| My Lord |
| I have the honour to be appointed by his Majesty, Shereff Depute
of the Shere of Wigton, But do not know by whose unsollicited [sic]
& disinterested freindship [sic],I have been represented
to his Majesty as a person worthy of this mark of his Royal favour
& confidence, So am left to confine my gratitude & thankfullnes
to his Majesty only, In a situation which perhaps is not common, I
have presumed to give your Grace the trouble of this Letter to signify
that I have the warmest sense of his Majestys goodnes And that I shall
execute the office committed to me With a Suitable Zeal for his Majestys
service & the good of the Subject to the utmost of my power. |
| At the same time I beg leave to inform your Grace, that were not
this the beginning of a new aera to Jurisdictions in this part of
the Island, I shou'd have had difficulty to undertake this imployment,
To be for at least four months in a year confined to a County far
removed from Ed[inbu]r[gh], And from my own Estate to which a retirement
is exceeding agreeable, are inconveniences not to be ballanc'd by
a Salary tho' much above what is annexed to this office. But as I
have long been of opinion That the Abolishing the heritable Jurisdictions
was a step proper to be taken in order to make the meanest subject
feel and relish the influences of liberty, And from my having spent
sometime in acquiring a little knowledge into these matters, was called
by his Majestys Advocate to be his Assistant in the late inquiry concerning
these Jurisdictions now abolishd; I should think it highly indecent
now when the change is to commence, upon account of any inconveniencies,
to decline taking a part in bringing so good a Law to execution and
satisfying the people that this new thing is greatly for their benefit.
These particulars I have taken the liberty to mention to your Grace
chiefly with a view to prevent it's being thought owing to ficklenes
or unconstancy if after things are Brought in to a Settled State hereafter
I shou'd humbly beg leave to resign. I am with the greatest respect |
| My Lord |
| Your Graces most obedient & most humble |
| Servant |
| Alex Boswel |
| Ed[inbu]r[gh] March 26 1748. |
|
