking, that the regulations they propofe are 
 in general fhort, fimple, and expedient. A fyflem 
 of internal government for the boroughs, falutary 
 and practicable, has been comprized in about 
 twenty fmall quarto pages ; and it deferves to 
 be remarked, that fome of the very men who 
 now oppofe the Reform, brought lately into 
 Parliament a Bill, extending to fifty-four pages, 
 for the fingle purpofe of building a bridge 
 over the Cowgate fireet of Edinburgh ; yet the 
 length or complicated nature of that Bill, 
 though infinitely inferior in its object to the 
 prefent, never was thought of as an objection 
 of fufficient importance to roufe the oppofnion 
 pf the Legiflature, or of any man in the king- 
 dom. 
 
 It is farther faid in this proportion, th th e 
 path propofed in the Bill is to be taken by all 
 
 ranks
 
 ( 37 ) 
 
 ranks of men, and that it muft.be attended 
 with the worft confequences to fociety. 
 
 But in the firft place, it is not true that the 
 oath is to be taken by all ranks of men; it is 
 only to be taken by Heretors : and in the fe- 
 cond place, the oath objected to as productive 
 of the worft confequences to fociety, is, with fome 
 fmall- addition, almoft a verbatim copy of the 
 oath long ago required by the laws of Scotland to 
 be fworn by Heritors in county eletlions. 
 
 The laft proportion is, that the right of all Nineteentlifta. 
 
 pofition in the 
 
 the electors and elected of the Boroughs are State of Fa£ls - 
 
 regulated by Acts of Parliament, which would 
 
 be repealed by the fcheme of reform. This 
 
 idea is more clearly expreffed on page 22 of 
 
 the Cafe, in the following words. — " The con- 
 
 " ftitution of Parliament would be fubflanti- 
 
 " ally altered, and all the fubfifting laws, under 
 
 " which the rcprefentatives of the Scottifh 
 
 " Burghs are fent to Parliament, voided and 
 
 (i repealed." 
 
 The
 
 ( 3* ) 
 
 Anf'A«. Xhe effect of the prefent Reform, as to the 
 
 conflitution of Parliament, has been already 
 explained ; and with regard to the fuppofed re- 
 peal of laws, the committee do not know that 
 a fingle act, under which the reprefentatives of 
 the Boroughs are fent to Parliament, would be 
 voided or repealed. They have no fuch repeal 
 in contemplation. 
 
 objections &f- The Delegates having thus examined every 
 
 fend in the Cafe . 
 
 for the Royal thing material in the State of Fafts, will now 
 t^lllL- Proceed fhortly to confider the import of the 
 Dbkkions. € objections to Reform mentioned in the Cafe for 
 the Royal Boroughs. 
 
 £%&k>ij i ft. The firft objection is extremely frivolous. It 
 fays, that the object of the Bill is different 
 from the title, and that it fpecifies no abufe. 
 
 Mot. The title fays, that the Bill is for correcting 
 
 abufes and fnpplying defects in the internal 
 
 government
 
 ( 39 ) 
 
 government of the Boroughs, and in the man- 
 ner of accounting. 
 
 One of the objects of the bill is to deftroy 
 ib.zjelf election of the councils. Is felf elec- 
 tion no abufe in the conftitution ? The next 
 object of Reform is to eftablim a proper tribu- 
 nal before which magiftrates are to account, 
 but which is at prefent altogether. wanting. Is 
 not that a moft manifeft dsfett ? 
 
 Such being the cafe, in what refpects is the 
 object different from the title of the Bill? 
 The title profeffes to correct abufes, and fupply 
 defects ; the object of the bill is the very 
 fame, but, perhaps, the objectors meant that 
 the Bill mould defcend to a minute fpecifica- 
 tion, or detail, of all the abufes it intends to 
 correct. Was there ever an act of Parliament 
 that did fo ? 
 
 This objection is founded on the Royal prero- objeftionzd. 
 gativc. The Burgcffes arc accufed of an in- 
 confiftency in admitting the propriety of the 
 alteration made by His Majcfty in the conftitu- 
 
 tion
 
 ( 40 ) 
 
 tion of the Borough of Stirling, while, at the 
 fame time, they endeavour to introduce their 
 prefent Bill into Parliament, without applying 
 for His Majefty's confent. 
 
 Anfwer. This charge of inconfiftency proceeds from 
 
 an evident inattention or error. When the cor- 
 poration of Stirling was deprived of its freedom 
 by a fentence of the fupreme court, it was le- 
 gally reduced to a (late of non-exiftence ; it 
 was therefore optional to the King to reftore it 
 to life, or not, as he pleafed, and under what 
 qualities or conditions he thought proper, not 
 inconfiilent with the laws of the land, in the 
 fame manner as he might create a new corpo- 
 ration. 
 
 But furely the Town Councils will not pre- 
 tend that the Crown could ufe the fame 
 freedom of altering and new modelling, at 
 pleafure, the conflitution of every exifling 
 corporation, unlefs they chufe to infifl that 
 the Boroughs hold their rights in abfolute 
 and entire dependance on the will of the 
 Crown. But that is a doctrine which, if 
 
 ever
 
 ( 41 ) 
 
 ever it was maintained, has long ago been for- 
 tunately exploded in the law and conftitution 
 of this country. Such being the cafe, it is not 
 from any difrefpect to the King that the Bur- 
 gefTes do not apply for his confent on the pre- 
 fent occafion. They may venture to afiert, 
 that their refpect for Majefty is as high, and 
 their loyalty as firm, as thofe of the Town 
 Councils ; but in their prefent conduct, they 
 are actuated by a perfect convicton that the 
 prerogatives of the Crown have nothing to do 
 with the queftion, and that the prefent conftitu- 
 tion of the Scottish Boroughs, originating from 
 general laws enacted by the Parliament of 
 Scotland, may be altered by the Parliament 
 of Great Britain, independent of any previous 
 confent from the Crown. 
 
 i 
 
 This objection is founded on the Treaty of objection 3d. 
 Union, which declares that u the rights and 
 
 privileges of the Royal Boroughs, as they now 
 €c are, do remain entire after the Union, and 
 <c notwithstanding thereof" 
 
 The 
 
 €f
 
 ( 4* ) 
 
 Anfwer. The meaning of this claufe, in the Treaty 
 
 of Union, has been explained in the illuftra- 
 tion of the principles of the Bill of Reform, 
 from page 6 to 10, and in the Appendix there- 
 to, from page i to 3. The following ihort ad- 
 ditional obfervations on the fubject may be 
 fubmitted. 
 
 1. The convention of Royal Boroughs have 
 themfelves given a decided opinion on repeated 
 occafions, that by the Treaty of Union the 
 political fets or conftitutions of the Boroughs 
 were not rendered unalterable ; for the conven- 
 tion has, fince the Union, altered the conftitu- 
 tions of no lefs than fixteen of the Royal Bo- 
 roughs. 
 
 2. It has been infinuated, that one of the 
 rights and ■privileges referved to the Royal 
 Boroughs by the Treaty was the power of al- 
 tering their own fets or conftitutions at plea- 
 sure. 
 
 This doctrine would lead to confequences the 
 mod abfurd. It fuppofes the meaning of the 
 
 Treaty
 
 ( 43 ) • - 
 
 Treaty of Union to have been, that power was 
 , veiled in the Convention of the Royal Boroughs 
 to alter and repeal the public flatutes and efla- 
 blifhed laws -and ufages of the kingdom relative 
 to the fets or conflitutions of the Boroughs; 
 while that fupreme power is fuppofed to have 
 been denied to the Britifh Parliament ! This 
 involves an abfurdity too grofs to be main- 
 tained. 
 
 3. It is inconteftable that the Treaty of 
 Union contained nothing to prevent the Bri- 
 tifh Parliament from altering the political con- 
 flitutions, or election laws of the counties. 
 What foundation, then, is there for fuppofing 
 that the political conflitutions, or governments 
 of Boroughs, were rendered unalterable ? The 
 very idea is perfectly abfurd. 
 
 4. The Treaty of Union itfelf, taken 
 in conjunction with the proceedings of the 
 Commimoners at London, affords convincing 
 evidence that the political conflitutions, or 
 election laws of the Boroughs, were not in the 
 frnalleft degree within its meaning or intention, 
 
 Fa It
 
 ( 44 ) 
 
 It will be obferved, that the twenty-firft ar~ 
 tide of the Treaty of Union, on which the 
 Town Councils reft their prefent argument, is 
 a verbatim copy of a propofal made by the 
 Commiffioners of Scotland to thofe of Eng- 
 land on the 29th day of May, 1706. The 
 propofal was in thefe words : 
 
 " That the rights and privileges of the 
 " Royal Boroughs of Scotland, as they now 
 " are, do remain entire after the Union, and 
 
 " notwithstanding thereof." 
 
 At the time of preparing this propofal by 
 the Scotch Commiffioners, every individual 
 Royal Borough in Scotland had a right to fend 
 a Member to the Scotch Parliament. 
 
 The propofal was adopted in its precife 
 terms by the Commiffioners for England, and 
 now forms the very article in the Treaty rela- 
 tive to the Eoroughs. 
 
 But it will be obferved, that by the Treaty 
 the parliamentary rights of the Boroughs were 
 
 greatly
 
 ( 45 ) 
 
 greatly limited, in as far as diftricts, confin- 
 ing of four or five Boroughs, were to fend only 
 a fingle Member to the Britifh Parliament, in- 
 ftead of a Member being fent from each indi- 
 vidual Borough as formerly. 
 
 It is therefore evident, that the words, 
 " Rights and -privileges of the Boroughs, as 
 " they now are," in the propofals of the 
 Scotch Commiflioners, and in the Treaty it- 
 felf, were never meant to extend to the poli- 
 tical conftitutionSj or election laws of the Bo- 
 roughs. The fame words in the propofal of 
 the Commiflioners at London, and in the 
 Treaty, mult be underftood to have the fame 
 meaning ; yet if the argument of the Town 
 Councils, in the prefent cafe, were good, the 
 Treaty, without any alteration of the words, 
 would be a direct violation of the propofal 
 made by the Scotch Commiflioners, and agreed 
 to by thofe of England. In fhort, it is impof- 
 fible to put any confiitent conftruction on the 
 propofals of the Commiflioners and the Treaty, 
 otherwife than by fuppofing that the words ufed 
 never did extend to the political constitutions, 
 or election laws, of the Boroughs, but merely 
 
 to
 
 ( 46 ) 
 
 to their exclufive rights of incorporations 
 within Boroughs, their exclufive rights of fo- 
 reign trade, and their rights of heritable juris- 
 diction ; and it is worthy of remark, that the 
 very proportion offered by the Scottifh Com- 
 mifiioners at London, relative to the rights and 
 privileges of the Boroughs, is introduced as one 
 of the provifions made for the Judicatures of 
 Scotland, as appears from Defoe, p. 148-9. 
 The words of the propofal are, " and as to the 
 (C Judicatures within Scotland, the Lords Com- 
 <c miffioners for Scotland do propofe as fol- 
 " loweth." Then there are fubjoined provi- 
 fions relative to the Courts of Seffion, Jufti- 
 ciary, Exchequer, Privy Council, the heritable 
 iurifdicYion in private families, and the laft of 
 alt is the article relative to the rights and pri- 
 vileges of the Royal Boroughs. 
 
 ftieftkxi 4th. The principle of the Bill, though it may be 
 true in pure {peculation, is untrue, or impofii- 
 ble in practice. 
 
 kzfwcr. The principle of the Bill is nothing more 
 
 than to alter the felf-election of the Juntos; to 
 
 give
 
 C 47 ) 
 
 give the right of election of Common Coun- 
 cils, to decent BurgefTes of certain defcriptions 
 and qualifications ; and to provide a jurifdic- 
 tion of accounts — Are thefe objects, fo ap- 
 parently fimple and ufeful, untrue or impofli- 
 ble in practice ? The oppofers of Reform are 
 certainly not ferious in thinking fo. It is only 
 neceffary farther to remark, that about 9000 
 BurgefTes, fully acquainted with the local cir- 
 cumftances of their different towns, have de- 
 clared, with one voice, that the fcheme of Re- 
 form is both ufeful and practicable. 
 
 This objection originating only from a paltry Objection 511*. 
 mifreprefentation of the language and fenti- 
 ments of the BurgefTes, has been already an- 
 fwered, though it might, with more propriety, 
 have been overlooked, as meriting no atten- 
 tion. 
 
 It is the evident meaning of this objection to objeaion .6th. 
 alarm the members for Englifh Boroughs ; but 
 the Boroughs of England are in a different fi tu- 
 ition, and the diftinctions between them and 
 
 I 
 
 thofe of Scotland, have been.already obferved. 
 
 It
 
 (t 
 
 ( 48 ) 
 
 It is only neceflary to take notice of one afTer- 
 tion made in the Cafe, under this head. 
 
 Cafe, page 28. j t j s f a j ( ^ n a g re at number of the conftitu- 
 «' tions of the Common Councils of Scotland 
 " are already in a degree popular. The elec- 
 tions are made by a poll of the feveral com- 
 panies of Mechanics, or Handicraftsmen, 
 <f who form Subaltern Corporations in the 
 " town." 
 
 If by this is meant that the election of Com- 
 mon Councils and Magiflrates, in a great number 
 of Boroughs ', is made by a poll, the affertion is 
 certainly not true ; for there is not a flngle Bo- 
 rough in Scotland in which fuch election is 
 made by a poll of the BurgeiTes. There are, 
 indeed, about two or three Boroughs in which 
 the BurgeiTes, from leets or lifts of men, given 
 them by the Magiflrates for the time being, are 
 allowed to elect the Magiflrates for the enfuing 
 year ; but to fay that this is a free or popular 
 election, is an infuk on common fenfe ; for the 
 BurgeiTes can elect none but thofe given them 
 by the Magiflrates, in a lift. 
 s But,
 
 ( 49 ) 
 
 But, perhaps, the obje&ors mean, that the 
 feveral Companies of Mechanics have the elec- 
 tion of their own Deacons or Chairmen. If that 
 be their meaning, it is certainly nothing to the 
 purpofe ; for in fome Boroughs few or none of 
 the Deacons fo ele&ed have right to fit in Coun- 
 cil ; and in other Boroughs, where a part 
 of the Deacons fit in Council, they are only 
 chofen from lids given by the Magistrates and 
 Council ; fo that there is, in fact, no freedom 
 of election of any kind exifting m the Royal 
 Boroughs of Scotland. 
 
 This objedion has been already fully an* b je cW 7t h. 
 fwered. It is built on the ridiculous and 
 groundlefs averment, that the prefent Reform 
 is the fcheme only of the Craftfmen or Me- 
 chanics, with a view to fupprefs the rights, 
 and fink the importance of the Guildry, or 
 Merchants,, 
 
 The Letters which pailed on this fubjed be- 
 cween the Agent for the Town Councils and 
 theCommitee of Reform, at leaft the letter 
 from the Committee are not fully ftated in the 
 
 G Cafe ;
 
 ( 5° ) 
 
 Cafe ; they are therefore annexed to thefe ob- 
 fervations., and will fpeak for themfelves. 
 
 Objeabn 8th. This objection fays, that the Burgeffes have 
 not been able to prove the exiftence of any evil 
 which requires a remedy. 
 
 Anfwer. The anfvver has been already very fully 
 
 given, both in the prefent paper, and in 
 former refolutions of the Committee. 
 
 The Objectors fpeak of the evils of popular 
 elections, and give as an example, what hap- 
 pened in Edinburgh, on occafion of the popu- 
 lar election, which became requisite, to reflore 
 the Magiftracy after the rebellion in 1745. But 
 what are thofe mighty mifchiefs which were fo 
 deeply felt in Edinburgh ? — Why, nothing 
 more, according to the objectors themfelves, 
 than that fome of the friends of the candidates 
 were a little angry with one another ! Is this 
 a reafon for abolifhing the rights and freedom 
 of Election ? If that fuperficial policy were to 
 
 have
 
 ( 5> ) 
 
 have effect, it would put an end at once to the 
 freedom of the Conflitution of Great Britain, 
 by deftroying every degree of popular election 
 both in Counties and Boroughs ! 
 
