To the Anonymous Author of a Publication distributed amongst the PEOPLE of DOUGLAS, and the INHABITANTS of the ISLE of MAN at Large,
On Saturday, the 12th, CURRENT;
AND WHO SIGNED HIMSELF A MANX MAN, & FRIEND to his COUNTRY. .

ALTHOUGH I am not much accustomed to commit my Sentiments to Writing, and still less to obtrude myself upon the Public's Eye, yet, under the present Circumstances of this Country, when a late and very unexpected Junction of jarring and discordant Interests produced an Opposition (as uncandid as it was unnecessary,) to His Grace the Duke of Atholl obtaining a final Settlement of his Affairs in the Isle of Man with Government, an answer to your anonymous Publication, calculated only to impose on the vulgar and ignorant, becomes absolutely necessary.

It is a well-known Fact, that the most violent Means are now taking to mislead the People of this Island, and to gloss over the interested Views, and ambitious hopes of those who are, and have been Promoters of Mistrust, Disunion and Discord, between the Duke of Atholl, and the Inhabitants of the Isle of Man, under the Shade of a great and glorious Cause. For what Purpose has the Tree of Liberty been called forth on a late Occasion, but to prop those weak and useless Shoots, which, if left to themselves, would wither and die, unnoticed and unknown. The Liberties of the People, the attacking of their Rights and Possessions, are the cabalistical Words which aim to convert certain Men into demy Gods, and to lead them on to Victory and Conquest.

Having thus stated at Large what I apprehend is intended by your infamous publication I shall only beg Leave to trespass on the Time of the Public for a few Moments and without entering into of Controversy, I call upon you to step forward from your dark, and insidious sulking Place, to avow yourself the Author,and to prove in the face of the World, any one of the Assertions you have the Impudence to make against the Duke of Atholl, of his Grace's haveing any Intention whatever, to infringe upon the Liberties, Rights, or Property of his Tenants in the Isle of Man, at the same Time that I shall take the Liberty of contradicting you a flatly, and of proving the Contrary.

It is easy Matter for a cabaling, anonymous writer like you, who dares not to put your Name to your in your infamous Publication, first to fabricate Falsehoods and alarming Assertions in your own Mind, and then to publish them to the world as genuine. As a leading Proof of this, you, of some of your Associates, found it necessary, first to propagate a Lye in Order to lay a Foundation for the Necessary insidious Publication. Some one of you has had the Impudence to circulate round the Island, in my Name, an Address which you wished the People: to present to the Duke of Atholl returning Thanks to his Grace, for having prevented their Property from being taxed : but the People at large, and yourself in particular, well know that this Address was of your own Fabrication, and that no Application has been made to them on the Subject, by any of his Grace's Friends.

How dare you, Sir, have the Impudence to make mention of the Duke of Atholl's Name in the Manner you have done, and to make him out to the People as wishing to deprive them of their Property when it is notorious that His Grace has given them every Satisfaction on that Head, they possibly could demand. Ass a Proof of this I shall insert, for the Satisfaction of the Public, a Copy of a Letter which was wrote by His Grace the last Time he was in the Isle of Man, and published under the Authority of his three Commissioners the Bishop, the Duke and Capt. Taubman, and read at all the Parish Churches. It stands in his Grace's Records, signed by himself, and open to the Inspection of the inhabitants at large.

LIBER. VASTAR, 1788.
ISLE of MANN, July 26th, 1788.

GENTLEMEN, As I have been given to understand that some Persons have industriously reported and propagated that my Coming over to the Isle of Mann, at this Time, was with a Design to dispossess my Tenants of their Estates and Properties held, ratified, and confirmed to them by an Act of Tynwald, intitled, "An Act for the perfect Settling and Confirming of the Estates, Tenures, Fines, Rents, Suits and Service, of the Tenants of the Right Hon James, Earl of Derby, within his Isle of Mann, passed at a Tynwald Court, holden at St. John's Chapel, within the said Isle, the 4th. Day of February 1703. And as I understand such false and malicious Reports have created Uneasiness to several of my said Tenants, and being apprehensive that some of these that are in indigent Circumstances, may be deluded and prevailed upon by designing Persons, to dispose of their Properties for a very trivial and inadequate Consideration, which must tend to the Ruin of themselves and distressed Families.

