Petition and Complaint 1765

N O V E M B E R 14, 1765. Unto the Right Honourable the Lords of Council and Session, «r ' * ' # « • * T H E Petition and Complaint O F David Fouler, Mariner, late one of the Baillies, and as such, virtute ofic, a constituent Member of the Council of the Burgh of Kilrenny for the present Year; and James Milar, Wight, late one of the Counsellors of the said Burgh, Humbly Shew eth, * T H A T by an Act part in the seventh Year of his lateMajest y ’s Reign, intituled, An Act fo r the better regulating the Election of Members, to s erve in the Hous e of Commons, for Part of Great Britain, called Scotland, &c. after providing against double Election, of Magistrates in Burghs, it is further provided and enacted, That it shall and may be lawful for any Magistrate, or Counsellor of the Burgh, who apprehends any Wrong was done at any annual Election, to bring his Action before the Court of Session in Scotland, for rectifying such Abuse, or for making void the whole Election (if illegal) only within the Space of eight Weeks after such Election is over; over; and the Lords of Session shall, and they are hereby expresly authorised and required to hear and determine the Cause summarily, and to allow to the Party that shall prevail, their full Cost s of Suit.” And, by another Act past in the sixteenth Year of his late Majest y ’s Reign, intituled, An A c t to explain and amend the Laws touching Elections in Scotland, it is amongst other Things enacted and declared, “ That it shall and may be lawful to and for any constituent Member, at any Meeting for Ele- ction of Magistrates or Counsellors, or of any Meet­ ing previous to that for the Election of Magistrates and Counsellors, respectively, who shall apprehend any Wrong to have been done by the Majority of such Meeting, to apply to the said Court of Session, by a sum­ mary Complaint, for rectifying such Abuse, or for making void the whole Election made by the said Majo­ rity, or for declaring and ascertaining the Election made by the Minority, so as such Complaint be presented to the said Court of Session, within two Kalendar Months after the annual Election of the Magistrates and Counsellors; and the said Court shall thereupon grant a Warrant for sum- moning the Magistrates and Counsellors elected by the Ma­ jority, upon thirty Days Notice, and shall hear and deter­ mine the said Complaint summarily, without abiding the Course of any Roll, and shall allow to the Party who shall prevail, their full Costs of Suit.” There is no greater Wrong can be committed in Election, than the corrupting the Minds of the Electors by Promises, Bribes, and Largesses of different kinds; nor is there any Thing that can more effectually constitute an illegal Election, intended to be voided by these Statutes, than when it is car­ ried on and influenced by such Means; and it is of such Wrongs and Influences used in the Election of Magistrates and Counsellors of the Burgh of Kilrenny, upon the 19th of September last, that the Complainers have in view, by their Complaint, to sue for Redress. The The Burgh of Kilrenny, in conjunction with the Burghs o f Crail, Easte r and Wester Anstruhe, and Pittenw e em send a Burgess to Parliament. Sir Harry Erskine, the Representative o f these Burghs in Parliament, having died in the Month of August last, se- veral Gentlemen at first appeared as Candidates for his Seat but only two are now in the field, Sir John Anstruther, and Mr. Robert Alexander; the first, a Gentleman of a large E- state in the Neighbourhood of the Burghs, and much con­ nected with them and their Inhabitants, and may ju st l y be said to have a natural Interest in several of the Burghs; the latter, a Merchant in Edinburgh, unconnected with the Burghs or their Inhabitants, and who only could hope to gain their Favour and Voices, in the mercantile Way of Pur- chase.