 Since the popular election at Edinburgh has 
 been brought in view, it is proper to inquire, 
 who the Chief Magiflrate was, whom the voice 
 of the people promoted to honour on that oc- 
 cafion ? It was the celebrated George Drum- 
 mond, who, in the lift of Scottifh Magiftracy, 
 will not be pretended ever to have had a fupe- 
 rior. This was the man who planned and 
 executed the eftabliihment of the Royal In- 
 firmary of Edinburgh, which, as a fchool 
 of medical fcience, and as an afylum of 
 diftrels, does the greateft honour to the 
 country. This was the man who, if the voice 
 of fame is not greatly miftaken, planned the 
 new city of Edinburgh, together with the 
 other elegant and extenfive improvements which 
 of late vears have ferved to ornament the ca- 
 pital of Scotland. It cannot be denied, that 
 thofe who have been concerned in accom- 
 plifhing thefe ufeful and ornamental works, are 
 
 G 2 entitled
 
 ( 5* ) 
 
 entitled to a fliare of praife ; but it mufl be 
 allowed, that they are only the hands employed 
 in carrying into execution the extenfive defigns 
 of that Chief Magiftrate, who, in a popular 
 election, was the object of popular choice. 
 
 Dbjcaion9th. This objection is expreffed in the following 
 words : " Fach of the Royal Boroughs is in 
 ei itfelf a diftinct body corporate, eftablifhed 
 s< by law, and many of them by fpecial char- 
 *< ters from the Sovereign. Some of them 
 ce were erected upon the application and by 
 (i confent of local Superiors; fuch are Inverary, 
 Ci Campbeltown, Wick, &c. but the confent 
 '? given, was conditional, fubject to fpecial 
 iC rights referred to the families of the Supe- 
 (i riors j and, at this moment, it is as adverfe 
 " to law, as it was at the Revolution, to attempt 
 " the deflruction of the rights and privileges 
 6( of one or all of thefe bodies, contrary to 
 st their liberties and charters, and without a 
 ci pretence of fentence, furrender, or confent.'* 
 
 All
 
 ( 53 ) ' 
 
 All this proceeds on an evident error. Anfwer. 
 It fuppofcs, that the intention of Reform is to 
 annihilate the Corporations ; an idea which has 
 not yet entered the minds of the Burgeffes. — 
 The fole object of the Reform is to regulate the 
 manner in which the police of the towns is to 
 be conducted, and their common property and 
 affairs managed, without encroaching, in the 
 fmallcft degree, on the exclufive rights and 
 privileges of the Corporations. To maintain 
 thefe in their full extent and effect, is the evi- 
 dent intereft, as well as inclination, of the Bur- 
 geffes : but they cannot believe, and could ne- 
 ver imagine, that it is a right or priviltge of 
 Incorporation, to have felf-elected adminiffra- 
 tors, who are independent of their choice, and 
 not bound to render them any account. Such 
 a fyftem of government has been found to be 
 productive of abufes which have now reached 
 a degree of enormity that has called forth the 
 public indignation. Nine tboufand Burgeffes, 
 who erery day witnefs the abufes of which they 
 complain, demand redrefs of thefe grievances ; 
 yet they are told, th^felf-ekolion of Magi Urates, 
 
 which
 
 ( 54 ) 
 
 which has produced all thefe abufes, is a /acred 
 privilege of Incorporation, which cannot be ta- 
 ken away, without violating the ConRitution ! 
 
 In the prefent objecfbion, the Town Councils 
 have obliquely alluded to the Charters of Erec- 
 tion and Incorporation, as if they were defirous 
 to reft an argument on them, but without ven- 
 turing to do it in a diredr. manner. 
 
 The Charters are of two kinds ; original 
 Charters of Eredtion and Incorporation, and 
 Charters of Confirmation, of later dates. The 
 Delegates have had no occafion to be acquainted 
 with all the charters of the different towns. — 
 Such original charters, however, as they have 
 known, were conceived in favour not of the 
 Town Councils, but of the Burgeffes at large. 
 They have had accefs to fee copies of twenty- 
 feven charters, granted to fo many different 
 towns; moll: of thefe, in place of affording 
 argument in favour of the Town Councils, ftrike 
 tiire&ly againit them. 
 
 Of
 
 ( 55 ) 
 
 Of the twenty-feven charters to which the 
 Delegates have hacLaccefs, feventeen are con- 
 ceived, per expreffum, in favour of the inhabi- 
 tants and free BurgefTes, or of die BurgefTes and 
 Community, or of the Burghers and Freemen, 
 or of the inhabitant BurgefTes, or of the Pro- 
 vofl, Baillics, Counfellors, BurgefTes, and Com- 
 munity. Of thofe feventeen charters again, fo 
 conceived, many give an exprefs power to the Bur- 
 grjfes to eltSt the Magijlrates and Common Councils, 
 or Officers of the Borough. 
 
 Five of the twenty-feven charters are con- 
 ceived in this form; In favour of " the 
 Provoft, Baillies, Counfellors, and Commu- 
 nity" 
 
 Three only of the charters which have been 
 feen by the friends of Pveform, empower the 
 Councils to elect their fucceflbrs ; thefe three 
 are pofterior to the act 1469 ; and in one of 
 them (Campbeltown) the Counfellors and Ma- 
 gistrates
 
 ( 56 ) 
 
 giflrates are to be chofen from leets, furnifhed 
 by a great family. 
 
 Two other charters of the twenty-feven, viz. 
 thofe of Inverary and Wick, empower the Bur- 
 geffes and Inhabitants to eled the Magiftrates 
 and Councils, but from leets to be given them 
 by two great families in their near neighbour- 
 hood. 
 
 The prefent Reform, therefore, is not, as its 
 enemies would insinuate, inconfiftent with the 
 chartered rights of the Boroughs. On the con- 
 trary, it is evident, that if the tenor of the 
 charters were to form the rule, the determination 
 would in general be given in favour of the Bur- 
 geffes, to whom, per exprejfum, the charters are 
 in general granted, with a fpecial power in ma- 
 ny of them to the Burgeffes or Freemen, to 
 elect the Common Councils or Magiftrates. — 
 This power the Burgeffes of all the boroughs 
 enjoyed prior to the act 1469, which is evident 
 from that very act itfelf, and is fupported by 
 collateral evidence, already referred to. 
 
 This
 
 ( 57 ) 
 
 This objection, though ftatcd by itfelf, is Objection ioUi; 
 properly no more than a branch of the one im- 
 mediately preceding, 
 
 The Town Councils, abundantly fenfible that 
 the terms of the charters being moftly conceiv- 
 ed in favour of the Burgeffes or Community i, make 
 directly againit their argument, have endea- 
 voured to explain them away, by affertions, 
 without authority, and by cfiticifms, which arc 
 not warranted either by the words or fpirit of 
 the grants. They affirm, that the word Bur- 
 gefl'es does not mean the ordinary BurgefTes of a 
 town, but only a feleft number, called Capital 
 BurgefTes ; and that the word Community does 
 not mean the collective body of the BurgefTes 
 at large, but only the governing part of them, 
 viz. the Magistrates and Councils, 
 
 Thefe ideas are refuted by the .very tenor of Anfwefc 
 the charters themfelves : feveral of the charters 
 are conceived in favour of the Provoft, Bailies, 
 Counfellors, and Community — Here it is impof- 
 fible that the word Community can fignify the 
 
 H governors
 
 ( 5« ) 
 
 governors, for they are exprcfTed in the char- 
 ters by their proper names ; other charters are 
 conceived in favour of the Provoft, Bailies, Bur- 
 geJfeSj and Community ; here the term Burgejfes, 
 cannot poffibly mean the capital or governing 
 Burgeffes, for thefe are exprelTed by their own 
 proper names; in fhort, there cannot be a 
 doubt that by the general expreffion of Bur* 
 o-efTes or Freemen in the charters of the Scot- 
 tifh. Boroughs, the ordinary or common Bur- 
 gefles were meant to be underftood. 
 
 The only authority cited on the other fide, 
 is that of Brady, a Doctor of phyfic, who was 
 generally reputed to have enjoyed a penfion 
 from the Court. Mr. Brady, indeed, fays that 
 the word communitas, or community, or common' 
 alty, meant not the body of the ordinary 
 Burgeffes, but the governing part of them : 
 He has, however, collected and adduced evi- 
 dence, which, when examined, will be found 
 fully fufficient to deftroy his own hypothefis; 
 He has been candid enough to mention five 
 different refoiutions of the Houfe of Commons, 
 
 abouts
 
 ( 59 ) 
 
 about the year 1627, which completely over- 
 turn his whole doctrine : his obfcrvations on 
 thofe decifions are remarkable. 
 
 c< By thefe five inftances," fays Dr. Brady, 
 (( it appears how perplexed and conjectural 
 *< the opinions of the Committee and refolves 
 <c of the Houfe of Commons were concerning 
 f the right of electing BurgefTes to ferve in 
 ** Parliament, and the perfons in whom it was 
 c( lodged. They judged the Communities or eom- 
 (i monalties of Cities and Burghs to be only the 
 Ci ordinary and lower fort of Citizens, Burgejfes, 
 ce or Freemen in general. The ground of this po- 
 " pular error," continues the good Doctor, 
 (< was, that this Committee, notwithstanding 
 " the two great antiquaries, Sir Robert Cotton 
 <f and Mr. Selden, and the Oracle of Law, fo 
 f* called, Sir Edward Coke, were members of 
 cs it, did not truly under/land the meaning of the 
 " words communitates civitatam et Burgorum, 
 (( the commonalty of Cities and Burghs ; 
 M which always fignified the Mayor, Alder- 
 ff men, and Common Council, where they 
 
 H 2 " were
 
 ( 6o ) 
 
 b ' { were to be found, or the Steward or Ii;ulii7. 
 " or, in fhort, the governing part of Cities 
 " and Towns." 
 
 Here the Doctor admits that his hypothefis 
 is contradicted by five different refolutions of 
 the Houfe of Commons ; but he afcribes their 
 decifions to this, that although they were aided 
 by all the learning of Sir Robert Cotton ? 
 Mr. Selden, and Sir Edward Coke, they did 
 not really underfiand the meaning of the words 
 Communitates Burgorum ! Hence we are to un- 
 derftand, that what could not be difcovered by 
 the extenfive refearches of the moil learned 
 antiquarians, or the acutenefs of the molt pro- 
 found Lawyers, on a fubject of legal difcuffion, 
 was at once laid open by the painful induflry 
 of a Doctor of phyfic, who was hired by the 
 Court ! and accordingly the Doctor proceeds, 
 with all the gravity of his profeflion, to prove 
 his pofition, by a production of a number of 
 examples, almofl every one of which contra- 
 dicts himfelf, and overturns his hypothefis. 
 iSx prefent, one only of the examples which he 
 
 cites
 
 ( 6' ) 
 
 cites mall be- mentioned: it is the writ directed 
 to the Mayor and Bailiffs of Exeter for the * 
 choice of Burgeffes to ferve in Parliament, 
 and the anfvver to it. The writ, fo far as 
 quoted by Brady, was in thefe words : 
 
 i( Vobis pra?cipimus fjrmiler injungentes Brady, p\ 6j. 
 <l quod duos Burgenfes de Provedtioribus, 
 " Difcreticribus & Magis Expertis Burgen- 
 " fibus Civitatis pr£edicTt£e, de afTenfu ejuf- 
 " dem Civitatis, fine Dilatione Eligi, &c., 
 " fufficientem potcftatem habent," &c. 
 
 The return was in the following terms : 
 
 " Refponfio Roberti de Brideport, Majoris 
 
 ' civitatis Exon, & Ricardi Oliver & Tho- 
 
 * ma? Spicer Ballivorum ejufdem civitatis, 
 
 8 ac communltatis civitatis prsedidbe talis eft ; 
 
 ' Quod i-pfi cligcrunt prasdictos Robertum 
 
 ' de Brideport & Robcitum de Hugheton 
 
 1 Burgenfes didar civitatis ad faciendum 
 
 { fecundum Tenorem iflius Brevis. 
 
 According
 
 ( ft ) 
 
 According to that return, it was made by the 
 Mayor, Baillies, and Community of the Borough. 
 In this example, therefore, the word Commu- 
 nity cannot poflibly fignify the Governors of 
 the Borough ; for they are mentioned by their 
 proper names of Mayor and Baillies. It muft 
 therefore necefTarily mean the ordinary Bur- 
 geffes. Some of the other examples are equi- 
 vocal, and prove nothing. But many of them 
 are of the fame kind with the one above- 
 mentioned, and in the fame manner refute the 
 Doctor's own afTertion j fo that all the evidence 
 he has brought, wherever it fpeaks clearly, 
 proves directly againft himfelf, 
 
 It is, therefore, in vain that the Town Coun- 
 cils, in the prefent cafe, appeal to the authority 
 of Dr. Brady, in fupport of a propofition, dis- 
 proved by the tenor of charters, and the obvious 
 meaning of words, as well as the weighty opi- 
 nion of Mr. Selden, Sir Robert Cotton, and 
 Sir Edward Coke. 
 
 The
 
 ( 63 ) 
 
 The laft objection relates to the particular re-Okjetton ntbn 
 gulations in the propofed Bill. 
 
 This objection has already been adverted to. A nfwer. 
 The objection is premature and ufelefs, becaufe, 
 as already obferved, if the principle is approved 
 of, the proper regulations for carrying it into 
 execution can eafily be fupplied by the wif- 
 dom of Parliament, if thofe propofed by the 
 Bill fhould be found improper or defective.
 
 ( 65 ) 
 
 N. B. After the foregoing Obfervations were 
 printed and ready to be cait off, the Delegates 
 were furnifhed with a new produfiion, on the 
 part of the Magiftrates, called An Abftratl of 
 Faffs, which exceeds all their former publica- 
 tions, in error, calumny, and mifreprefentation ; 
 but which (hall receive an immediate fatisfac- 
 tory anfwer by a few animadverfions on the ma- 
 terial articles it contains. 
 