In Order to vindicate my own Honour, to quiet the Minds of my said Tenants, and to prevent the evil Consequences that may arise from such Reports, It is my Desire, that you order the Moars to give public Notice at their respective Parish Churches, on three succeeding Sundays, that I am so far from having any Design of disputing the Rights of any of my Tenants that hold any Property, or Estate, under the said Act of Tynwald of 1703, That: if any Person whatever should think his Property or Estate not sufficientiy secured under that Act of Settlement, I am willing and ready to give any further Security that can be desired, or thought necessary.

My earnest Desire and Wish is to promote the general Welfare of the Isle of Mann, by encouraging Agriculture, Manufacture, Trade and the Fisheries ; and I am confident that when next I come to the Island it will be in a Situation which will enable me to carry my Wishes and Designs into Effect.

I remain, Gentlemen, Your most obedient humble Servant,

(Signed) ATHOLL

Lord Bishop of Sodor & Mann, Capt. John Taubman, , a Deemster Moore. Commissioners for managing my Affairs within the Isle of Mann.

Examined by me, RICHARD CLAGUE

Clerk to the Commissioners of His Grace The DUKE of ATHOLL

It being evident from the contents of the above Letter that the Duke of Atholl has no Intention whatever to attack the Liberties, Rights or Properties of the People of the Isle of Mann, I shall next proceed to state that they were in no Shape whatever connected with the Bill which His Grace brought into Parliament in the Course of last Winter.

This Bill was founded upon a Petition presented to Parliament in the Name of His Grace, praying a fair and equitable Compensation for certain Rights and Properties of which his Family had unintentionally been deprived, under the Authority of the Vesting Act : consequently the House of Keys had no Right to expect any Communication whatso ever from the Duke of Atholl on the Subject. The King and the Parliament of Great Britain, are best Judges of his Grace's Claims upon the Government ; and they, most certainly, will not apply to the House of Keys of the Isle of Man, for their Assistance or Opinion at the Time of Settlement.

It is a Falsehood that this or any other of the Bills brought into Parliament by the Duke of Atholl, were thrown out. The Fact is, that the former Ones, as likewise this Bill, was withdrawn at his Grace's Desire, tho' not without leaving Conviction upon every candid and unprejudiced Mind, that the Prayer of the Petition was founded on Truth and Justice, and that in Order to have a final Settlement between the Crown and his Grace, it was necessary that the Business should be brought again before Parliament.

You are pleased to say that this third and last Bill was of a Nature truly alarming ; but in Order to confute your Pompous and insidious Assertion, I shall state the Prayer at full Length, which will prove; beyond Contradiction, that Nothing was intended on the Part of His Grace, but what was fair, just, and honourable. It is as follows :-

Your Petitioner therefore throws himself upon the Wisdom and Justice of Parliament ; and prays that Leave may be given to bring a Bill into this Honourable House for appointing Commissioners to enquire what Rights and Species of Property are necessary or expedient to remain vested in the Crown for the Protection and Security of the Public Revenues, and what are the Value thereof; and also how far, and to what Extent or Value your Petitioner's remaining Rights and Interests in the said Island have been, or will, by the Dismemberment thereof, be impaired or diminished ; or that this Honourable House will Afford such other Relief to your Petitioner as they shall think fit.
Signed, ATHOLL

Let any man of Honour and common Understanding read the above; and appeal to his own Candour, whether he in Truth can say, that he finds any Thing in the Contents, that militates against the Liberties, Rights, or Possessions of the People of the Isle of Man. I am sure no Man can, unless he be a Quibbler in Argument; and it is well known how Men of that Description generally endeavour to pervert matters so as to answer their own Purposes.

