I had long been sensible that, in getting Mr Pittle the kirk, I had acted
with the levity and indiscretion of a young man; but at that time I
understood not the nature of public trust, nor, indeed, did the community
at large. Men in power then ruled more for their own ends than in these
latter times; and use and wont sanctioned and sanctified many doings,
from the days of our ancestors, that, but to imagine, will astonish and
startle posterity. Accordingly, when Mr Pittle, after a lingering
illness, was removed from us, which happened in the first year of my
third provostry, I bethought me of the consequences which had ensued from
his presentation, and resolved within myself to act a very different part
in the filling up of the vacancy. With this intent, as soon as the
breath was out of his body, I sent round for some of the most weighty and
best considered of the councillors and elders, and told them that a great
trust was, by the death of the minister, placed in our hands, and that,
in these times, we ought to do what in us lay to get a shepherd that
would gather back to the establishment the flock which had been scattered
among the seceders, by the feckless crook and ill-guiding of their former
pastor.
They all agreed with me in this, and named one eminent divine after
another; but the majority of voices were in favour of Dr Whackdeil of
Kirkbogle, a man of weight and example, both in and out the pulpit, so
that it was resolved to give the call to him, which was done accordingly.
It however came out that the Kirkbogle stipend was better than ours, and
the consequence was, that having given the call, it became necessary to
make up the deficiency; for it was not reasonable to expect that the
reverend doctor, with his small family of nine children, would remove to
us at a loss. How to accomplish this was a work of some difficulty, for
the town revenues were all eaten up with one thing and another; but upon
an examination of the income, arising from what had been levied on the
seats for the repair of the church, it was discovered that, by doing away
a sinking fund, which had been set apart to redeem the debt incurred for
the same, and by the town taking the debt on itself, we could make up a
sufficiency to bring the doctor among us. And in so far as having an
orthodox preacher, and a very excellent man for our minister, there was
great cause to be satisfied with that arrangement.
But the payment of the interest on the public debt, with which the town
was burdened, began soon after to press heavily on us, and we were
obligated to take on more borrowed money, in order to keep our credit,
and likewise to devise ways and means, in the shape of public
improvements, to raise an income to make up what was required. This led
me to suggest the building of the new bridge, the cost of which, by
contract, there was no reason to complain of, and the toll thereon, while
the war lasted, not only paid the interest of the borrowed money by which
it was built, but left a good penny in the nook of the treasurer's box
for other purposes.
Had the war continued, and the nation to prosper thereby as it did,
nobody can doubt that a great source of wealth and income was opened to
the town; but when peace came round, and our prosperity began to fall
off, the traffic on the bridge grew less and less, insomuch that the
toll, as I now understand, (for since my resignation, I meddle not with
public concerns,) does not yield enough to pay the five per cent on the
prime cost of the bridge, by which my successors suffer much molestation
in raising the needful money to do the same. However, every body
continues well satisfied with Dr Whackdeil, who was the original cause of
this perplexity; and it is to be hoped that, in time, things will grow
better, and the revenues come round again to idemnify the town for its
present tribulation.