 1
 
 APPENDIX, 
 
 No. i: 
 
 A Letter from a Burgefs of Aberdeen, to the Agent for the 
 
 'Town Councils of the Riryal Boroughs* Containing 
 
 Jhort Remarks on fome of the Abufes exifling in the 
 
 Boroughs, and upon a State of Fads publi/hed in 
 
 behalf of the Councils* 
 
 S I R, 
 
 XjlS you took the trouble to mention your having 
 had a letter from Aberdeen upon the fubiecSt of what 
 relates to that Borough, contained in the Refolutions 
 of the London Committee for Reform, I am much 
 inclined towifh that your information refpedUng the 
 Town, of which I am a Burgher, may be as complete 
 as poffible ; and for that pufpofe I take leave to fend 
 vOu a fmall volume, containing the proceedings of the 
 BurgefTes of Aberdeen, publiflied by authority of the 
 Committee of the BurgefTes of that city appointed 
 to conduct the bufinefs of Reform, and in which. 
 you will find a good deal cf what relates to the iub- 
 
 A jeas
 
 ( 2 ) 
 
 jecls referred to in the Refolutions of the London 
 Committee. Upon all the points mentioned in that 
 paper, particularly the taxation for Police, and the 
 extra afieiiments in name of Cefs, I can afTure you, 
 that my fellow citizens wifh for nothing fo anxioufly 
 as to go to ifTue with the Magiflrates; and when a 
 proof is led, it will then appear, whether the repre- 
 fentations of the Magi Urates, or thofe perfons who 
 are employed to acl for them, or the flatements of the 
 Burghers, are moll agreeahle to truth. In the volume 
 I have fent you, you will find feveral memorials upon 
 the fubjects of taxation, and the affeflment for cefs ; 
 and you will perceive that thefe are founded upon the 
 very Adls of Council which the Magiflrates and 
 Council have themfelves framed without the partici- 
 pation of the BurgefTes. When you read thefe, and 
 confider the treatment which the BurgefTes have met 
 with, after fuch a difplay of temper and moderation 
 on their part, I think you will not bedifpofedto fay, 
 that (he Magiflrates have either made a prudent or 
 moderate ufe of that power with which they have 
 conceived themfelves to be invelled. The gentlemen 
 who examined the flate of the Well debt are, to my 
 certain knowledge, men both of characler and abili- 
 ties ; and upon their finding that this debt was over- 
 paid bv the citizens to the amount of 5000 1., does it 
 not appear a little flrangethat the Magiflrates fhould 
 continue to affefs the inhabitants to the extent of 
 near 200 1. annually, as the interefl of the amount of 
 a debt already much more than extinguifhed? Did 
 not equity rather require that the citizens fhouidhave 
 had 250 1. per annum repaid to them from the Public 
 Funds, as -the intereft of what had been thus impro- 
 perly
 
 ( 3 ) 
 
 perly drawn from them ? I can fee no good reafon 
 why they fhould not, but that the uncommonnefs of 
 the circumftance in Magiftrates returning money 
 which they had once got pofleffion of, would have 
 been a thing fo much out of their ufual way, that, if 
 it had really happened, it would hardly have gained 
 credit with the Public. I find, if I conceived your 
 meaning right the other day, that you have been 
 mifinformed refpedting the decifions you mentioned 
 in the cafe of the Aberdeen taxes ; I will therefore 
 tell you fhortly how that matter flands. — When the 
 BurgefTes difcovered, by examining the public ac- 
 counts, the real ftate of the Town's debt ; ihe abufes 
 in aflefling for the land tax ; and particularly the tax 
 for water, &c, the Memorial was prefented, which 
 you will find in the Appendix, page 49. I refer you 
 to this, in connection with the other Memorials upon 
 thefe fubjefls, and appeal to your candour, if they 
 ought not to have met with a different fate i The 
 citizens had taken every ftep which became their fitu- 
 ation, without going to law ; but finding their very 
 reafonable reprefentations neglected, and even them- 
 felves infulted in that public aiTembly, in which it 
 was abfurdly pretended that they gave authority to 
 tax themfelves, they paid the land tax, but refufed to 
 pay thofe taxes which were impofed, and continued 
 without their confent. An action was of courfe 
 brought by the Magiflrates againft the citizens, be- 
 fore the Sheriff" Subftitute, who is alfo Deputy Town 
 Clerk. That Judge awarded payment, with half a 
 crown of expences upon every citizen who refufed. 
 The citizens appealed to the Court of Seffion, and in 
 the mean time paid the amount of the affeflments, 
 
 A % without
 
 [ 4 J 
 
 without the expence awarded by the Sheriff; but this 
 they did under Proteft. A fummons of declarator 
 was raifed at the inftance of the citizens before the 
 Court of Seffion,, that the Common Council of Aber- 
 deen might fhew M'hat right the Magiftrates of the 
 Boroughs of Scotland have to exercife that authority 
 which refides alone in a Britifh. Parliament. The 
 matter is Hill, I believe, in a flate of fufpence ; nor 
 do I know that the fummonfes, although raifed, were 
 ever executed. By this you will perceive, that the 
 BurgefTes, far from acquiefcing, paid the taxes under 
 proteft. But I will admit for a moment, that they 
 had paid the taxes without that legal exprefficn of 
 their difapprobation. I will fuppofe that one hun- 
 dred poor men affected each to the extent of from 
 5 to iol. by this illegal taxation, had been fum- 
 mcned before the Sheriff, and threatened with the 
 terror and expence of a profecution, — it is evident 
 that thefe poor men were in no condition to combat 
 the Magiftrates, who had the command of the Public 
 Funds, and who, of courfe, would go to law with the 
 citizens with the public purfe of the community. 
 But in this cafe, is the exaclion, if thus illegal, lefs 
 op prefix ve, becaufe the poor men are obliged to fubmit ; 
 or, rather, does not the oppreffion, therefore, call 
 more loudly for redrefs ? Although I have Mated this 
 as a fuppofition, it is, in many inftances, precifely the 
 fa 61 ; and it is peculiarly fo in another cafe of tax- 
 ation, by which the Magiftrates and Council raifed 
 the dues of admitting Burgeffes from 15L to 26 1. 
 In this the Council acted merely by their own autho- 
 rity, without confulting a fingle member of the com- 
 munity ; and fo partial was this tax, that it was only 
 
 made
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 made to apply to the (hopkeepers and mercantile part 
 of the Burghers, while the incorporated tradesmen, os 
 artiians, who have the privilege alfo of being {hop- 
 keepers, were permitted to continue to pay the old 
 dues of admiffion. The objevSvs of this new and ar- 
 bitrary tax, in its profecution, in the firft inftance, 
 were thirty or forty induftrious joung men, who, 
 after having fuftained the weight of the Magiftrates 
 for fome time in the Court of Seffion, were unable 
 for the prefent to bear the farther cxpence of an ap- 
 peal to the Houfe of Lords, although the meafure 
 was then, and is fti)l, reprobated, as oppreffive to com- 
 merce and induflry, and of courfe highly impolitic, 
 by every liberal-minded man in the country. Of the 
 candour of the Magiftrates and Council, or thofe who 
 haveadted for them, we have pretty ftrong fpe.cimens 
 in the paper given in for them in the Court of Seffion, 
 on the fubjecT: of taxes. With a view to give an un- 
 favourable opinion of the citizens to the Court, it 
 was there faid, " that they had refufed payment of the 
 " King's ccfs for laji year, and had done fo for the pre- 
 " fcnt, with a view to diflrefs the Magiftrates," at a 
 time when tfhe one had been paid many months, and 
 the other not actually apportioned. 
 
 t( The Burghers, it was likewife faid, while they had 
 :c recommended ceconomy, and urged the propriety of 
 *' expending no more than the income allotted to each 
 ** article of Police, have had the mod-Jiy and inconjiflen- 
 <c cy to join in a petition to the Council, defiling them 
 '* to expend above one bundled pounds in making a 
 i( paved foot-path along one of theftreets." — The 
 truth isj that the Council were applied to merely out 
 
 of
 
 ( « ) 
 
 of compliment and refpe£r. : the foot-path was to 
 be made by the fubfcription of private citizens. The 
 Council were afked if they would contribute a part; 
 and they anfwered, they would lend 20 1. in June, if 
 they were paid back by afleflment in September ; — 
 and the work was of courfe actually begun and com- 
 pleted at the expence of the citizens. 
 
 If any thing was wanting to complete thefe in- 
 ftances of candour, and to fhew the true fpirit of Ma- 
 giftrates, it would be amply fupplied by their relating 
 In their paper, before the Court of Seflion, with re- 
 ference to " the reformers of the prefent day," as they 
 are pleafed to call them, the infamous ftory of John 
 Innes, a reputable citizen of Aberdeen, who, in the 
 reign of Charles II., had been ruined by their pre- 
 decefTors, for daring to take a decent Proteft in the 
 face of their illegal, but affronted authority. This 
 good citizen, it is faid by the Magi ft rates, " took pre- 
 " cifelythe fame ground, and ufed the fame language 
 *• which is now adopted by the reformers," — " That 
 " an account may be publicly given in an head 
 <{ Court, how all former taxations, from April 1665 
 " vears, to April 1676 years inclufive, have been 
 « waited (expended) and employed; that the fame 
 " fhall be made appear by the Treafurer's books, that 
 « the faid taxations have been neceffarily and pro- 
 " fitably bellowed, and given out for the public 
 " good, and defraying the burdens and neceffary af- 
 " fairs of the town, we may hereby be encouraged 
 " to condefcend to a new taxation." — This tempe- 
 rate and reafonable Proteft was the crime of John 
 Innes againft the Magiftrates of Aberdeen in 1678. 
 
 Let
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
 Let us hear the account of this black bufmefs, and 
 the opinion of their fucceffors refpecling it in 1787. 
 " Mr. Innes, fay they, addrefling thernfelves to the 
 " Court of Sellion, was alfo pleafed, like the re- 
 " formers of this day, to offer payment of His Ma- 
 *' jerry's fubfidy, and was very liberal of advices, and 
 " other protections, as to the mode of taxing, and 
 " what articles ftiould, or fhould not, be taxed* 
 " What was the confequence ? The Magiftrates, 
 " more irafcible than their fucceflbrs, (who have had, 
 " and tamely fubniitted to ten times as much provo- 
 " cation) ordered the fame Air. Innes to prifon, fined 
 " him in a large fum, and disfranchifed him of 
 '•' his right of Burgefhip" — This fentence was 
 confirmed upon appeal to the Privy Council of 
 Scotland, who to their other prerogatives of a 
 Star-Chamber completion, joined the mo ft ex- 
 tenfive powers of a criminal Court. — " The above 
 Cl judgement of the Supreme, Criminal Court of the 
 " country," add the Magiftrates, " reftored peace 
 " to the Borough, the taxation was peaceably paid 
 tc by the citizens, and from that time till the era of 
 " the prefent Reformers, the town has not been dif- 
 " turbed by any fach tumults or Jeditious proceedings? 
 
 It is in this manner that the Ma5iftrat.es of a Bo- 
 rough talk of taxation impofed by their own autho- 
 rity ; and it is in this manner, in the end of the 
 eighteenth century, that they fpeak of the means of 
 enforcing it. — To reafon upon it would be to infult 
 the feelings and the common fenfe of the perfon to 
 whom I addrefs myfelf. — The ftory of John Innes, 
 more at large, is to be found in the volume now fent 
 
 you,
 
 ( 8 ) 
 
 you. — [Vide farther Proceeding of the Buregfies of 
 Aberdeen, page 72.] You will likewife find every- 
 thing Mated from Aberdeen in the Refolutions of the 
 London Committee, contained in this volume, in pa- 
 pers and memorials prefented to the Council of that 
 town, fubfcribed by many names, and I will venture to 
 fay fuch names, who for every quality andcircumftance 
 which can render men refpeclable, are not inferior to 
 any name either in the Magiflracy of that or any 
 other town. 
 
 It is with extreme concern that one is forced to 
 obferve men, who, though many of them, as indivi- 
 duals in private life, are agreeable members of fociety, 
 yet in a collective capacity, and fettered as they are 
 with the prejudices of an arbitrary fyftem, fhew, in a 
 manner the moft obvious and unequivocal, a difpofi- 
 tion fo inconfillent with the fpirit of the constitu- 
 tion, and the enlightened genius of the prefent age — 
 It is difficult for thofe who have not been witneffes of 
 it to conceive an idea of the high tone of authority 
 with which the Magi ft rates of Boroughs exprefs 
 themfelves. Refpecling the taxation impofed, in the 
 exceptionable manner Stated in the Refolution of the 
 London Commi:tee, by the Magistrates of Aberdeen, 
 they have furniihed repeated proofs that they will en- 
 force the payment of fuch taxe?, without any distinc- 
 tion, by the fame compulfatory means that theLegifla- 
 ture has judged proper to enforce the payment of the 
 land tax, that is, by quartering bodies of military men in the 
 houfes of the citizens. In proof of this aflertion, we 
 fliall copy, verbatim, an advertifement, by authority of 
 thefe Magiflrates, publifhed in the Aberdeen Journal, a 
 weekly newfpaper, of the 20th of May, 1788, with- 
 out
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 cut a fingle remaik upon it, as the inferences to be 
 drawn from fuch a publication will naturally occur to 
 the m'nd of the reader *. 
 
 The objections which you fay have been made to 
 the abufe flated in the Refolutions of the London 
 Committee, by the Councils of other Boroughs to 
 which they refer, is nothing more than I think might 
 have been expected. People who think fuch abufes 
 carry a certain degree of imputation again ft them, 
 will no doubt make the beft defence of which they are 
 capable; efpecially if the meafure now purfuing by 
 the united efforts of the Surgeries of Scotland tends 
 to fhake thct power and influence which they have 
 long been in pofieffion of. But it mould be remem- 
 bered that tfoefe abufe?, with many others not men- 
 tioned hi the Refolutions of the London Committee 
 are ftated by the Committees of the different towns 
 to which they apply, nor can a doubt be for a moment 
 entertained that fchefe will be ready to ftand forth in 
 fupport of what they have thus lb particularly ad- 
 vanced. 
 
 * " By authoiiiy of the Honourable the Magift rates of 
 " Aberdeen: — Whereas His Majcfry's fubfidy on the trade 
 " and heritage pf this Burgh, for the year from Martinmafs 
 " 1786, to Martinmafs 17S7, and town taxes for fireet, 
 " water, and light money, from Whitfunday 1787, to Whit- 
 " funday 17SS, are now due, Notice is hereby given to all 
 " perfuns liable in payment of thefe taxes, to pay in the fame 
 " at the Taxation Office: in the courfe of this week, where 
 " attendance will be given each day from ten to two o'clock. 
 " before noon, and from three to five afternoon, certifying 
 11 all tbcfe who neglecl to comply, that warrands of quartering 
 •' will be iffued agairjl them upon Monday the zdth current, in 
 il terms of law." 
 
 B I had
 
 ( IO ) 
 
 I had proceeded thus far, and where I meant to 
 conclude, when a paper was put in my hand, under 
 the title of " State of Fads upon which Objec- 
 " tions in Behalf of the Royal Boroughs of Scotland 
 " are made agairift the Bill offered to Parliament for 
 " a pretended Reform." — which paper, I find, is af- 
 cribed to you, but which I cannot believe; for, I am 
 forry to fay, it abounds with errors, in fact, to a de- 
 gree by which I am aftonifhed. I cannot conceive, 
 for inftance, where this gentleman could learn " that 
 " the ancient conftitution of the Boroughs of Scot- 
 " land was not free, and that the BurgefTes never 
 " exercifed the right of electing the Magifl rates and 
 (i Common Council." This is really a bold pofition, 
 and if I had been of his Council I certainlv fhould 
 have advifed him to have burned the " Lc?es Bur- 
 " gorum? before he had afTerted it. We have at 
 Aberdeen records as far back as 13,00, and in thefe 
 the annual election of the Magiflrates and Council 
 by the community is regularly recorded. 
 
 Left this gentleman mould be difpofed to give his 
 ufual definition of the Community^ their names are alfo 
 recorded annually to the amount of many hundreds. 
 He has faid, " That the old Jlatute of James III. 
 " gave additional privileges to the Burgefles and Ci- 
 (i tizens ; and that we, in afTerting that it took the 
 tl rights of electing the Magiflrates and Council from 
 " them, have either committed a mofr. egregious 
 " miftake, or have ventured upon a bold mifrepre- 
 " fentation." This pofition of his is bold with a wit- 
 ness. The very law which took eway their privileges" 
 from them gave them an extenfion of freedom ! Nay, 

 
 ( » ) 
 
 Sir, but this really is too much. Can this gentleman 
 imagine, nay, I am convinced he does not believe, that 
 the good people of England are fo ignorant, or fo cre- 
 dulous, as to gulp any thing fomonftrous. 
 
 He has likevvife faid, that the law of James III. 
 1469, { f was cordially received and generally complied 
 " with;" and this he has faid, as ufual, without any 
 evidence. 1 have already fpoken of the Records of 
 Aberdeen, and I am ready to prove from them, that 
 fo far was that law from being complied with in that 
 town, that for 120 years after it paffed, the Burgefles 
 at large continued annually, peaceably and undiflurbed, 
 to elect their Magistrates and Council, and had a vote 
 in all public matters, until an artifice of James VI. 
 by the common trick of his Decreets Arbitral, 
 cut off their privileges by a darti of his pen, and left 
 them in the ftate they are now in. I know not what 
 friendly difpofition James III. might have to the Bur- 
 gefles, as is aflerted in page 12. James, I believe, 
 was in minority when the act. 1469 paffed, and he 
 was all his life long the dupe of Lords and favourites, 
 who were enemies to the Burghers, <as all our old acts 
 of Parliaments fhew. It is certain that whatever dis- 
 turbances were in Boroughs were generally excited 
 by the great Lords, whofe influence both at Court 
 and in Boroughs jvas very confiderable, and not unfre- 
 quently variouily exerted as the rude and contentious 
 policy of thefe turbulent times prompted the fluctuat- 
 ing views of different parties. If, however, James 
 fhewed any favour to towns, it could only be, not to 
 the Burghers, but the Councils, who were either his 
 
 creatures or thofe of his courtiers. (i The phrenfy 
 
 B z « and
 
 " and madnejs which has of late taken pofTeiTion of 
 " certain men in Scotland," — according to this plea- 
 fant writer, exiles alone in his lively imagination. — 
 But for fuch phrenfy as it is, it is very general — 
 " The gay, the grave, the lively, and fevere," are 
 all affected by it. — The petitions on the table of the 
 Houfe of Commons are fubferibed by all the BurgefTes 
 of many towns, and in fome of the largefr. towns in 
 Scotland, fuch as Perth, Dundee, Stirling, Dun- 
 fernliingj Arbroath, Montrofe, tkc. not only are all 
 the BurgefTes Reformers, and fupporters of reform, 
 and of courfe in this ftate of Phrenfv, but in many 
 of thefe towns half the councils are united with them. 
 Invernefs too is preciiely in this fituation, and fever al 
 others. The cafe then ftands nearly thus — The peti- 
 tions on the table of the Houfe of Commons have the 
 names of almoft 10,000 actual BurgefTes, Merchants, 
 Manufacturers and Artifans. 
 