That His Grace the Duke of Atholl has been deprived of certain Rights in the Isle of Man, which Government never intended he should have lost without receiving a fair and equitable Compensation, will, I believe, be generally admitted by every unprejudiced Person acquainted with the Subject. It has been admitted by different Majorities of the British Parliament ; but these Rights do not in the smallest Degree interfere with the Rights of the People. The Act of Settlement of 1702 had already settled Matters between the Duke of Atholl and his Tenants ; and the above Letter ought to have convinced every candid mind, that His Grace had not the most distant idea of breaking upon the said Act. It would have been Time enough for the House of Keys to have interfered when they found the Principles of the Act of of Settlement publicly and avowedly attacked ; and when they found Indications of approaching danger it would have been but fair in them to have made the People acquainted with their Situation, and to have collected collected their Opinions, and received their Instructions, before they acted ; and particularly before they took upon themselves to lay out any Money for what they called a public Purpose ; but of which the People never had heard, excepting by insidious Surmise.

It is not in the public Courts of the Isle of Man, that the Duke Atholl can obtain Redress of his Grievances, It was with the Crown of Great Britain that the late Duke, and the present Dutchess Dowager of Atholl entered into Treaty for the Surrender of the Sovereignty of the Island ; and it is from the Nation and Parliament of Great Britain (who were the Parties benefited by the Surrender,) that the present Duke of Atholl is to look for a fair and just Compensation for the Honours, Dignities, and Properties, his Ancestors gave up for the public Good ; and it is not to be imagined, as you with to insinuate, that a virtuous Minister of a great and generous Nation, will propose to Parliament, not only to find that Compensation out of the Pockets of the Inhabitants of the Isle of Man; but at the same Time withdraw the Military from the Island, and thereby. withdraw from the People His Majesty's most gracious Protection. Such an Insinuation is a double Libel upon the King and the Parliament of Great Britain; and it is the Height of Impudence and Effrontery in you; Sir, to anticipate idea whatever respecting the Mode which Government may adopt in making the Compensation due to the Duke of Atholl. You are, I dare say, enough of a Lawyer to know the Danger of the Ground you have taken on this Head : and consequently you have not dared to dignify your infamous Publication with your real Signature.

With Respect to the Bounties granted by Parliament to the Herring fisheries, it is well-known they are not granted on Account of this, or other Fishery whatever ; but for the Purpose of rearing a hardy Race of Seamen, fit for his Majesty's Navy: consequently, whatever Mode Government thinks fit to adopt in making a proper Compensation to the Duke of Atholl, it is calumniating Parliament, to insinuate that they would withdraw the Bounties: from the Fisheries of the Isle of Man in particular.

Great Stress seems to be laid by you on the Prosperity the landed Property in the Isle of Man in General has experienced since the Year 1765; but I apprehend that Matter will be best cleared up to the satisfaction of every One, by applying to, and examining the Duke of Atholl's Records, where the Number of Mortgages now existing, may be compared with those previous to that Period.

Were the present Principles of Taxation, (which a Part of the House of Keys seem so anxious to support,) to go on, it is but natural to conclude, that the already over-burdened Property of the poorer Description of the Duke of Atholl's Tenants would soon be transferred into the Hands of a few wealthy Mortgagees.

You likewise say that Attempts have been made to prejudice the Minds of the People against the Bill of Assessment ; but as for my own Part, I do not see the Necessity of making any Attempt whatever on that Subject. This immaculate Bill speaks for itself, and it must be allowed that it holds out the financeering Abilities of its Framer in a Point of View which he no Doubt flatters himself does no little Honour to his Impartiality ; and I dare say he would think himself highly affronted were

Were even Mr. Neckar's Abilities to be compared to his own. I shall take my Leave of this Subject, by putting one Question to you, Sir How came the Framer, or Framers of this Bill, to tax the poor Manks Quarterland in the Vicinity of the Mountains, or in that of the barren Rocks or sandy Shores, which will not let, (many of them,) at a higher Rent than from ten to twenty Pounds Manks, per Annum, equally high with other Quarterlands in the Neighbourhood of Castletown or Douglas, which let, some of them, considerably above one hundred Pounds, sterling, per Annum. Moreover, this Bill sets out with stating that previous to the Vesting Act, the Duke of Atholl, as Sovereign and Lord of the Isle of Man, was obliged, out of his own Revenue keep in Repair all public Buildings, Garrisons, Jails, &c, That being the Case, it is but natural to conclude, now that the Crown of Great Britain is become possessed of the Sovereignty and Revenues which formerly belonged to the Family of Atholl, Government in like Manner become bound,to uphold the said public Buildings, at the public Expence ; and that consequently Application should have been made to the British Parliament for a Grant of a sufficient Sum for answering every necessary public Purpose, without laying any Taxes on the People of the Isle of Mann, who, it is well known, are not in a Situation to pay them. I therefore candidly submit it, even to you, to decide whom is the real Friend of the Inhabitants of the Isle of Man,---His Grace the Duke of Atholl, who labours to prevent them from being taxed, or a Party of the House of Keys, who do their utmost to oppress them by laying on an unnecessary Taxation.