------Whether he, in conjunction with his Brother Mr. William, his Partner in lawful Trade, and his chief Agent in his new, unlawful and unconstitutional Commerce, have not shown an adventrous Spirit, amazingly great, your Lord- ships, after some Proceedings shall be had upon this, and o- ther Complaints of the same Kind, touching their Conduct in others of the Burghs, will be able to judge. Sir Harry Erskine having died during the Recess of Parlia­ ment, the annual Elections of the Magistrates and Counsel- lors of the Burghs, did necessarily happen before a Writ could be issued for the re-electing of a Representative in Parliament; and, as Mr. Alexanders Success in being chosen the Representative for the Burghs, did entirely depend upon a proper Modellation of the Magistracies and Councils in the Michaelmas Elections, and his securing them to his Interest, so, in the bestowing his Promises and Rewards, and in the corrupt Bargains made by him and his Agents, he connect­ ed his own and the annual Elections of the Magistrates and Council of Kilrenny together, in such a Manner, as that the Election in the one should secure the Election in the other, so far as any Security can be established in such Cases. Persons Persons practising such unlawful Means for Success in Elec­ tions, will always endeavour to hide as much as possible, from the Knowledge of those who do not approve of such Mea- sures; and as Mr. Alexander knew well, that the two Com- plainers, the one a Magistrate, and the other a Counsellor of the Burgh at the Michaelmas Election, did heartily disapprove of what was going on, it is not to be expected, that they can have acquired a perfect Knowledge of all the Promises made, Bribes bestowed, and corrupt Bargains entered into, by Mr. Alexander and his Friends, for making the Elections to proceed in the Manner they desired; at the same time the Complainers have got credible Information of several Facts, which they apprehend will be sufficient to void the E lections made at Michaelmas altogether, and they expect that others will be discovered equally material, in the Course of leading the Evidence. The Complainers shall here mention some of the Particulars that have already come to their Knowledge. Mr. Bethune of Balfour has an Estate in the Neighbour­ hood of Kilrenny, and many of the Counsellors of the Town are his Tenants, and as he wished well to Sir John Anstru- ther, he naturally recommended him to them, for their Voices and Interest; but Mr. Alexander, and his Agents, took care that such Recommendation should have no Effect, by becoming bound by Promises or otherways, to pay to those Tenants, during their respective l ives, whatever they considered the annual Profits of their Farms to be, in case Mr. Balfour should take any of their Farms from them; and moreover, Alexander P aton, one of those Tenants, got the Promise of an Annuity of 20 l. Sterling, for his own Life and the Life o f his Son. Andrew Boyter, the eldest Baillie of the Town, was in­ duced to join Mr. Alexander's Party, by a Promise to edu­ cate his Son James, for being a Master of a Ship, and to give give him the Command of one, when he was qualified for it, and that Andrew B oyter might be satisfied of the Sinceri ­ ty of the Promises made, William Alexander, the chief Agent o f his Brother in the Election-adventure, did write the fol­ lowing Letter to Mr. Hallyday, Schoolmaster at Wester An- struther: “ Sir, Please receive Ja mes Boyter, as a Scholar for Navigation, and I shall acknowledge your Trouble. I am. Sir, your most humble Servant, (si g ned,) William Alexander, 20th September 1765. ’ In consequence of this Letter, James, a chopping Boy of twenty-three or twenty-four Years of Age, and who, as a sure Card, from the Promises made, had been elected a Coun- sellor the Day preceeding, went immediately to School; and the Petitioners have been informed, and expect they will be able to prove, that the Messieurs Alexanders did promise, or otherways become bound, to maintain James and his fa ­ mily, (for it seems the young Scholar is married) until he should be done with his Education and get a Ship; and the Complainers further expect to prove, that Andrew Boyter, the Father, got forty Guineas in ready Money. Thomas Smart, Taylor, and James Edie, Carpenter, have been gained and secured to Mr. Alexander's Party and Views, by Promises of considerable Sums being paid to them, upon their concurring with his Plans in the Elections at Michael­ mas, and their giving their Voices and Interest for Mr. A- lexander’s representing the Burgh in Parliament. Moreover, the Complainers have Reason to believe, and expect they will be able to prove, that Mr. Alexander, and his Agents, did, by the above Means, and others of the like Nature, prevail upon the Persons above mentioned, and 0- thers of the Magistrates and Counsellors, to subscribe a Writ­ ing, importing an Obligation, or a solemn Promise, to fol­ low every Measure, necessary to secure Mr. Alexander's Elec­ tion, and to concur in modelling the Magistracy