 To thefe I might add from 50,000 to 100,000 
 more in the towns of Scotland, who allearneftly wifh 
 for the reform we requeft; and I will add to thefe 
 every refpeclable, independent, and intelligent man in 
 the country, unconnected with the Councils, and 
 who wifhes well to the induftry and profperity of 
 the Boroughs of Scotland, and the general interefts 
 of the Country. — With what reafon then, nay, I 
 will fay, with what truth, can it be faid that " the 
 'f Perfons complaining have, in general, no concern 
 " with the Boroughs, and that the majority of them 
 " are Gentlemen of the Law." — That fevers! Members 
 of the Committee of Convention are fo, we are very 
 readv, and verv proud to own. Thefe gentlemen, you 
 
 well
 
 ( >3 ) , 
 
 veil know, were elected into their prefent fituation by 
 the unanimous fuffrage of the Convention, compofed 
 of Delegates ftom^the BurgefTes of every Town which 
 had declared for reform — and the abilities, integrity, 
 and love of liberty, which diflinguifli thofe gentle- 
 men, do honour to the choice of the Burghers. — I had 
 almoft forgot to mention the concluding paragraph of 
 a larger paper, of which the Jiate of fads is the efTence 
 publiflied laft year. The quotation from a gentleman 
 eminent in the law, to the Secretary at Aberdeen, runs 
 thus: "Speculative arguments generally lead men 
 " into erroneous opinions and practices, — The more 
 " ingenious, fubtile, or declamatory, fo much the 
 w worle." Experience is the fole ground of ufeful 
 " knowledge, the conduct of all human affair*, -whe- 
 " ther public or private." Thus is this gentleman 
 pQjfejfing every quality honourable to human nature, 
 who has, in this very letter, from which this par' 
 llal quotation is taken, fpoken in terms of the highell 
 approbation of the plan of reform, now the fubjedt 
 of Parliamentary application, made to fpeak a language 
 entirely onpofite to his intent and meaning. — The 
 impropriety of this conduct was laft year pointed out 
 in the remarks of the Delegates upon "the Cafe" but 
 it has been this year reprinted in the fame words, per- 
 verting the fenfe of the whole in a moil fhameful and 
 uncandid manner, with this pitiful fubterfuge that, 
 " it is an independent truth, worthy of the learned 
 " writer, and that the objectors are entitled to give 
 " the axiom its full natural force, and to argue that 
 " it goes to a complete overthrow of their fcheme !" 
 The unworthy nature cf fuch an attempt will afford 
 to the Public feme idea of the caufe, which (lands in 
 
 need
 
 ( 14 ) 
 
 need of fuch fupport ; and that public will alfo judge 
 both of the intention of thofe who have thus quoted, 
 and of the folic! fentiments of the honourable writer, 
 from the following fhort paffages from this excellent 
 letter. — " I am very clear that there are the Strongest 
 " and juSteft reafons to defire a reformation. — The 
 li forms of government in our boroughs are various; 
 ct fome cf them abominable; all defective. — The 
 " Burgh revenues are generally embezzled or waited 
 " by extravagant or unneceflay entertainments. Per- 
 '* fons hot resident in the Burgh, are admitted into 
 " the Magistracy and Council, and, in conclusion—- 
 " I am clear, we can have no good law, without an 
 li exprefs provifion, that none mail have right to vote 
 " in elections, but actually refident BurgeSTes, who 
 " pay fcot and lot, and are members of the Guildry, 
 * c or of one or other of the Incorporations." — Thefe 
 fentiments, fo deeply founded in common fenfe, 
 found experience, and the principles of civil liberty ; 
 fo congenial to the principles of the Britifh constitu- 
 tion, and according fo clofely with the ancient c.nfl'i- 
 tut'ion of the Boroughs of Scotland, have been adopt- 
 ed by the fulleit concurrence of the BurgeSTes of 
 Scotland in General Convention. — The claim there- 
 fore, does not reft merely, as this writer affirms, " up- 
 on high theoretic principles — the original and un- 
 alienable rights of human nature." The uncom- 
 mon pains which this gentleman has been at to fhew 
 that the very firft paper publifhed on this Subject was 
 written by a lawyer, may, or may not, be true ; but 
 is of itfelf of very little confequence. — Yet, joined to 
 the attempt to make the BurgeSTes of Scotland charge- 
 able with the fpeculaticns of individuals, is a conduct 
 
 fo 
 
 *i
 
 ( '5 ) 
 
 fo extremely uncandid, as muft unavoidably con- 
 vince a decerning Public, that a man drove to fuch, 
 fhifts, is indeed at a very low pals, to fupport the 
 caufe, he has thus, at all hazards, undertaken to de- 
 fend. As a farther proof, were fuch neceiTary, that 
 the claim does not reft vp.n high theorctc principles, 
 hut upon prrfi fit beneficial pracl Ice, it may not be im- 
 proper to add that the BurgefTes of Stirling, by anew 
 charter, granted by his Majefty on the 23d of May, 
 1 78 1, received in fubftance, what the BurgefTes of 
 Scotland now '' claim" and the reafon given in the 
 charter itfelf is, " that it is to prevent abufes to which 
 " the old practice was liable, and for reftoring the 
 '* peace and good government of the Burghs." 
 
 The former fet or cuftom of election for Stirling, 
 which was among the bell of the prefent conftitu- 
 tions, is thus related in the new charter: — " Eleven 
 " Members were changed or turned out of theCoun- 
 " cil yearly; but the Guildry or Merchants had no 
 " choice in the Members brought into Council of 
 " their own number; neither had th^y any choice of 
 " their own Dean of Guild, he being elected and 
 " prefented to them by the Common Council. That 
 " although no perfon could, by election, be conti- 
 11 nued in the Magi ft racy of faid Burgh longer than 
 " two years at one time, yet one Magiftrate might, 
 " and by pracl ice often did, continue in Council, as 
 " one of the ordinary Merchant Counf llors, or be 
 " made Dean of Guild, and fo remain in any of thefe 
 " offices for another year, and could be again re- 
 " elected as Provoft or Baillie for another year, 
 " whereby the leading men in the Council had it in 
 
 " their
 
 ■.-'. 
 
 (t 
 
 ( 16 ) 
 
 " their power to perpetuate themfelves in office, and 
 " to manage and do in all matters of the Burgh as 
 " they thought proper."— To remedy the abufes in- 
 cident to fuch a conflitution the new charter was 
 granted; and fo confcious are the BurgeiTes of Stir- 
 ling of the benefits derived from it, that, upon the 
 14th of April, 1787, they recommended " to Sir 
 " Thomas Dundas, Member for the County, and Ma- 
 " jor Campbell, Member .for the Diflricl of Burghs, 
 
 to give their f up-port to the Bill propofed to be brought 
 « into Parliament for the Reform of the internal Police 
 
 of the Burghs" confidering " that the late alteration 
 " in the fett of the Burgh has been highly beneficial to the 
 " inhabitants*" 
 
 After fuch evidence, in refutation of fuch ground- 
 lefs afTertions, to argue farther upon the fubjecl would 
 be a wafte of words. There is one paffage, however, 
 which, from its fingular effrontery, deferves notice : 
 — (t All the noife," fays this Gentleman, " and dif- 
 " turbance has been raifed by men who had no con- 
 " cern with Boroughs, or intereft with Boroughs;" 
 and " that the caufe is fupported and carried on by a 
 " Granger influence, with views diametrically oppofite 
 <l to thofe which are publicly avowed," is an affert'on 
 palpably untrue, and from what has already been 
 fbted, contrary to the conviction and fentiments of 
 every Burgefs in Scotland, and unfupported by the 
 flighteft evidence. — There never was a public quef- 
 tion agitated in any country on which men's opi- 
 nions were more decided than the queftion of Reform 
 is in the minds of the BurgefTss of Scotland — never 
 a queition more calmly confidered, more moderately 
 and reafonably determined upon, nor was ever a re 
 
 qued
 
 ( n ) 
 
 quell prefented to a Biitiih Houfe of Commons that 
 will be more perfeveringly adhered to. 
 
 I am, SIR, 
 
 Your mod obedient, humble Servant, 
 
 A Burgher of Aberdeen. 
 
 APPENDIX, No. II. 
 
 Letter from the Agent for the Toivn Councils to the Secre- 
 tary of the Committee for the General Convention for 
 Reform at Edinburgh. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 I HAVE lately been told that fome alterations 
 were intended upon the Bill which was endeavoured 
 to be brought into Parliament Jaft feffion ; and that 
 a new Bill, fo varied, is intended to be prefented. 
 
 I wifh not to occafton you any delay in your bufi- 
 nefs; and that nothing of that kind may be necefTary, 
 I fubmit if it will not be beft to give me timely notice 
 of the nature of thefe alterations. 
 
 There was a point upon which parties differed 
 widely in London. — We faid that the number of 
 tradefmen in every town, whofe privileges were pre- 
 ferred xnjlatu quo, were very much inferior to the 
 
 C num.-
 
 ( i8 ) 
 
 number of new voters propofed to be entitled by the 
 Bill under the character of BurgefTes, and confequently 
 we charged your propoial with partiality and incon- 
 fiflency. 
 
 The fa ft was denied, on your fide, in very ftrqng 
 terms, in an additional paper delivered to the Mem- 
 bers of the Houfe of Commons after the Cafe for the 
 Royal Boroughs was publifhed. 
 
 To prevent fuch a difference upon a fact fo mate- 
 rial being refumed, I am now ready to take joint 
 rneafures with you for having it afcertained in the 
 chief Royal Burghs, and Hi all concert the method to 
 be taken as foon as you find it convenient. 
 
 I am much obliged to you for the printed copy of 
 the fets, as it faves me a great deal of trouble. I am 
 now collecting the charters of the Royalties, in order 
 to afcertain the dates and privileges of the Erections. 
 I {hall communicate to you any information, or fhew 
 you any paper I am pofTeiled of, relating to the bu- 
 finefs. 
 
 T am, &c. 
 
 Edinburgh, 
 29th Nov. 1787, 
 
 APPEN-
 
 ( '9 ) 
 
 APPENDIX. No. III. 
 
 Litter from the Secretary of the Committee of Convention 
 for Reform, to the A gent for the Town Councils. 
 
 Edinburgh, ^th January, 1788. 
 
 SIR, 
 
 HAVING laid your letter of the 29th Nov. before 
 the Committee, I am directed by them to make the 
 following anfwer. 
 
 In the firft place, it has not occurred to the Com- 
 mittee at prefent neceiTary to make any alteration 
 on the heads of the Bill, which was laft year intended 
 to be brought into Parliament. If any alterations at 
 all are made, they will fall to be done in Parliament, 
 or by the Committee of Reform at London, when 
 leave is given to bring in the Bill. 
 
 In the fecond place, as to the difference in point of 
 iacr, to which you allude, the averment made in the 
 cafe for the Royal Boroughs, was, that by the fcheme 
 of Reform propofed, the interefl and power of the 
 Trades were rendered fuperior to thofe of the Guildry 
 or Merchants, who were intended to be almoft en- 
 tirely funk ; fo that the new plan of Reform was the 
 fcheme of the Trades only, and not of the BurgelTes 
 at large; 
 
 That averment was indeed denied in ve<y firong 
 terms, and with juilice, by the friends of Reform ; 
 
 becaufe
 
 ( 20 ) 
 
 becaufe it was directly adverfe to the fact : and this 
 was demonstrated in the clearer! manner in the paper 
 you mention, delivered to the Members of the Houfe 
 of Commons, after the cafe for the Royal Boroughs 
 was distributed; nor can the Committee at prefent 
 conceive how it is poffible to conteft the truth of the 
 fact, as ftated by their Delegates in that paper. 
 
 At any rate, while the Town Councils of the 
 Royal Boroughs, and thofe who act for them, profefs 
 an intention to oppofe even the leave to bring in the 
 Bill of Reform, it is certainly premature to enter into 
 any inquiry concerning the propriety or impropriety 
 of the fcheme of Reform, which that Bill contains. 
 
 But if the Town Councils fhall agree, without ob- 
 jecti n, to allow the Bill to be brought into Parlia- 
 i- it. then moft certainly the fupporters of Reform 
 will be ready and willing to join ifTue with the Town 
 Councils, in order to bring to light, and afcertain, be- 
 yond a doubt, every fact which may appear proper 
 or neceffary to inform the mind of the Legiflature on 
 the fubject of the propofed Reform. 
 
 1 am, &c. 
 
 i
 
 ANIMADVERSIONS 
 
 BY THE 
 
 DELEGATES 
 
 FOR 
 
 Conducing the Application to Parliament for a 
 Reform in the Internal Government of the 
 Royal Boroughs of Scotland, 
 
 o N 
 A P A P E R, 
 
 ENTITLED 
 
 « ABSTRACT of FACTS, &c. 
 
 " RESPECTING THE REVENUES OF 
 
 « The ROYAL BOROUGHS of SCOTLAND." 
 
 London, June 13, 178$. 
 
 X H E paper to be animadverted on made its 
 appearance only on Monday, the 9th current, 
 when it was fuppofed the motion of Reform 
 would have been made in the Houfe of Com- 
 mons. — The title of the paper is, however, 
 candid : It is called a State of Facts, et cetera, that 
 
 A is.
 
 is, of Fads, and of things that are not Tafts, 
 The Town Councils, no doubt, intended to 
 ferve up a palatable difh to the Members, by 
 pretending to feafon their groundlefs afTertions 
 ■with fome portion of truth ; but the quan- 
 tity of that ingredient in the compofition is 
 fo fmall, that, on trial, the flavour of it can 
 fcarcely be known. The Burgefles indeed can 
 fcarcely believe that the Magiftrates have au- 
 thorifed either the matter or the indecent man- 
 ner of the publication. 
 
 Although the ab (tract of Facts profefTes to 
 be confined to the revenues, it indulges itfelf 
 in grofs mifreprefentations with regard to other 
 particulars. 
 
 It is faid, in the firft place, " That the pre- 
 " tended Reformers, confeious that it behoved 
 c< them either to have Facts or the appearance 
 cc of Facts to go upon, were pleafed to adver- 
 t( *U e f or grievances" 
 
 rtnfwer. The BurgefTes of Scotland, from the very 
 
 beginning, felt the oppreffion of manifold 
 
 grievances
 
 '( 3 ) 
 
 grievances which paffed daily before their eyes; 
 and hence they loudly complained of the felf 
 election of their Councils, of the abufes with 
 which it was attended, and the want of a pro- 
 per mode of accounting. The Committee at 
 Edinburgh, in a circular letter, defired the 
 BurgefTes of each Borough to fpecify accurately 
 thofe abufes, in point of fadt, which had pro- 
 ceeded from the felf-eledtion of the Councils, 
 in order that their cafe might be fully and 
 fairly laid before Parliament. 
 
 This is what the Town Councils are pleafed 
 to call the advertijing for grievances ; and, con- 
 fidering how the Fadt truly ftands, it is believ- 
 ed, that a more uncandid, or contemptible 
 trick of impofition never was played than is 
 done by the Town Councils, when they aflert, 
 that the Committee of Reform advertifed for 
 grievances. 
 
