364 Rev'i£'W of Mr Huute/s Letttr, ' Angl- 



ing to the place it occupied in the map of the county, and to the num- 

 ber of acres thcitin coiitafned. 



We will not ftop to inquire whether this was dlfchargiug the duties^ 

 of their cflice in a manner confiilent with the oaths they had taken ; 

 nor whether the conimifli'»ncrs were gifted with intuitive knowledge to 

 value land which they had never fcen. We may however itate the 

 Confeqnences of their ofiliial errors — A greater number of appeals than 

 in any other dillrict ; an inimenfc d^al of trouble to individual? ; and 

 3 general fpirit of dilTatishK^ion excited over the whole dillridl, not 

 fo mucii aorainlt the ta^ as agalnli: tholV appointed to carry it into e£fe6V. 



Thus we have examined the proceedings of the Haddington com- 

 Ittlffioncrs in the execution of the Property Aft, and have Seen induced 

 to exceed the precife limits of the letter before us ; becaufe, that county 

 being a le^ing agricultural one, if the meafures at firft adopted there 

 jfead been rvcelytid /u/jji'tntiof a burden, and one not intended by the te- 

 gifl^Lure, might have been laid upon the tenantry of Scotland. We 

 repe :t, that the minority of the commiffioners feem to have underftood 

 tlie a(fl mod corre<ftly ; and when we give this opinion, every perfon 

 acquainted with the footing on which we have Itood for many yeara 

 with the honourable Baron who headed the minority, will be fatisSed 

 that neither partiaHty nor prejudice lave infiuenced' us in his favour upon 

 this occafion. 



Since the above went to pref?, fome particulars have been communi- 

 cated, which incline us to believe that the difputcs among the Commif- 

 fioners have not been fo correftly ftated by Mr H. as we were at firtl 

 led to imagine. * Audi a/fc'ram parLiti^ ' is an excellent adage ; there- 

 fore, the fubltance of our recent information fliall be given. 



When the county met upon the 20th Seprember 1805, to nominate 

 CommifTioncrs for executing the property aft, th* convener opened thg 

 meeting with a fpeech, wherein he ftated, That the aft would require 

 much difcrction in the execution, particularly that branch of it which 

 related to farmers pofTeiTnig leafes whereof more than feven years had 

 expired : That if the ihlft letter of the claufe which applied to tliem 

 was taken, without connefting it writh rhe fpirit and meaning of the aft, 

 a tax of 40 or even of 50 per cent, would be levied upon many people,, 

 fo circumstanced, inilead of levying feven and one half per cent, upon 

 the aftual furplus profits trtily acquired by the holders of fuch leafes : 

 That though the word?, ' th'^ juj} and full 'value of thefc lands nvouU let 

 for tf out of leafy ' if taken /'rr^r, might warrant a tax of the firll de- 

 fcription, yet, as many honeft men held old leafes, and gathered little 

 more than bread from them, while others under iimilar circumflances 

 were making confiderablc profits, it would be altogether improper to 

 put fuch an interpretation upon the claufe in quelHon, efpccially as it 

 could not be fupported by the general fpirit or principle of the aft it- 

 felf : That /ro/f/j m.eaot a fad, not ar» imagination ; therefore, the quef* 

 tion to be inveftigated and dctrrmined by the Commiirioners was, what 



