Examination of the claim of John Lindsay Crawfurd

PREFACE. vh
After Mr Crawfurd's return from transportation, he called on me,
and showed me the pardon he had procured from Governor Mac-
Quarrie ; and expressed a wish that I should do any thing I could
for him. Soon after this he employed Mr Bell to take charge of
his case, and I corresponded with that gentleman repeatedly on the
subject. All I had to say, was to point out difficulties, which I did ;
but Mr Bell viewed them with no concern, and took no notice of
remarks and suggestions which afterwards appeared too serious to
be trifled with. When Mr Bell visited Kilbirnie, I met him there,
and subsequently I called on him in London. On these occasions,
he expressed himself satisfied that the Claimant must ultimately
be successful.
After Mr Bell's death, Mr James Buckton, Solicitor in Doctors'
Commons, was appointed by the Claimant's friends to conduct the
proceedings. He and Mr John Bowie, W.S., came to Beith in
January 1824, and I was with them for several days at Beith, Kil-
birnie, and Irvine. In the " Crawfurd Peerage" it is said, that in
one night I " abdicated Mr Crawfurd's interest, apostatized from all
and every particle of faith I had exercised heretofore of his preten-
sions ;" and this change is plainly attributed to " Lady Mary's
purse." I am not at all anxious about the latter assertion, and
with regard to the former, I must admit that it was not long until I
saw sufficient grounds for renouncing any belief I had ever enter-
tained of the verity of the Claimant's case. Previous to this meeting,
all I had seen or known of the matter was engrossed in the Case
prepared by Mr Bell. But when I saw certified copies of the judi-
cial proceedings at the instance of Lord Shewalton, charging George,
Viscount Garnock, to enter heir to his uncles John and James, the