 In the next place, the Town Councils al- 
 ledge, that the Reformers, having defpairec 1 
 of obtaining a change in the parliamentary 
 elections^ varied their object, and demanded 
 
 A 2 an
 
 ( 4 ) 
 
 an alteration in the ele&ions of the Towr 
 Councils. 
 
 Anfwcr. This is another grofs mifreprefentation.— 
 
 The felf election of the Common Councils wa 
 the chief ground of complaint with the Bur 
 geffes from the very beginning. It is true the; 
 had it once in view to obtain a reform alfo c 
 the parliamentary elections ; fo that they ha 
 both objects under confideration ; and the 
 accordingly prepared, at one and the fam 
 time, a Bill on the fubject of each. This ai 
 fords demonftration, that, in their opinior 
 a Reform in the internal government, di 
 not, as is pretended by the Town Council: 
 necefTarily operate a Reform likewife in th 
 parliamentary elections ; otherwife they woul 
 never have framed two Bills for thefe two ot 
 jects ; iince, if they were efTentially the fame 
 one Bill would have been fully fufficient for al 
 The BurgefTes, however, were convinced thj 
 ' the two objects were different; but there neve 
 was a period, from the very commencement c 
 Reform, when the defects in the internal gc 
 
 vernmer
 
 ( 5 ) 
 
 vernment did not engage mod the attention of 
 the Burgeffes. 
 
 When the motion for a Parliamentary Re- 
 form in England was defeated, the Burgeffes 
 laid afide every idea of afking a Reform in the 
 Parliamentary Elections of the Boroughs of 
 Scotland ; for they could fcarcely hope to ob- 
 tain what was denied in England, though they 
 are certainly in a much worfe fituation; but 
 they faw no reafon why they mould not perfe- 
 vere in their intention of correcting the grofs 
 defedts in their internal government ; an inten- 
 tion effentially different in its object: from that 
 of obtaining a Parliamentary Reform. 
 
 The Town Councils, in the third place, 
 would fain afcribe the prefent Reform to the 
 fpeculations of fome individuals. 
 
 When the Town Councils mean to invent Anfwer 
 and propagate tales for the ear of the Legifla- 
 ture, they fhould at lead give them the ap- 
 pearance of credibility. To be convinced of 
 the Falfehood of what is here afferted, it is 
 
 only
 
 ( 6 ) 
 
 only necefiary for any man of common fenfc to 
 look at the very caufe to which Reform is af- 
 cribed, and the effects which have followed. 
 
 The cafe, according to the Town Councils, 
 ilands thus : Certain fpeculators have told 
 the Burgeffes of Scotland, what they never 
 knew, that the governments of the Boroughs 
 were egregioufly defective, and that grofs abu- 
 fes, in relation to the police, property, and re- 
 venues, had from thence proceeded. In an in- 
 fant, near ten thoufand actual trading Bur- 
 gefles, from every corner of the country, have 
 alTociated together; have eftabiimed Commit* 
 tees of Correfpondence ; have appointed Con- 
 ventions of Delegates to meet in the capital of 
 Scotland. Thefe conventions, during a courfe 
 of four years, have, with the greater! labour and 
 attent'on, prepared a folemn application to Par- 
 liament, on fubje&s which they avow to be of 
 the deepeft importance ; and have, year after 
 year, fcnt Delegates to London, in order to 
 profecute this application in Parliament. And 
 for what end has all this been done by the Bur- 
 geffes ? Why, according to the Town Coun- 
 cils,
 
 ( 7 ) 
 
 cils, for no other purpofe than to obtain rcdrci's 
 of grievances, which only exift in the idle fpc- 
 qulations of a few individuals, but which the 
 BurgeiTes themfelves never before heard of; 
 which triey have never felt, and of which they 
 are, in every refpedt, entirely ignorant ! When 
 the Town Councils fhall find men capable of 
 giving credit to tales fo monilrous as this, they 
 may then indeed hope for fuccefs in their op- 
 position to Reform. 
 
 The BurgelTes of Scotland beg leave to allure 
 the Public and the Legislature, that if they did 
 not know thoroughly, and feel fenfibly, the 
 grievances of which they complain, the prefent 
 application to Parliament never would have 
 been heard of. They would have treated the 
 vifionary fpeculations of individuals, on the fub- 
 jetft, with the fame contempt with which they 
 mud neceflarilv behold that violent attachment 
 to an abfurd and unconstitutional fvltem, which 
 is difplayed by the Magittracy and Councils, 
 and that uncandid manner in which they chufe 
 to conduct their oppofition to a reafonable and 
 
 juft
 
 ( 8 ) 
 
 juft reiteration and extenfion of the rights of 
 their fellow-citizens. 
 
 Much has been afcribed to certain publica- 
 tions, in exciting and continuing a fpirit of 
 Reform j but if writings were necefTary for that 
 purpofe, it may be fafely affirmed, that none 
 could have a more powerful effed:, than the 
 publications which have appeared on the part 
 of the Town Councils. — Falfehood, mifrepre- 
 fentation, and that degree of arrogance which 
 has induced the Town Councils to ftip;matize 
 the refpe&able BurgefTes of almoft every town 
 in Scotland, by the opprobrious name of ft in- 
 fignificant clubs," are very ill adapted to footh 
 the tempers of men, already irritated by grofs 
 abufes, and by numberlefs acts of petty tyranny 
 and opprefiion. What title have the few men 
 who compofe the Town Councils, who ftand 
 alone, and who are even divided greatly among 
 themfelves, in defence of flavery, to treat the 
 great and refpeclable body of BurgefTes with 
 fuch contemptible appellations ? If, therefore, 
 any perfon mould think it necefTary to ufe per- 
 fuafion with the BurgefTes of Scotland, in order 
 
 to
 
 ( 9 ) 
 
 to induce them to perfevere in their prefent 
 conduct, he certainly could not accomplifh his 
 object in a more effectual manner, than by of- 
 fering the Town Councils a premium for diftri- 
 buting extenfively their own publications among 
 the Burgeffes. Such a meafure, however, is 
 by no means neceffary. Reform is the effect 
 of a long experience of oppremon. It will, 
 of courfe, be adhered to with inflexible per- 
 feverance. 
 
 If the Town Councils, inftead of fearching 
 for vifionary caufes of Reform, would wifh 
 to difcover its true origin, they will find it 
 in the felf-election of their own bodies, and 
 ■in the grofs abufes naturally incident to 
 that fpecies of power. Thefe, in their pro- 
 grefs, having reached the point beyond which 
 they were no longer to be tolerated, Reform 
 was the natural and neceffary confequence. 
 The meafure was no fooner mentioned, than 
 it was embraced with cordiality. As the fame 
 feelings of oppreffion every where exifted, (a 
 the idea of Reform, like an electric fhock, 
 
 B feized
 
 ( 1° ) 
 
 feized, as it were, in an inflant a vaft majority of 
 the whole BurgefTesof Scottend, from one end 
 of the country to the other. 
 
 This is the real origin of Reform ; which no 
 art can difguife, and no duplicity or felf-intereft 
 can conceal from the knowledge of the Legif- 
 lature of of the Public, 
 
 Having offered thefe general remarks, the 
 Delegates fhall very fhortly advert to the parti- 
 cular articles contained in the Abftracl of Faffs, 
 
 et cetera. 
 
 I. Convention of Boroughs, 
 
 In the Abftracl of Fails 9 it is made a fubject 
 of complaint, that the Reformers treat this re- 
 fpectable body, this venerable remain of the 
 ancient Conflitution, with the indecency of 
 difrefpeclful epithets. Hitherto, the Reformers 
 have only faid, that the Convention is compofed 
 of Delegates from the Town Councils ; and 
 notwithstanding all the provocation which illi- 
 berality and abufe could produce, they have 
 never given the Convention any other epithet 
 
 or
 
 [ II ] . 
 
 or appellation. Their object is to obtain a na- 
 tional benefit from the juflice of Parliament, 
 and not to indulge in afperity of language 
 againft any individuals, or bodies of men : but 
 the fpirit and matter of the prefent publication, 
 on the part of the Magistrates, in its want of 
 manners, truth, and candor, is fo extraordi- 
 nary, that it is extremely difficult to animad- 
 vert on it, without occafional flames of a juft 
 and excufable refentment. 
 
 The Town Councils reprefent this Body of 
 Convention as a very ufeful inftitution, and as 
 a regular fyftem of police, with regard to the 
 revenues and objects of trade. 
 
 The Delegates, without entering into any 
 difquifition on that fubjecl, mail mention, with 
 regard to it, the opinion of Sir James Hunter 
 Blair, late Prefes of Convention, who Signified 
 a ftrong defire to abolifh that body, as an in- 
 Jlitution entirely ufelefs, at leaft not worth the 
 expence of the annual dinner^ given them by 
 the town of Edinburgh. In a paper publifheci 
 by him, and circulated in Edinburgh, he, 
 
 B z after
 
 ( 12 ) 
 
 after mentioning the annual eXpence incurred 
 by the City of Edinburgh, in entertaining 
 the Convention at their meetings, faid, that 
 this expence (l muft continue until the Con- 
 se vention is abolifhed ; and, I confefs, (fays 
 <f he) I think the whole charge of the Royal 
 " Boroughs Convention, is much greater than 
 6t any benefit derived from it." Thefe are 
 the very words of Sir James Hunter Blair, who 
 was Prefes of Convention in the year 1784, 
 which are fubmitted without commentary. 
 
 To prove the utility of Convention, how- 
 ever, the Town Councils have annexed an ac- 
 count of aids and contributions to Boroughs, 
 and of monies expended by the general Con-^ 
 vention in relation to general trade and national 
 improvement, for one hundred years back; and 
 no doubt, to an unwary reader, this account, 
 amounting to 355,081!. would prefent an object 
 of great magnitude ; but it muft be remark- 
 ed that this fum is Scotch money, and that 
 the total amount of the account in fterling, 
 is no more than about 29,0001. of which 
 fum, 7200I. fterling was paid in falaries to a 
 
 clerk
 
 ( '3 ) 
 
 clerk or fecretary, fo that there only remains 
 about 20,oool. fterling, which Convention have 
 heflowed in aids and contributions to Boroughs, 
 and in matters of general trade and national im- 
 provement throughout the whole country of 
 Scotland, during a whole century ! 
 
 This account, therefore, feems to eftablifh 
 the very reverfe of the object intended by xt ; 
 inflead of mewing the great importance of Con- 
 vention, it proves the infignificance of that 
 body, how little it has done, and how little it 
 is capable of doing, under the prefent wretched 
 fyftem of Borough government. 
 
 If the Convention of Boroughs, that languid 
 and lifelefs body, were capable of exerting, 
 with regard to trade and manufacture, thofe 
 active and extenfive powers of which it boafts, 
 juft with as much truth as Falftaff continually 
 boafted of his courage, what, pray, was the 
 ufe of thofe inflitutions which have lately fprung 
 up with fo much energy and fpirit in Scotland, 
 under the name of Chambers of Commerce ? — 
 Thefe are glaring proofs of the univerfal fenfe 
 
 of
 
 ( u, ) 
 
 of the country, with regard to the Convention, 
 and of how little confidence is repofed in it, 
 in relation to the intereftof trade. 
 
 m 
 
 But the Town Councils at prefent have a 
 good reafon for holding out as they do the 
 great importance of Convention. They wifh 
 to have it underftood, that in this body the 
 matter of the public revenues of the Boroughs 
 has for a century pan: been reduced to a 
 regular fyftem. 
 
 It is really aftoniihing that this idea of the ju-» 
 rifdiftion of Convention, to call Magiftrates to 
 accompt, ihould be fo often repeated, when it 
 is fo univerfally known to be perfectly ground- 
 lefs. The BurgefTes do confidently affirm, 
 that there is not a veflige of fuch jurifdic- 
 tion in the Convention, and that it never was 
 exercifed by them. In this the BurgefTes are 
 fupported by the unanimous opinion of the 
 Barons of Exchequer in Scotland*. 
 
 * See alfo the Appendix to the Illuftratipn of the prin- 
 ciples of the Bill, where the Hiflory and Jurifdi&ion of 
 Convention are fully explained. 
 
 It
 
 ( V) 
 
 It is true the Convention interpofed fome- 
 times by way of mediation to compofe differ- 
 ences between Burgeffes and Magi fixates with 
 regard to the revenues. The Burgeflcs may men- 
 ' tion a curious example of the kind of jufifdic- 
 tion, which the Convention was in ufe to exer- 
 cife on fuch occafions ; as appears from their 
 own books. 
 
 Some confiderable time ago a few of the 
 BurgefTes of Jedburgh complained of a mif- 
 application of the revenues, by the Magi urates. 
 The Convention, as ufual, attempted to mediate 
 between the parties, and the healing overture 
 they propofed, (for they never pretended to 
 exercife a judicial power, or compulfory jurif- 
 dicYton) was, that the BurgefTes, who com- 
 plained of the mifapplication of the public 
 money, foould be brought into the Town Council^ 
 which it was conceived would make them good 
 and quiet citizens. This is the moderate arud 
 gentle remedy of every abufe. This is the 
 eafy and eligible mode of accounting, for which 
 the practice of Convention affords precedent 
 and example. If any Burgefs, fays the Con- 
 vention
 
 ( »« ) 
 
 Tention to the Town Council of Jedburgh, has 
 penetrating eyes to fee abufes, and fpirit to 
 mention them, let him be taken into the Town 
 Council, and he will foon alter his opinion. He 
 will lofe his eyes and his fenfe of abufe, and he 
 xvill give you no manner of disturbance. He 
 will become a fweet blooded, good-natured 
 fellow, fuch as you yourfelves are, and will 
 never difcover any ill-temper or factious fpirit, 
 unlefs you offer to turn him out of the Town 
 Council. 
 
 It is the body that pronounced this medi- 
 atory decifion, and never had any other power, 
 as to the accompting, who, according to the 
 AbJlraR of Fa£ts, &c, has reduced the matter 
 of the Revenues to a regular fyftem I The De- 
 legates, inftead of farther profecuting this fub- 
 ject, beg leave to refer the Members to the 
 opinions of the Lord Chief Baron and Sir 
 John Dalrymple, Baron of the Court of Ex- 
 chequer in Scotland, which, as far as concerns 
 the jurifdiclion of Convention, are annexed in 
 an Appendix to this pnper. 
 
 II. Mm-
 
 ( l 7 ) 
 v 
 
 IJ. Manner of Accompting. 
 
 On this fubjec~t the Town Councils are evi- 
 dently perplexed. They fearch every where 
 for a jurifdiclion of accompts, but can find it 
 no where. In the Court of Exchequer there is 
 none. In the Court of Scffion there is none. 
 The jurifdiction of Convention is altogether ri- 
 diculous. The Town Councils, therefore, fay, 
 that the Lord Advocate, for His Majefty's inte- 
 reft, may fue an a£t : on of accompting againlt 
 Magistrates ; but fuch action never was be- 
 fore heard of in the law of Scotland. 
 
 The Councils, fenlible that this is the cafe, 
 are difpofed to contend, that the King may 
 grant a commiflion for a general inquifition into 
 the affairs of Boroughs, and may then correct, 
 in Council, every error or wrong in the admit 
 niilration of the Revenues. 
 
 Should this idea be adopted, the Burgeffcs of 
 Kirkwall, Invernefs, Aberdeen, and others, mufl 
 come every year to attend the Privy Council at 
 
 C London.
 
 ( i8 ) 
 
 London, in order to fettle the accompts. Can any 
 thing be more ridiculous than this idle conceit 
 of making the Burgefles of Scotland to travel 
 annually to London in order to fettle accompts 
 with the Magiftrates in the Privy Council ? or 
 do they mean to fay, that this fort of peregri- 
 nation is not to be undertaken annually, but 
 that the BurgefTes fhould have patience until a 
 quantity of abufe and malverfation has been 
 collected, the clearing away of which may be 
 worth the labour and expence of a London 
 journey ? 
 
