s
many of his predecessors had been; and notwithstanding all the couthy
jocosity and curry-favouring of his demeanour towards us before the
election, he was no sooner returned, than he began, as it were, to snap
his fingers in the very faces of those of the council to whom he was most
indebted, which was a thing not of very easy endurance, considering how
they had taxed their consciences in his behalf; and this treatment was
the more bitterly felt, as the old member had been, during the whole of
his time, as considerate and obliging as could reasonably be expected;
doing any little job that needed his helping hand when it was in his
power, and when it was not, replying to our letters in a most discreet
and civil manner. To be sure, poor man, he had but little to say in the
way of granting favours; for being latterly inclined to a whiggish
principle, he was, in consequence, debarred from all manner of government
patronage, and had little in his gift but soft words and fair promises.
Indeed, I have often remarked, in the course of my time, that there is a
surprising difference, in regard to the urbanities in use among those who
have not yet come to authority, or who have been cast down from it, and
those who are in the full possession of the rule and domination of
office; but never was the thing plainer than in the conduct of the new
member.

He was by nature and inclination one of the upsetting sort; a kind of man
who, in all manner of business, have a leaven of contrariness, that makes
them very hard to deal with; and he, being conjunct with his majesty's
ministers at London, had imbibed and partook of that domineering spirit
to which all men are ordained, to be given over whenever they are clothed
in the garments of power. Many among us thought, by his colleaguing with
the government, that we had got a great catch, and they were both blythe
and vogie when he was chosen; none doubting but he would do much good
servitude to the corporation, and the interests of the burgh. However he
soon gave a rebuff, that laid us all on our backs in a state of the
greatest mortification. But although it behoved me to sink down with the
rest, I was but little hurt: on the contary, I had a good laugh in my
sleeve at the time; and afterwards, many a merry tumbler of toddy with my
brethren, when they had recovered from their discomfiture. The story was
this:--

About a fortnight after the election, Mr Scudmyloof, the schoolmaster,
c