Your reasoning upon the Duke of Atholl's Views in objecting to the Bill of Assessment, is of a Piece with your other Assertions.-- that His Grace most certainly would not go to all this Trouble and Expence unless he had some favourite Scheme to accomplish for himself. To this general, unfounded, and insidious Charge, I answer, that the Duke of Atholl breathes Sentiments that must be totally unknown to such a Reptile as you. The People of the Isle of Man are his Tenants; with the most earnest Wish of his Heart to see them flourish ; to encourage their Agriculture, Trade, Fisheries, and Manufactures. He has thrown himself into the Breach to protect his own, as well as the Property of every Individual in the island, from Oppression; and he is ready to meet the Supporters of the Bill of Assessment by his Council, before the King and Council.

According to the Constitution, and ancient Custom of the Isle of Man, when a new Law was to be made, the Lord, or in his name, the Governor, called the Officers spiritual and temporal, with the four and twenty Keys,to meet him in Council] ; and ordered four Men to be chosen from each Parish, to consider and advise what Laws were proper to be made for the Peace and Safety of the State.. This shews that the Constitution and the ancient Custom of the Government of the Isle of Man, has, at all Times, been agreeable to the Principles of the inherent Rights of Mankind ; that the Clergy formed a Part of the Government, and were represented in Council by the Bishop and his Officers ; and that the People at Large, through their four Reprefentatives from each Parish, were made acquainted with, and gave their Consent to the Law by which they were to be governed. Has this been the Case in the present Instance ? No, it most certainly has not. Was the Bishop and his Officers called upon to give their Opinion and Consent to the Law by which they were to be taxed ? No. Were the four Men from each Parish called upon to give their Advice, and Consideration in like manner? No. What was then the Case? Why, four and twenty self-elected keys, and only Part of the Council, met the Governor in a Court of Tynwald and passed a Law for laying certain Taxes on the property of the People at Large, such as the Bill of Assessment gives particular account of. Had the ancient Mode of making Laws therefore been apodted in the present instance, the Duke of Atholl. as Lord of the Island, and likewise as an individual Proprietor, the Bishop and principal Officers of the Church, as representing a tenth of the Island, and the People at large would have had it in their power to have objected by their Counsel to the said Bill of Assessment before the Governor, Council and Keys ; and had the Bill passed into Law by the same Authority, they still had Resort to his Majesty in Council. You will likewise please to remark that neither the Bishop the pincipal Officers of the church, nor his Majesty's Attorney General in the the of Man, have signed the Bill of Assessment, it was carried in the House of Keys only by a Majority of two Voices.

With Respect to the Assertion said to have been made by the Duke of Atholl's great Friend and Supporter, (as you are pleased to call him, in the House of Commons, I have only to observe, that it was contradicted by that Friend in a subsequent Debate ; and that it turned out to be a total Misrepresentation of his Words only, calculated to raise Allarums without Doors. But to put that Matter beyond al Manner of Doubt, the People at Large have only to peruse the Duke of Atholl's Letter as above. As to Conjecture, if I may be allowed the Liberty of conjecturing in my Turn, I will conjecture: that the sole Purpose and Intention of your infamous Libel, is only to cause a Distrust of the [Point] of the Duke of Atholl's good Intentions towards the People of the Isle of Man; and they cannot be Friends to his Grace, nor to the Inhabitants at large, who endeavour to found the Trumpet of Discord. Every candid and unprejudiced Man must acknowledge that a good Understanding between the Duke of Atholl and the People would be of the greatest Advantage to the Island.