 The Town Councils, on this fubje&, as if 
 they were perfectly confcious that there is no 
 exifting jurifdi&ion of accounts, conclude by 
 declaring, that they will have no objection to 
 its being enacted by a new law, that an adion 
 of accompting mail be competent at the in- 
 stance of His Majefty's Advocate againft Ma- 
 giftrates, on the information of private Bur- 
 gefTes, providing that the private Burgeffes, on 
 whofe relation the Lord Advocate may pro- 
 reed, fhall be- liable in cofts. in the event of 
 *■ 
 
 their
 
 ( '9 ) 
 
 their being found to be in the wrong, befides 
 bearing the expence of the action. 
 
 This is a very generous concefiion. In its 
 effects it would turn out to be extremely harm- 
 lefs to the MagiftratesI They would have few 
 actions to fear from the relation of private 
 Burgeffes, liable to be fought with the public 
 nioney, in the hands of the Magistrates, and 
 fubject to the hazard of having cods awarded 
 againft them. 
 
 In fhort, it is utterly impoffible that there 
 ever can be a proper or efficient mode of ac- 
 counting, unlefs there is eftablimed, in every 
 Town, a domeftic jurifdiction, where redrefs, in 
 the fir ft inftance, at leaft, can be had with fa- 
 cility, and at a fmall expellee. The Burgeffes 
 here fpeak from the experience of more than 
 two centuries ; for although, by the ad: 1535, 
 the jurifdiction of the accounts of Boroughs 
 was certainly veiled in the Court of Exchequer, 
 yet, owing to the great expence of fuing in 
 that Court, and the Very great dtftancc of mofl 
 of the Boroughs, and other caufcS, that jurif- 
 
 C 2 dtftkti
 
 ( 20 ) 
 
 ditlion iiever was regularly reforted to ; on 
 which account the Barons of Exchequer have 
 lately found, that, by the law of Scotland, the 
 Act of 1535 is in dilufe. 
 
 III. Alienations of the Public Property, Contrac- 
 tions of Debts , and Jobbing the Public Works. 
 
 And firft, with regard to the alienations of 
 the public property, and jobbing the public 
 works. 
 
 Of thefe abufes, fever al examples, out of a 
 great number which might be given, were fpe- 
 cified in the late Refolutions of the London 
 Committee, and the authority from which the 
 facts have been taken, were exprefsly ap- 
 pealed to. § 
 
 Some of thlfe examples the Town Councils 
 feem to deny ; others they only endeavour to 
 palliate. The Delegates, who have had no op- 
 portunity of correfponding with the Boroughs 
 
 fines
 
 ( 21 ) ■ 
 
 lince the prefetit publication for the Town 
 Councils appeared, muft take the liberty of 
 faying, that they have at prefent the utmolt 
 confidence in the truth of what has been ad- 
 vanced by the Committees in the different Bo- 
 roughs, who certainly will be able, in proper 
 time, to fupport their afTertions by evidence. 
 One thing the Delegates know with certainty, 
 which is, that the hiftorical accounts, now in 
 the hands of Mr. Wilfon, their folicitor, and 
 from which the fads dated in the Refolutions 
 have been taken, were printed and circulated 
 among the Boroughs more than a twelvemonth 
 ago, fo that if they contained any errors, thefe 
 might long ere now have been pointed out by 
 the Magiftrates and Councils. If the Town 
 Councils obtained no copies, it was their own 
 fault. The printing and publication were 
 matters of public notoriety •, and it is wonder- 
 ful that the Town Councils mould be ignorant 
 of grievances, or hiftorical accounts, which, 
 they fay, were advertifed for ? 
 
 In the next place, with regard to contrac- 
 tion of debt by the Town Councils, it was a
 
 ( 22 ) 
 
 fact of fo much publicity, that nobody ever 
 conceived it could have been denied. Hence 
 it was that the Burgcfles thought it quite unne- 
 ceiTary to give inftances of a malverfation, of 
 which almofl every town in Scotland can fur- 
 nifh an example. Indeed the Town Councils 
 have not ventured explicitly to deny this im- 
 portant facl: ; they have only done it cunningly 
 and obliquely, by faying, that the BurgciTes 
 have not fpecifkd any inftances. 
 
 On the whole, there fall to be ranked un- 
 der this head two important circumftances, 
 to which the Burgeffes requefl the attention 
 of the Legiflature, and which the Town Coun- 
 cils cannot and dare not deny. The firfi is, 
 that a very great part of the public property 
 of many of the Boroughs, and the whole of the 
 property of fome of them, is actually gone. 
 And the Jecond is, that the Boroughs of Scot- 
 land, are at the fame time overloaded with debt. 
 Thefe are features of mal-adminiftration too 
 itrong and too ftriking to be miftaken. If the 
 Town Councils fhall be bold enough to deny 
 thofe capital facts, the Delegates are autho- 
 rized
 
 ( n ) 
 
 rized to fay; in the moil direct and explicit 
 manner, that the BurgelTes will fubtlannate the 
 fame by evidence in. Parliament. 
 
 The Town Councils infmuate, that bceaufe 
 100,000 pounds per annum Hill remains with 
 the Boroughs, nothing could have b^en given 
 away. This inference by no means follows : 
 the Burghers pofitively affirm that a great part 
 of the public property has been alienated, which 
 they offer to fubftantiate. The only juft con- 
 clufion therefore is, that anciently the public 
 property muft have been infinitely greater than 
 at prefent *. 
 
 The Town Councils afk, what individuals arc 
 meant to be criminated ? The Burgeffes an- 
 fwer, that they enter not into that paltry con- 
 sideration. Their object being to fecurc what 
 remains of the public property, and to pro- 
 Cure a beneficial, internal police, is fuperior to 
 the crimination of a few individuals, who 
 either have been, or are now, in the Councils, 
 
 * If the Town Councils ferioufly entertain doubts on this 
 fubjccl, let them look into the books of their own Conven- 
 tion, in which they will find a long lift of alienations of 
 public property. 
 
 and
 
 ( 24 ) 
 
 and who could not make any adequate recom- 
 pence to the Boroughs, even if their guilt were 
 clearly eftabliihed. 
 
 The Town Councils farther aik, what autho- 
 rity the Prefident of Convention, in his letter 
 to Mr. Pitt, had for faying,- that the Police 
 was neglected, and debts contracted ? 
 
 The anfwer, as to one branch of this inquiry, 
 is, that if the Magiftrates will open their eyes 
 and look at the very appearance of the Towns 
 in which they live, and other circumftances, 
 they will be overpowered with a conviction of 
 the neglects of Police ; and with refpect to. the 
 contractions of debt, let them read the evi- 
 dence before their eyes, which is diftinctly 
 ftated in the late refolutions of the London 
 Committee, and particularly the terms of the 
 Act of Parliament 1693, which fays, in exprefs ■ 
 words, " That the public goods and revenues 
 
 have, through the mal-a dminijlr alien of Ma- 
 4 gijirates, fallen Into great debts and burdens." 
 It were to be wimed, that the Town Councils 
 could give authority equally good for their dif- 
 ferent bold and confident averrments. The 
 
 BurgefTcs 

 
 ( *5 ) 
 
 BurgefTes would only beg leave to afk them one 
 queflion ; whether the Borough debts have di- 
 minished fince 1693 ? For it is undeniable they 
 were then in great diftrefs, through mal-admini* 
 Jlration of Magijlrates. 
 
 IV. Impofition of Taxes without the Authority of 
 
 Parliament. 
 
 Of the exercife of this unconftitutional pow- 
 er, by the Town Councils of Scotland, the 
 Committee might have given many examples : 
 they have, however, confined themfelves to 
 two only j one in Glafgow, and another in 
 Aberdeen. For evidence of the Fact, they 
 have, in the mod direct and explicit man- 
 ner, appealed to the public Acts of the 
 Councils of thefe different Boroughs. An at- 
 tempt is now made, in the AhftraR of FaE!s> to 
 palliate thefe unjuftifiable violations of the Con- 
 stitution ; and the Delegates fhall conlider fe- 
 parately what has been faid with regard to each 
 Borough. 
 
 And fir ft, as to Glafgow, 
 
 D The
 
 ( *« ) 
 
 The fpecific article dated in the refolutions 
 of the Committee is, that the Magiftrates of 
 Glafgow have, by their own authority, actually 
 impofed a tax on the inhabitants; being a tax 
 on all potatoes brought into the Town. The 
 fa£t of the impofition of this tax, neither is, 
 nor can be denied. A very improper attempt 
 to miflead is, however, made, by confounding 
 the tax complained of with the land tax, which 
 is widely different : this is a contemptible eva- 
 fion. The fpecific charge made againft the 
 Council of Glafgow was, that they impofed a 
 tax, without the authority of Parliament; but 
 the BurgelTes could not mean that the land tax 
 was levied without that authority : they meant, 
 and fpecified, a tax of a different kind ; and 
 the matter was lb very diitinctly flated in the 
 refolutions of the Committee, that it could not 
 poflibly be liable to any miflake : yet, the only 
 anfwer made by the Common Councils is, 
 " That every circumftarice relating to the 
 '* collection of land lax in Glafgow, has been 
 " examined and finally fettled by the Supreme 
 " Civii Courts of Scotland." — What connec- 
 tion has this anfwer with the charge made? — 
 
 None
 
 C > ) 
 
 None in the world. The charge relates to one 
 fpecies of tax, and the anfwer concerns a fpe- 
 cies entirely different, which was not within 
 the very meaning of the charge. This is a pal- 
 try and inexcufable manner of evading to an- 
 fiver clearly what cannot admit of defence, and 
 what cannot be properly avowed in the face of 
 a Britim Houfe of Commons. 
 
 It is faid, under this head, that if any per- 
 fon finds himfelf hurt by an imposition of taxes 
 by the Councils, he may apply for legal re- 
 drefs. This is to infult the feelings of the in- 
 digent, and the understanding of the wealthy 
 and intelligent. Mull every perfon from whom 
 a halfpenny or a penny is exacted lue out a fe- 
 parate action of repetition for every fuch penny 
 or halfpenny daily or hourly exacted in the 
 importation and fale of his commodities, or 
 muft he wait patiently till the end of every 
 year, or two years, and then bring his action, 
 when a fum worth fueing for may have been 
 extorted from him ? Such are the inexplicable 
 abfurdities into which men will always run 
 who are driven by narrow principles, or inte- 
 
 D 2 relied
 
 ( M ) 
 
 refled motives, to defend pofitions legally un- 
 tenable or palpably unconftitutional. 
 
 With regard to the illegal exactions of fums of 
 money, in name of Cefs, or Land-tax, they are 
 a diftinct article, as are alfo the dues of entering 
 BurgefTes. 
 
 Aberdeen. So ftands the Fact with regard to Glafgow ; 
 what is faid about Aberdeen falls next to be 
 confidered. 
 
 The taxes here impofed by the Magiflrates, 
 as well as the manner of impofing them, are 
 accurately defcribed in the refolutions of Com- 
 mittee. 
 
 The facts are inconteflable, and the Town 
 Councils, bold as they are in their averments, 
 have not ventured to contradict them. All 
 they fay is, that the richefl Citizen of Aber- 
 deen pays not above Jeventeen /hillings per 
 annum of Burgher taxes, that is, of taxes im- 
 pofed by the authority of the Magiflrates. 
 -lere the Magiflrates are forced to admit that 
 
 they 
 
 l t>'
 
 C 2 9 ) 
 
 they exercife an illegal and unconftitutional 
 power of impofing taxes. They only defend 
 themfelves by faying that the quantum of the 
 tax is fmalL The avowal and defence of fuch 
 a doctrine was fcarcely to be expected. That 
 illegal power, the exercife of which contri- 
 buted to the ruin of a Royal family, is at 
 this day claimed and defended by the Magif- 
 trates of Aberdeen, and threatened to be en- 
 forced by quartering of Soldier? in the boufes of 
 the inhabitants. * 
 
 It is needlefs to fay that if the principle of 
 impofing taxes is once eflablifhed in that bodv, 
 they may foon make the quantum what they 
 pleafe. There can, however, be no doubt that 
 
 both the principle and the practice will be re- 
 probated with indignation by the Reprefenta- 
 tives of the people in Parliament, whofe duty 
 and inclination it always has been to defend 
 the rights of the people, and more particularly 
 to protect them from illegal exactions of mo- 
 ney under any pretence whatever. 
 
 * See the advertifement from the Magiftrates of Aber- 
 deen in the Journal of the 20th of May, 1788. 
 
 It
 
 ( 3° ) 
 
 It is faid, that whatever may be in thefe 
 enormities, the Burgeffes propofe no remedy 
 different from the common law. 
 
 It is anfwered, that if the elections of the 
 Common Councils were in the Burgeffes, they 
 would have a pretty good fecurity againft. fuch 
 adts of oppreffion in time coming ; but mould 
 this be attended with any doubt, it would cer- 
 tainly be proper to make provifion againft it, 
 by an enactment in the propofed bill. 
 
 V. Illegal exactions in name of Cefs. 
 
 To what is faid on this fubject in the refolu- 
 tion of Committee, the Town Councils have 
 made no anfwer, except as to the article alone 
 which refpedte Aberdeen, where above icool. 
 more than was due by law, was exacted in 
 name of Cefs, during the courfe only of fix 
 years,* befides about 40,000b levied in the 
 fame manner in former times. 
 
 * See the accompt in the Appendix, No. II, 
 
 la
 
 < 3' ) 
 
 In anfvver to that article of illegal exaction in 
 Aberdeen, the Town Councils have faid that it 
 has already been a fubject of a fpecial action at 
 the fuitof certain of the Reformers at Aberdeen, 
 before the Court of Seffion in Scotland, " and 
 <l that after a full and deliberate hearing, and 
 " evidence on both fides, the action was difmif- 
 " fed as groundless" But the Delegates are au- 
 thorifed by the BurgefTes of Aberdeen to fay that 
 the tale here told by the Town Councils, is a mere 
 fiffion. There never was any action, hearing, 
 evidence, or determination in the Court of Sef- 
 fion, relative to the illegal exactions in name 
 Cefs, at Aberdeen; and they believe the Ma- 
 giftrates, in their ufual way of confounding 
 one thing with another, have reared this fic- 
 tion about the Cefs, on the foundation of what 
 happened with refpect to the dues of entering 
 BurgefTes, in which the Reformers had no 
 manner of concern. 
 
 It is true that with regard to this laft-men-^JT Mo „ ne 1 
 
 o of Buigefe. 
 
 tioned article, there was a decilion in the Court 
 of Seffion, which has been fairly mentioned in 
 the refolutions of Committee, 
 
 The
 
 ( 3* ) 
 
 The Court of Seffion found that the Magif- 
 trates and Council had a right to raife the entry 
 money of Burgeffes without any limitation : 
 how far that decifion was right or wrong, is 
 not now the queftion, and never was meant to 
 be made a queftion in this place ; but the Burgef- 
 fes cannot help thinking that fuch an arbitrary 
 and difcretionary power in a fet of men who are 
 felf-ekcted, of railing, ad libitum, the entry 
 money of Burgeffes, is an evident engine of op- 
 preffion in their hands, and may be ufed to the 
 worft of purpofes in every Borough of Scotland. 
 If the legal right of railing the entry money of 
 Burgeffes at difcretion is fuppofed to be clearly 
 eftablifhed, the cafe in the opinion of the Bur- 
 geffes is fo much the worfe, and affords a very 
 ftrong reafon for the interpofition of Parliament, 
 to put an end to the felf-election of the Coun- 
 cils, whereby the people may have fome fecurity 
 againft the abufe of a difcretionary power, which 
 othevwife the caprice or partiality of men, felf- 
 eledted, and totally independent of the citizens, 
 may employ for purpofes illiberal, impolitic, 
 and injurious to the intereft of trade and manu- 
 facture,
 
 ( 33 ) 
 
 fac>.ure, which in fact they have already done 
 in the Borough of Aberdeen. 
 
 i 
 
 The Town Councils are very copious on the Battery,; 
 fubjedt of the battery they built, but of which 
 they made no ufe when the property of the fub- 
 je<fl was in the moft imminent danger. This is 
 a matter of public notoriety, but on that fubjeft 
 the Delegates fhall be extremely fhort. The 
 affair of the battery was only ftated as an ex- 
 ample of thofe difcretionary ftretches of power 
 in which the Magiftrates chufe to indulge tlierri- 
 felves, and the fact is clear beyond difpute. 
 The Magistrates are forced to admit that they 
 were bound by the Act of Parliament to apply 
 the money for improving the harbour; and 
 that they have, de fado t applied it in building 
 a battery, which is all that the Burgenes had 
 ftated, and which affords firong proof of that 
 latitude of interpretation, even of the exprefs 
 words of an act of Parliament, to which Ma- 
 giftrates have recourfe, in order to ferve parti- 
 cular purpofes, 
 
 »
 
 ( 34 ) 
 
 The only defence they fet up is, that a bat* 
 tery is a necejfary appendage of a harbour. This 
 is fubmittcd without any commentary. The 
 Magiftracy, it would appear, are as fubtle in 
 argument, as they are arbitrary in determina- 
 tion. 
 