and Coun­ cil, in a Manner proper for that Purpose. B And And further, it will be proved, that when some of the. Counsellors shewed an Unwillingness to engage with Mr. Alexander, they were threatened to be turned out of Council, unless they would agree to enter into his Measures; and un­ der the Influence of this Threatening, they did vote as di­ rected by him at the Michaelmas Election. The Magistracy and Council of the Burgh consist of three Baillies, a Treasurer, and eleven Counsellors; and, by the Set, the Magistrates and Council, in the annual Elections,- elect a new Council, and then the Magistrates are chosen by the Council and whole Burgesses of the Town, from Leets of three, an old Magistrate being in every Leet. The first Thing done in the Election, upon the 19th of September last, after voting that an Alteration was to be made in the Council, was, to vote out the Complainer, James Mil­ la r And another Counsellor, and to elect, in their Places, Wil­ liam Alexander, and his Pupil James Boyter, who he put to School the Day following. Next came on the Election of the Magistrates, by the Council and the Burgesses of the Town, when the Com­ plainer, David Fowler, lost the Office of Baillie, by a Majo­ rity of three Votes. The Votes stood thus:-. For Andrew Reid.. 10 4 ’. For Andrew Boyter.. 60 For Alexander Reid.. 57 For David Fowler, Complainer, 54 For Thomas Smart 49 The Complainers conscious that most unlawful and. cor­ rupt Means have been used, successfully, by Mr. Alexander and his Agents, with the greatest Part of the Magistrates and Council, and they thereby not only deprived of that Freedom of o f Election, which every Elector ought to possess, in the an­ nual Elections of the Magistrates and Councils of Royal Burghs, but that they will remain under the same unlawful Chains of Corruption, when they shall come to give their Voices in the Election of a Delegate to choose a Representa- tive for the Burgh in Parliament, and being also conscious, and firmly believing, that the Turning one of them out of the Council, and another out of the Magistracy, was owing to the same corrupt Means, they, under the Authority of the before recited Statutes, do exhibit this their Complaint, for obtaining r edress, by a total Reduction of the whole Election, on account of the unlawful and corrupt Means which prevailed in it, or, at least, by having it found and declared, That the Complainer, Ja mes Millar, was wrong­ fully turned out of the Council, and that the Complainer, David Fow ler, was duly elected a Baillie of the Burgh, by a Majority of legal Votes- 'i MAY it therefore pleas your Lordship to grant Warrant fo r Serving this Complaint upon Andrew Boyter, Fisherman i Cellardike, Andrew Reid, Shipmaster ther,and Alexander Reid, late on board his Majesty' Ship Active, the three pretended Baillies of the Burgh of. K ilrenny, the current Year Alexander Paton, Hand-labourer there, the pretended Treas urer of that Burgh; Alexander Wedderburn, Es q; one of his Majesty's Council, learned in the Law, William Alexander, Es q; Merchant in Edinburgh, James Edie, Car­ penter in Cellardike, David Watson, F isher there Thomas Smart, Taylor ther, George Louthian, Sailor there, James Boyter, Fishert, William Fowler, Land-labourer, William Brown, Land-labourer in Kilrenny, James Waddel, Coast- S urveyor-' Surveyor at Leith, all pretended Counsellors of the said Burgh for the pres ent Year, and John Oliphant, Excis e-officer, now at a Couns ellor of the said Burgh of l ast Year;uch of the said Persons complained upon, as are within Scotland, pers o- nally, or at their Dweling-paces; and such of them as may be forth o f Scotland, at the Market- cros s of Edinburgh, and Pier and Shore o f Leith: And to ordain the said Persons complained upon, to give in their Answers within thirty Days after s uch Service; and, upon advis ing the Complaint and Ans wers, w ith s uch Proof as may be necessary fo r as certaining the Fact, to reduce and make void the pretended Election of the Magistrates and Couns ellors of the Burgh of Kilrenny, made upon the nine­ teenth Day of September las t; or, at least, to find and declare, that the Complainer James Millar, was wrongfully turned out of the Council, and that the Complainer, David Fowler, was duly elected a Baillie of the Burgh, by a Majority o f legal Votes, and to find the Complainers intitled to fu ll Costs of Suit. » According to Ju stice, &c. J A. M O N T G O M E R Y,