You are not satisfied with having the Effrontery of misrepresenting His Grace the Duke of Atholl to the People of the Isle of Man, but in Order, as you think, to give the better Colour to your infamous Insinuations, you have had the audacity of bringing forward to the Public View, the Character of Deemster Moore, with a Degree of Asperity little suited to the Dignity of his high Situation as chief Judge of the Island; a Situation in which that Gentleman has acted for upwards of seventeen Years, with the highest Honour to himself, and Advantage to his Country. As a Proof of this, it is not long since I heard the Assertion made, in public Company, by a Member of the House of Keys, and an Attorney ;---I mean Mr. John Cosnahan.

It is a Falsehood that Deemster Moore is Agent or Steward to the Duke of Atholl. He makes only one of three Commissioners, who by their own Consent, and for the good of the Country, without any Compensation for their Trouble, accepted of being his Grace's Commissioners to superintend his Affairs, and to extricate them from confusion in which they were found in 1787. The other Gentlemen named in the Commission, are the Bishop and Capt. Taubman, the latter of whom till very lately that he resigned his Situation, received and remitted his Grace's Rents &c. so that Deemster Moore sat in the Duke of Atholl's Courts only as a Judge ; a situation in which His Grace, as likewise the Bishop as a Baron, has a Right to call upon him for the Purpose of holding their Courts, which always have been held in the presence of a Deemster, and for which the Deemster is legally entitled to the Court Fee. There is a Clerk in the Duke of Atholl's Office who is an Attorney at the Manks Bar, and does the Business of the Office under the Direction of the Commissioners.

In your infamous and insidious Attack on the public Character of Deemster Moore, you seem to lay great Stress on the heinous Crime of his having changed his Opinion respecting the Propriety of the Bill of Assessment. It is true, the Deemster did change his Opinion on the Subject of this Bill; but he changed it upon the fairest of Grounds, because he found out that he had beem misled - and it is generally understood by Men of Candour and Sene, that fo far from its being a Reflection upon a Man to change his Opinion when he finds himself [set] into a wrong One, that he is generally applauded. Not only the Deemster, but many Others of the Inhabitants, were, by a certain Description of People, led into the Error that it was the Duke of Atholl's Intention at that Time to have attacked the Act of Settlement of 1703. It was upon that Ground, and that Ground only,that he signed and supported the Bill of Assessment; and I am persuaded, if many of those who signed and supported this Bill, would now step forward, and honestly avow the Sentiments of their Hearts, it would appear that they are now of the same Opinion with Deemster Mooore.

The solemn Manner in which you assure your Countrymen. that Deemster Moore was a Principal Promoter of the Bill of Assessment, is totally unnecessary :---the Deemster is ready to acknowledge that he signed and supported that Bill as a mere Matter of Necessity, and that for the Reason above asigned: but you will please to remember, (for I dare say you may have been Present at the Time,) that he, at the same Time, gave it as his Opinion, that there was a great Difference between the Powers of Legislation, and those of Taxation ; the latter being unversally admitted to be inseperable from Representation, and thereby expressed a Doubt of the Authority of the Government of the Isle of Man to tax the Property of the People. With Respect to the additional Sallary of 100l. per Annum, obtained by the Deemster, every honest Man must applaud the Measure. In consequence of the Act of Tynwald of 1777, and no Deemster being appointed for the North District of the Island, Deemster Moore has had great additional Trouble in the Execution of his Ofice :--- in Order to make him a proper Compensation for this Trouble, Governor Smith promised to obtain an Addition to his Salary, but which Addition he never received: for eleven Years, and in all Probability never would, had His Grace the Duke of Atholl not felt for his Situation, and paid Attention to the Hardships under which he laboured in doing the whole Business of the Country, and that for the trifling Salary of 100l. per Annum, a Pittance truly beneath the Dignity of His Majesty's chief Judge of the Isle of Man, indeed!