 VI. Illegal Exemptions from the Duty of ghiar- 
 
 terlng Soldiers. 
 
 On this fubject, the Magiftrates have chofen 
 to obferve a profound filence. 
 
 VII. Magiftrates and Counfellors of Scotch Bo- 
 roughs reftdent in remote parts, in England, 
 Newfoundland, and Hindoftan. 
 
 On the fubjecl: of this glaring abufe, the 
 Magiftrates have chofen to obferve a profound 
 filence. 
 
 CONCLUSION. 
 
 The Delegates have thus examined, and 
 they hope, ihort as the time was, they have 
 fufficiently refuted every thing in the Abstract 
 
 of
 
 ( 55 ) 
 
 of Fafts, et cetera. The Town Councils, it 
 would appear, chufe to fight in ambufh. They 
 conceal their weapons as long as they can, and 
 only drag them out from under cover, at a time 
 when they imagine the enemy is unguarded, and 
 unable to defend. The AbjlraR of Fads ac- 
 cordingly did not make its appearance till the 
 very day on which the queflion was to have 
 been agitated in the Houfe of Commons ; but 
 an accidental circumflance has occafioned its be- 
 ing poftponed, and has afforded to the Burgefles 
 an opportunity of repelling the intended blow. 
 Jn future, they truft, that the Town Councils 
 will lay afide the ftiletto, and if they mean to 
 perfevere in their hoflilities, will carry on the 
 jnanly and open warfare of Britifh fubjefts. 
 
 There are two circumftances in the queflion. 
 under confederation, which, in point of fact, 
 cannot be controverted, and which, in point of 
 importance, demand the utmoft attention of 
 the Legiflature, 
 
 £ 2 y The,
 
 ( 3« ) 
 
 The one is the want of a Judicature of ac* 
 compts — the other, and more important, is the 
 felf-elecYion of the Town Councils, with the 
 numberlefs train of evils naturally and necefla- 
 rily incident to that fpecies of petty tyranny or 
 unconstitutional power. Befides the grofs abufes 
 enumerated in the Refolutions of Committee, 
 the felf- election of Councils is attended with a 
 multitude of evils, felt by the Burgcfles, too 
 vexatious to be borne, and too many as well 
 as too minute for defcription. It is, indeed, 
 impoflible to give a juft or full picture 
 of the various ways in which the infolence, the 
 caprice, the malevolence, or interefted motives 
 of felf-created and independent adminiftrators 
 may difcover themfelves towards the Citizens, 
 It is fufficient at prefent to fay, that the op- 
 predion of their conduct, in various ways, is 
 univerfally felt, and loudly complained of; and 
 the Burgefles now earneftjy implore the inter- 
 pofition of the wifdom and juftice of Parliament 
 to afford them effectual redrefs. 
 
 Thi
 
 ( 37 ) 
 
 The Delegates fliall only farther take notice 
 of one obfervation made by the Town Councils 
 in the Abftract of Faffs, et cetera. 
 
 Here it is faid, that the Reformers hold prin- 
 ciples hoflile to the conftitution of their coun- 
 try. This is a bold aiTertion, without authority 
 or evidence ; but it is not more bold than it is 
 talfe and calumnious. 
 
 The Reformers feel themfelves attached in 
 the warmeft manner to the conftitution of their 
 country, and the family of their Sovereign ; 
 nor could the Town Councils have ventured to 
 affert the contrary, unlefs they had widely mif- 
 taken the very nature of the Conftitution. Find- 
 ing' themfelves the matters of petty tyrannic?, 
 they have meafurcd the conftitution of this 
 country by the fame rule ; and therefore they 
 naturally imagine that thofe who claim any 
 degree of freedom, are hoftile to the Conftitu- 
 tion. But the real ftate of the cale is precifely 
 this : The Town Councils ftrenuouily, even 
 violently, contend for the prefervatien of a fet 
 
 of
 
 ( 3§ ) 
 
 of little, contemptible, though opprefllve tyran- 
 nies, in the very heart of a country which juftly 
 boalls of its enlightened Legislature, and of its 
 exalted freedom. The BurgefTes of Scotland, 
 on the other hand, with great moderation, 
 contend for the deftruction of thofe infignificant 
 defpotifms,which equally injure and difgrace the 
 country, and for the introduction of a proper 
 degree of constitutional freedom in the inter- 
 nal government of the Royal Boroughs. It 
 ■ is then left with the candor and impartiality 
 of the Public, and of the Legiflature, to de- 
 termine which of the two contending parties 
 in t&is ^ueftion maintain principles hoftile lo 
 the conditution of their country, whether it 
 35 the friends of freedom, or the abettors of 
 flavery ?
 
 < 39 ) 
 
 APPENDIX. 
 
 No. I. 
 
 Notes of the Opinions of the Lord Chief Baron, and 1 
 Sir John Dalrymple, Baron of His Afajeflfs Court 
 tf Exchequer in Scotland, with regard to the Jurif- 
 diclion of the Convention of Boroughs* Thefe Opi- 
 nions were delivered in the Que/Hon agitated before the 
 Barons, between the Burgejfes of Dumbarton and the 
 Magiflrates, with Refpecl to the accompting. 
 
 LORD CHIEF BARON. 
 
 * JL HE quefKon fubmitted to the confederation of 
 " the Court, is, whether the Act 1535 is a fubfiiting 
 " law, and binding upon this Court of Exchequer ? 
 ci As in the cafe of Selkirk, the Lords of Seflion enter- 
 " tained a doubt, whether they had jurifdiction to takd 
 
 * up this matter; therefore (argued.the petitioners) if 
 
 « the
 
 [ '4° 3 
 
 C£ the jurifdiction does not lie with this Court, it lies 
 " no where, and a remedy will be altogether wanting. 
 " 1 he defenders feeling the force of this argument, en- 
 " deavoured to remove it, by fhewing fuch a jurifdic- 
 " tion to fubfift, and to have been exercifed in the Con- 
 u vemion of Royal Burghs. I have looked into every 
 " jffl of Parliament concerning the Convention, and 
 " neither in them, nor any where elfe, can find a Jingle 
 " vjord giving, or feem'ing to give, this jur'ifdicllon to the 
 " Convention. Traffic and police, and matters relating 
 " to them, were placed within their cognizance, but no 
 " judicative power to determine any thing whatfoever. 
 *' Indeed, for the examination and control of the ex- 
 <c penditure of Borough Revenues, no judicature could 
 t( be conceived more improper than this of theConvention; 
 " a body appointed by the very Magi ft rates, whofe 
 " conduct they were to review, fluctuating and un- 
 c< certain, without any fummons, procefs, proper 
 " officer, or any other requifite for executing fuch a 
 "jurifdiaion." 
 
 Sir JOHN DALRYMPLE. 
 
 " AS to the Convention, here again it muff be 
 <c aiked, on which fide does the public good lie? Let 
 "us conhder the conftitution of the Convention o£* 
 " Roval Boroughs. The Magiftrates fend the Mem* 
 *' bers ; and is a body made up of the defaulters them- 
 " felves to try thefe defaulters ? For all the ads and 
 " commiffions proceed upon a narrative of the malver- 
 ?' fatjonof tb$Magifimte\, No trace of this power of 
 
 « the
 
 (t 
 
 ( 4" ) 
 
 4i the Convention is to be found cither in the flatutct, 
 €t or in the books of the common law of Scotland. From 
 " the opinion of Duncan Forbes, and James Graliam, 
 " read by my Lord Advocate, it appeared that there 
 " had been two acts of Convention, one in 1670, and 
 " the other in 1706 : by the fir ft it was declared, that 
 queitions between Burgh and Burgefs fhould be de- 
 termined by the Convention, and without appeal ; 
 by the fecond it was declared, that the Convention 
 " fhould have the power of mediating between Burgh 
 " and Burgefs in public concerns, and whofoever did 
 <{ not fubmit to that mediation, was to be held a breaker 
 M of the peace of Burghs, a contemner of the autho- 
 " rity of Convention, and fined; which two acts flievv, 
 " that the jurisdiction of the Convention was private, 
 ** of confent, of prorogation, f elf -created, and illegal" 
 
 In thefe words the Lord Chief Baron and Sir 
 John Dalrymple, expreffed their opinions of the ju- 
 risdiction claimed by the Convention of Boroughs', and 
 with their opinions, on this point, all the other Ba- 
 rons agreed. 
 
 Sir John Dalrymple farther added, " T fhall lay 
 ** out of the queftion two Specialities, which were 
 " mentioned by the Counfel for the de-fenders, to 
 11 wit, its being a branch of a vifionary Reform, and 
 an engine of partv in the petitioners. I will 
 confefs myfelf a friend to Reform. If no Re- 
 form, no reformation, no revolution; your I,ord- 
 ** ftiips would not have been fitting here as 
 
 F " Judges, 
 
 (C 
 
 H
 
 ( 4* ) 
 
 " Judges, but as arbitrary Commiflioners enforcing 
 " the mandates of defpotifm. As to party, the li- 
 **' mitation to one year's accounts takes off that impu- 
 ** tation from the petitioners. But if they had not 
 *' made any fuch reftriction, I would have paid little 
 ** regard to the imputation. When a party direct 
 * their conduct to a bad purpofe, I call it faction ; 
 ** when to a good purpofe, fuch as this, I call it 
 «' public fpirit. As to party in general, although it 
 <s has been fafhionable to decry it, it appears to me 
 " neceffary to the freedom and constitution of this 
 •* country ; and I will venture to prophecy, that 
 " when this good old Whig Lady Party dies, the H- 
 " berties of Great Britain will he buried in her 
 " grave." 
 
 I will now confider the abftrac"t queflion : f< Does 
 ft the jurifdiclion to control the Burghs lie with this 
 < c Court ? It is firft to be inquired on which fide lies 
 <£ the public good ; for the prefumption is, that the 
 ** law meant that which is for the public good, and 
 i{ not that which is againft it — If there be no control, 
 " the following conferences from the diffipation of 
 il the Corporation funds follow — conferences evi- 
 " dently feen in Scotland — the harbours are not re- 
 tl paired, — hence trade is hurt — water is not con- 
 " dueled into the towns — the pipes and wells go to 
 '* ruin — plenty of wine for the rulers, but no water 
 ** for the people — hence manufactures fuffer — No 
 * l funds to fupport offices of police — hence no po- 
 cc lice. The churches fall into difrepair — hence the 
 M interefh of religion fuffer. To fupply the poverty 
 
 "of
 
 ( 43 ) 
 
 tc of the Corporation, an A& of Parliament for a 
 " tax of two pennies in the pint muft. be got, that 
 " curfe upon Scotland ; that double excife on a 
 u country not, able to pay one exercife. — Hence 
 " the landed intereft is hurt. All thefe evils I, per- 
 ** haps, feel more ftrongly from having travelled 
 " much in foreign countries — There it muft. always 
 " ftrike one's obfervation how much the profperity of 
 tl a country, in general, keeps pace with that of the 
 " towns. Where the towns are thriving, the coun- 
 " try flourilhes ; where the towns are in a declin- 
 * { ing flate, the country is dejected and diftreft. 
 *' "There is a temptation to wafle and difjipate the property 
 fi of Burghs, which docs not fubjiji with regard to the 
 u property of individuals. The property of the firjl 
 11 goes to fucceffors in office, in whom men do not feel the 
 (i fame interest as for their defendants or heirs. n 
 
 No. II,
 
 (44 ) 
 
 No. II. 
 
 An articulate Accompt .of the illegal Exattions in Name 
 of Cefs at Aberdeen during fix Tears* 
 
 rAND-TAX, or King's Subfid.y, .proportioned 
 , by the ftent roll on Aberdeen, when the Land-tax in 
 England is 4s. in the pound, is, 
 
 Sterling. - £+ 487 6 4 
 
 NeceJJary Expences. 
 
 Clerk's falary - ' - - - 1500 
 
 Two new books 20s., ditto for fumming 
 
 17s. 6d. - - - - 1 17 6 
 Four quarter officers - - - 12 8 o 
 Attendant on the taxes - - - 2 2 O 
 Bellman - - - - - 0100 
 Printer - - • 2 10 
 Salary for a collector, 30I. fterling, al- 
 though it has been collected in the 
 courfe of the lafr. 20 and 25 years, 
 along with the Borough taxes for wells, 
 ftreets, and lamps, at 15 1. 20 1. 25 1. 
 and 30I. per annum, difcount, from 
 the total fum of the taxation book, 
 when expofed to public roup, and un- 
 doubted fecurity found, - - 30 O O 
 Add to this, the collector had formerly 
 no accommodation at the Town 
 Houfe, where the money is now col- 
 lected. — • 
 
 I- 5S l J 3 IO 
 But
 
 ( 45 ) 
 
 f>ut in place of the before- mentioned fum, which 
 is fully fufficient to pay the eels and expences of col- 
 lecting, the Board of taxes have afieffed the citizens 
 for the laft fix years in the following i'ums : 
 
 Sum Total. Surplus. 
 In 1778, at is. 1 id. per- 
 iod, on trade, Weft* 
 ■ tage,&c. - 1 - ^.685 16 6i 134 2 Bl 
 
 1779 at 2s. Ditto 709 2 b| 157 8 2: 
 
 1780 2s. id. Ditto 743 4 6 191 10 8 
 
 1781 2s. id. Ditto 766 16 3 215 2 5 
 
 1782 is. tod. Ditto 688 10 Si 136 16 iof 
 
 1783 2S. Ditto 723 5 5! 171 " 11 
 
 £. 1006 12 5* 
 
 The following ilaternent mews the turns colle&ed 
 for wells, Greets, and lamps, laid by the Magnates 
 to be impofed by authority of head Courts, in the 
 courfe of fix years, but which a|ts the Burgeffes affirm 
 \Vere patted without any regular, previous intimation, 
 and altogether without their particular knowledge or 
 confent. 
 
 In 1778 
 
 369 4 
 
 
 
 1779 
 
 3 6 7 J 9 
 
 
 
 1783 
 
 353 6 
 
 
 
 1781 
 
 3^9 l 
 
 
 
 1782 
 
 355 IO 
 
 
 
 1783 
 
 3 6 ° 3 
 
 
 
 2170 3 o 
 
 RefpeJlir^
 
 ( 46 ) 
 
 Refpefiing the extra Payments for Land Tax, from tht 
 Union downtvards. 
 
 THE only anfwer Which the Council of Aberdeen 
 have given to this charge is, that, " in reciting this 
 ** ftory the Reformers have adopted a mode of calcu- 
 <{ lation, which leaves, and always will leave, the re- 
 " fult in their own power. In place of 60,000 1* 
 " furplus land tax, they could by the fame means, 
 " and with equal eafe, have made it up 100,000 1." — 
 The truth is, that the BurgefTes made the fum neither 
 more nor lefs than it appeared upon examination to be 
 — u The examination," fay the BurgefTes, in a Me- 
 morial to the Council, 21ft September, 1786, " was 
 " conducted with all the accuracy poffible, from the 
 " period of the Union till the prefent time, ftating 
 " the balances received from the citizens, after every 
 " eharge for " laying on and in gathering'' had been 
 <£ allowed ; and, agreeable to the rule laid down by 
 <c the Council, charging intereft upon thefe balances* 
 " by which the general balance againft the Treafury, 
 *< and at thecreditof the citizens, is 44,0001. ftertfng." 
 •-—The probable accuracy of this account will readily 
 be admitted when the BurgefTes refer to the above 
 ftatement, vvhere the amount levied from the citizens 
 above what the law authorifed was 1006I. 12s. 5|d. 
 in ihe courfe of fix years only, from 1778 to 1783 
 inclufive. 
 
 No. ni.
 
 ( 47 ) 
 
 No. III. 
 
 Tie Council's Aft of Ekflion of the Taxers of 
 Aberdeen, 1785. 
 
 At Aberdeen, the 2ad day of O&ober, 1785 
 •years, in prefence of the Provoft, Baillies, and Town 
 Council of Aberdeen. The faid day the Council did, 
 and do hereby elect and appoint the following per- 
 ibns, viz. Baillie John Copland, Baillie Alexander 
 Black, James Maflbn, late treafurer, Ninian John- 
 son, William Duguid, fenior, George More, Robert 
 Moir, Jofeph Sampfon, William Littlejohn, William 
 ■Gibbon, James Gibbon, George Strachan Keith of 
 Auquorfk, Patrick Duguid, George Auldjo, late dean 
 of Guild, Thomas Bannerman, James Cruikfhank, 
 junior, Baillie John Auldjo, Alexander Mitchell, 
 James Allardice, dean of Guild, and James Hadde'n, 
 treafurer, all merchants in Aberdeen, Alexander Du- 
 thie, advocate there, John Lamb, wright, and Adam 
 Watt, baker, to be taxers and ftent-maflers, for tax- 
 ing and Renting the inhabitants of the (aid Burgh, 
 and freedom for their trade and heritage, from Mar- 
 tinmafs 1784, to Martinmafs 1785, in the fu.rh of 
 four hundred and eighty-feven pounds, fix Shillings, 
 and four pence fterling, for His Majefty's fubddy, due 
 and payable by this Burgh, upon the 24th of June, 
 29th of September, and 25th of December, 1785 
 
 years,
 
 ■( 48 ) 
 
 years, and 25th of March next, 1786, conform to 
 the rules and regulations already eftablimed ; and alfo 
 for taxing and flatting the inhabitants of the /aid 
 Burgh for the fupport of the public wells, water 
 cour/e, and fountains, from Whitfunday laft, to Whit- 
 funday next, in the following fums of money, viz. 
 one hundred and fifty five pounds, eight {hillings and 
 four pence fterling, for the interefl of the debt con- 
 tracted, and ltill due by the town, on account of the 
 faid wells and water courfe; twenty-five pounds 
 fterling, as the yearly falary payable to the overfeer, 
 of the faid wells, and twelve pounds ten {hillings 
 iterling, for payment of part of the Rock of faid 
 debt ; aud likewife for the fupport and maintenance of 
 the public lamps for the faid year, from Whitfunday 
 laft to Whitfunday next, agreeable to former acts of 
 Council and Head Court, particularly conform to a 11 
 a£t of Head Court, of date the 26th of September 
 1 769, by which the faid taxation on wells and lamps 
 is appointed thereafter to be joined in one branch, 
 and the maximum of taxation of any one perfon 
 therefore is ordained to be twelve {hillings Rerling : 
 and laflly, for taxing the inhabitants of faid Burgh 
 in the Cum of fifty pounds Rerling, for repairing the 
 public ftreets, for the forefaid year, to be levied and 
 collected along with the faid taxation on wells and 
 lamps, in terms of an act of council and head court, 
 of dare the 43d and 24th of September 1776, by 
 which the maximum to be Rented upon any one per- 
 fon for ftreets, is appointed not to exceed five fhillings 
 Ilcrling; and all the aforefaid fum-, (o to be Rented 
 aid taxed for, to be by and attour the charge and ex- 
 pense
 
 ( 49 ) 
 
 pence of laying on, levying, and collecting thereof, 
 which is to be proportioned upon the king's fubildy, 
 and on the flreet, water, and light monies aforemen- 
 tioned, and to be alfo taxed for, along with the faid 
 taxation itfelf : and did and do hereby ordain the faid 
 taxation, when fo taxed and ftented, to be paid in to 
 the faid James Hadden, treafurer of Aberdeen, and 
 all execution necefTary to pafs thereon at his inftance, 
 againft the whdfe perfons liable in payment of the 
 fame; for all which, thefe prefents fhall be fufficient 
 warrant for that effect. 
 
 Extracted [from the council regijler by 
 
 ALEXR. CARNEGIE. 
 
 No. IV. 
 
 Ad of Council elecl'ing the 'Taxers of Aberdeen, 
 lyl Oclober 1786. 
 
 A 
 
 T Aberdeen, the twenty-third day of October, 
 feventeen hundred and eighty fix, in prefence of the 
 Magnates and Town Council of Aberdeen. The 
 faid day the Council elected and appointed, and hereby 
 elect and appoint the following perfons, viz. Baillie 
 John Copland, Baillie George Auldjo, Andrew Allar- 
 dyce, dean of guild, George More, treafurer, James 
 
 G Allar-
 
 ( 5° ) 
 
 Allardyce, late dean of guild, James Had den, late 
 treafure, Ninian Johhfton, Robert Moir, Peter. Du- 
 guid, Alexander Mitchell, Baillie George Adam, 
 Charles Farquharfon, Charles Walker, and Thomas 
 Leys, all merchants in Aberdeen, George Strachan 
 Keith of Auquhorfk, Alexander Duthie, and David 
 Morice, junior, advocates in Aberdeen, Captain James 
 Gibbon, fhipmafter there, Deacon Archibald Reid, 
 baker, and Deacon James Meldrum, fhoemaker there, 
 to be taxers and ftentmafters, for taxing and ftenting 
 the inhabitants of the faid borough and fnedom, for 
 their trade and heritage, from Martinmafs feventeen 
 hundred and eighty five, to Martinmafs feventeen hun- 
 dred and eighty fix, in the fum of four hundred and 
 eighty-feven pounds, fix {hilling and four pence fter- 
 ling, for His Majefhy's fubfidy, due and pd ible by 
 this Burgh upon the twenty fourth of June, 
 twenty ninth of September, and twenty fifth of De- 
 cember feventeen hundred and eighty fix years, and 
 twenty fifth of March next iySy^conform to the 
 rules and regulations already eftablifbed ; and alfo 
 for taxing and fienting the inhabitants of the faid 
 Burgh, for the fupport of the public wells, water 
 courfe and fountains, from Whitfunday laft to 
 Whitfunday next, in the following fums of money, 
 viz. one hundred and fifty-four pounds fifteen {hil- 
 lings and ten pence fterling, for the intereft of the 
 debt contracted, and ftill due by the town, on 
 account of the faid wells and water courfe; twenty- 
 five pounds fterling, as the yearly falary payable to 
 the overfeer of the faid wells ; and twelve pounds, 
 ten (hillings fterling, for paymsnt of part cf the 
 ftock of faid debt : and likewife for the fupport and 
 
 . main-
 
 ( 5' ) 
 
 maintenance of the public lamps for the faid year, 
 from Whitfunday laft to Whitfunday next, agreeable 
 to former acts of Council and Head Court, particu- 
 larly conform to an act ot Head Court, of date the 
 26th of September 1769, by which the faid taxation 
 on wells and lamps is appointed thereafter to be joined 
 in one branch, and the maximum of taxation of any 
 one perfon therefore is ordained to be twelve fhilhngs 
 fterling; and laftly, for taxing the inhabitants of the 
 faid Burgh in the (urn of fifty pounds fterling, for 
 repairing the public ftreets for the aforefaid year, to 
 be levied and collected along with the faid taxation on 
 wells and lamps, in terms of the act of Council and 
 Head Court, of date the 23d and 24th of September 
 1776, by which thw maximum to be ftented upon any 
 one perfon for ftreets, is appointed not to exceed five 
 /hillings fterling; and all the forefaid funis fo to be 
 ftented and taxed for, to be by and attour the charge 
 and expence of laying on, levying, aud collecting 
 thereof, to be taxed for, along with the faid taxation 
 itfelf, and which the Council enjoin, fh 11 not exce.d 
 cne hundred pounds Ji-erling, at tno/l, agreeable to an 
 act of Council of their predtc j iTors, of date the 
 twenty fourth of May laft, and ordain the faid taxa- 
 tion, when fo taxed, and (tented, to be paid in to the 
 faid George More, treafurer of Aberdeen, and all 
 execution neceffary to pafs thereon at his iniiance 
 againft the whole perfons liable in payment of the 
 fame; for all which thefe prefents fhall be fufRdent 
 warrant to that effect. Extraclcd from the Council 
 Xtgijlcr of the Burgh of Aherdeen by 
 
 (Signed) ALEXR. CARNEGIE. 
 Q 2, Thefe
 
 ( 5* ) 
 
 Thefe acts fhew, that the Council of Aberdeen not 
 only elect the taxers, chiefly of their own body and 
 immediate connections, but that they inftruct in the 
 fpecific amount of every fum to be levied upon the 
 citizens ; and above all, as an inftance of their extreme 
 moderation, direct them to afTefs for a fum not exceeding 
 ioo 1. fterling, as the expence of levying and collect- 
 ing the land tax - - £. 487 6 4 
 And taxes for ftreets, water, and lamps, 
 
 impofed by their own authority - 350 o O 
 
 £• 837 ° 4, 
 although the whole is to be collected in one week, 
 under the terror of foldiers being quartered in the 
 houfes of the inhabitants — See advertifement of the 
 Magiftrates of Aberdeen, 20th of May, 1 788, in Ob- 
 fervations of the Delegates on State of Facts — Ap- 
 pendix, page 9. Of thefe taxes, l - 154I. 15s. iod. 
 
 " is faid to be for the intereft of the debt contracted, 
 " and fail due by the town, on account of the wells 
 ec and water courfe;" but which fum the citizens 
 find, upon examination, was extinguilhed, and a fur- 
 plus drawn from them to the amount of 5C00I. fter- 
 Jing — Upon this fubject the citizens prefented a Me- 
 morial to the Council the 2. 1 ft cf September, 1786, 
 but no a.nfwer was given to it. — Thus the Magiftrates 
 of Boroughs not only confider themf Ives as not liable 
 to account to the citizens for the common property 
 of the community, but when the ISurgefles prefume 
 to remark upon the afiefTments impofed by the Ma- 
 giftrates, and the expenditure of the fame, they are 
 treated by thefe tukis with the moft lupeicilious 
 neglect. 
 
 Upon
 
 ( 53 ) 
 
 Upon the fubjecT: of the extra levies in the name 
 of Cefs, the citizens of Aberdeen have prefented re- 
 peated Memorials to the Council, and they have ex- 
 prefTed themfelves, in confequence of the inefficacy of 
 thefe Memorials, in the following manner: — " The 
 " abufe of levying and collecting fums of money 
 ie above the extent which is warranted by law, is cer- 
 " tainly a grievance of a nature as aggravated as a 
 " free people can have to complain of. If the limits 
 " which the law has fixed are once overleaped, the 
 " fecurity againft oppreffton is utterly deftroyed ; for 
 *! if the executors of a law take the liberty of efta- 
 " Miming rules for themfelves, to be varied at dif- 
 " cretion, then we are no longer under the influence 
 " of the law, but under that, of men, fubject to a va- 
 tc riety of inclination and opinion, and to decifions 
 " the moll fluctuating, arbitrary, and capricious."— 
 That thefe opinions are well founded, the inhabitants 
 of Aberdeen know from deep experience. Part of the 
 taxes which they pay annually have been fliewii in the 
 preceding ftate ; nor have they ever wifhed to be ex- 
 empted from taxes, if regularly laid on, and faithfully 
 and ufefully applied. To propofitions on this fubject 
 they have always met with infult and neglect from 
 their imperious rulers. It has been faid, that " more 
 *' taxes are paid by a dozen citizens, and a few com- 
 (i panies, than by the whole of the pretended Re- 
 " formers «f Aberdeen." — This is one of thefe 
 bold, but groundlefs, affertions which the Magis- 
 trates conftantly have recourfe to. — It is mod cer- 
 tainly a bare-taced and palpable deception, The 
 gentlemen who approve of Reform in Aberdeen have 
 
 ever
 
 ( 54 ) 
 
 ever wifhed to avoid comparifons; but they undoubt- 
 edly are entitled to fay, that they pay a proportion of 
 taxes, equal, in many inftances far above, the greater 
 part of thofe who have been in Council for the lafi: 
 twenty years. Indeed there are very few mercantile 
 companies in Aberdeen, of which the gentlemen con- 
 nected with Reform, are not members — The Banking 
 Company, the great Prentfleld Company, the Brewery 
 Companies, and the Shipping Companies, can produce 
 partners from among thefe gentlemen — and theMagif- 
 trates well know, that the me^fure of Reform is very 
 generally, and very cordially approved or in Aber- 
 ceen. With refpedr. to the revenue of the town, it 
 may be juft necefTiry to fay, that, in 1756, it was 
 1102L ,2s. 3?d. that by the induftry and fpirit of 
 the citizens in improving the commons in the vici- 
 nity of the town, and other combining circumflances, 
 it had rifen in 1785 to 1883 1. 16s. 7d. Yet al- 
 though he inhabitants h ve borne the whole weight 
 of every tax for police, and have fubmitted to an ad- 
 ditional tax on their trade ior the improvement of the 
 harbour of 500I. a year, and have readily aflifted in 
 every occafional improvement, the debt of the Com- 
 munity has increafed to 12,3831. 14s. 7d. Thefe 
 facts require no commentary. 
 
 Refpecling the power which the Magift rates have 
 exercifed in raifing the dues of admitting BurgefTes, 
 they have faid, in apology, « that the chief Boroughs 
 " in the kingdom have adopted that meafure; whereas 
 " the rates, of Aberdeen continued the fame for one 
 " hundred and fifty years." Whatever there may be 
 
 in
 
 ( 55 ) 
 
 in that, it would have been hut fair to have acknow- 
 ledged, that, before thefe dues were railed double, 
 they were higher at Aberdeen than m any other Bo- 
 rough in Scotland, Edinburgh and Glajgovj not ex- 
 cepted. 
 
 RefpecVing the battery, one fentence more may be 
 neceffary — " It is faid, on the part of the Magiftrates, 
 " that the merchants and fhip-owneis applied in a 
 " body to have the harbour protected by proper 
 " works." This is one of the bold affertions which 
 have been already taken noti e of. The merchants 
 and (hip-owners never conceived that the harbour 
 funds were to be aff-cled by this expence. If the 
 battery had been deemed indiipenfably neceffary, they 
 would have readily furniflied any fum needful — but 
 that it ilvould have coft half the money laid out upon 
 it, has railed the aflonifhment of every inhabitant of 
 Aberdeen. 
 
 As to its " protection" it is well known that the 
 Liberty Privateer, the only veffel ever in danger under 
 its guns, was captured by the enemy in fjght of the 
 whole inhabitants. The improvement of the har- 
 bour has been fpcken of in high terms of corimen- 
 dation by the Magi urates, who take great praife to 
 themfelves on :at account — What it is, and what it 
 Jhould have been, with the expence laid out upon it 
 from the pockets of the citizens, the merchants and 
 fhip-owners well know. They know with great 
 certainty, that a veffel from London, or any out port,
 
 ( 56 ) 
 
 {hall lye in the river for a fortnight witfcout being able 
 to get to the quay to unload her cargo. — The improve- 
 ments of cleaning and deepening the harbour may eafily 
 be conceived from this circumftance alone.
 
 U IN I VfcKiil I Y Ul- UALIhUKNIA Al 1_VJS AINljLLt; 
 
 THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARY 
 
 This book is DUE on the last date stamped below 
 
 tECDlD-tmc 
 
 SEP t 3 1985 
 
 Form L-9 
 20m -1, '41(1122)
 
 .35 
 
 )14 "by the dele- 
 _______gates_i!i 
 
 inducting the 
 
 rl lament. 
 
 
 JS 
 
 4133 
 
 1788 
 
 014 
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 A A 000 158 131 3