It is a very audacious Assertion in you, Sir, to say that the high judicial Character.of His Majesty's Deemster in the Isle of Man seems to groan and sink under the Weight of being Agent to a Nobleman. This has already been confuted to the Conviction of every candid Mind,that Deemster Moore is not the Duke of Atholl's Agent, and as to his conduct in the Discharge of his Duty as a Judge, I have the Authority of the general Voice ot the Public om my Side in affirming, that they are convinced of the Uprightnes of his Conduct, his Honour, and Integrity And though your malicious. ang insidious Pen wishes to point out Deemster Moore, as acting unconstitutionally in doing his Duty in sitting as Judge in the Duke of Atholl's Courts, yet, it consists with my knowledge, that different Gentlemen Senators aad Members, of the House of Keys, have applied for this very Post, (presently vacant) of being the Duke of Atholl's Agent, or Seneschal in the Isle of Man. This is the Bone of Contention: so long as the Commissioners think fit to [] there will be no Necessity for appointing a Seneschal; and altho' the Sallary and Perquistites of this Office (the latter of which, besides his Salary is already given up to the Clerk,) has been considerably above 100l. per Annum, yet I have so high an Opinion of the very delicate Feelings all those Gentlemen, that if any one of them were appointed to this Office, he would think himself highly affronted indeed, did any man tell him he was not an independent member of the House of Keys. Mr. John Cosnahan, who is a Key, and a Sort of a Judge, as Bailiff of Douglas, did not think this Office beneath his Dignity to solicit; and tho he is not of that athletic: Form. as to surmise to have sufficient Strength to carry a very heavy Burden, yet conceive he would neither feel his Person, nor the Dignity of his high Office, sink or groan under the Pressure of carrying near 200l. per annum upon his Shoulders, from the Duke of Atholl's Office to his own house in Douglas ; nor do I believe, that any of the other Gentlemen who applied, if he felt his Consequence sink under the Weight of his Burden would have any Objections: to relieve him. from his irksome situation,

It is a Falsehood of the same Complexion with your other malicious Assertions that the Benefit of the Want of a Deemster to the North District of the Island is owing to his Grace the Duke of Atholl, or to Deemster Moore : that Office was abolished before the Duke of Atholl ever came to the Isle of Man, and the Salary of 100l. per Annum, which belongd to it, was by the Advice of the late Mr. Lutwidge, added to that of His Majesty's present Attorney General. It is well known, Sir, that your Presumption in taking the Liberties you have done with Deemster Moore, proceeds from Malice and Envy.

To conclude,---It is a strange Matter after the public Declaration which the Duke of Atholl has made of his Resolution of abiding by the Act of Settlement of 1703, that any Doubt should remain of his Sincerity. It is still more extraordinary that this malicious Assertion should not have been done away from the Declaration his Grace made to Mr Taubman two years ago, "That if the Inhabitants of the Isle of Man did not think themselves secure in their Rights and Properties according to the said Settlement of 1703. that he was ready to join them in applying to Parliament, to pass an Act for confirming it to the Satisfaction of every men concerned." The Answer made by Mr. Taubman to this handsome Offer of the Duke of Atholl was, "that he would not give five Pound for such an Act of Parliament," as he looked upon their Rights and Properties to be secure beyond a Doubt. This being Mr. Taubman's Opinion, who has by far the greatest Property in the Island at Stake, where, in the Name of God is the Cause of all this Allarum on Account of the Rights, Liberties and Properties of the Inhabitants ; and more especially since his Majesty's Ministers have publicly declared in Parliament, that the People of the Isle of Man, with their Rights, Liberties, and Properties, are under the Protection of the Crown of Great Britain. It must occur to every Man of Reflection, that these malicious Reports and Allarums are only propogated by certain People, to answer certain Purposes, best known to themselves, but if I mistake not, clearly seen by the Public Eye.

Having, as I trust, Sir, confuted all your malicious and infamous Insinuations against His Grace the Duke of Atholl, and cleared up the Character of Deemster Moore to the Satisfaction of every Mind open to Conviction, I advise you when you find yourself again disposed to address your Countrymen, to dare to be candid ; and to feel, as a Man of true Honour, that it is only by a strict Adherence to Truth you can have any Claim to be believed, or to the Character of an honest Man.

Douglas, June, 25th, 1790. CHARLES SMALL