A true Account of what passed at the Election of Knights of the Shire for the County of BUCKS, Correcting several Falsities and Mistakes, in a late Pamphlet entitled, A Letter from a Freeholder of Buckinghamshire, to a Friend in London, etc. in another Letter from an assured Hand. 1679.  
YOU oblige me very much in sending me the News of the Town, accompanied with those many Pamphlets, whereof I perceive the Press (at this time without restraint) is grown very fruitful, being now made use of, not only to give vent to Public Discontents, but also to serve private and particular turns; of which that Pamphlet entitled, A Letter from a Freeholder of Buckinghamshire to a Friend in London, concerning the Election of Knights of the Shire for the said County, is a pregnant instance; an impartial account whereof, since you are pleased to require it from me, being an Affair at which I was present, and privy to the whole transaction, I cannot refuse to give you.  
And first, I must necessarily inform you of the occasion of this Adjournment; the High-Sheriff being a Neighbour of the Town of Buckingham, and having before the last Parliament engaged himself to several Persons of Quality (his Neighbours) to appoint the said Election there, being the Ancient Shire-Town, and having laid his Commands upon the Under-Sheriff for that purpose; nevertheless, contrary to his duty, he being an Inhabitant of Ailesbury, was prevailed with to bring the said Election thither, without the privity or consent of his High-Sheriff, of which practice the High-Sheriff expressed a great resentment at the time of the said Election, and was hardly dissuaded by the Duke of Bucks, and the rest of the Gentlemen then present, from adjourning the same then to Buckingham, the Under-Sheriff also serving himself of their Intercession to salve this matter, and promising faithfully, if the like opportunity happened, during his Shrievalty, that he would not fail to deliver the Writ to the High-Sheriff, and observe his Commands in all things relating thereunto; which promise he also renewed several times since the last dissolution, at the last Assizes, and after, both by word and Letter.  
Mr. Hampden the younger having obtained the Writ for this last Election, caused the same to be delivered to the Under-Sheriff, who gave an account thereof to his High-Sheriff by Letter of the 6th of August, professing therein, that if his High-Sheriff had any intentions of bringing it to Bucks, he was ready to obey him therein: whereupon he sent to him to attend him with the Writ, but the next day, being the 7th of Aug. he received another Letter from him, intimating, that at the Election of Ailesbury, he had been so threatened by the Gentlemen that met upon that occasion, that both he and his High-Sheriff should be complained of in the next Parliament, in case they adjourned the Court, that he durst not but represent the same to him, and further, in a Postscript, said, that Panic fear they put him into had so prevailed upon him, that he had issued forth Precepts to give notice, that the next County-Court was to be held at Ailesbury, but no way to limit the Election to be held there, as is falsely related in the said Pamphlet.  
The High-Sheriff thereupon, to prevent all unnecessary trouble to the Country, did issue forth his Precepts immediately to all his Bailiffs of the several Hundred of the County, to give notice to the High-Constables of each Division, willing them to give notice to the Petty Constables of his Resolutions to adjourn the same County-Court to Buckingham, which were duly executed by all the Bailiffs in all parts of the County, but stopped and suppressed in the hands of the High-Constables in the three Hundreds of the Chiltrens, and other parts about Ailesbury, by the endeavours of some Gentlemen that were concerned for Ailesbury, to whom the Country, if they received any unnecessary trouble thereby, and not to the High-Sheriff, do own the blame; and not that the Bailiffs did decline it upon any Illegality, as is falsely suggested.  
Which Resolution the said High-Sheriff had taken in favour of Sir Peter Tyrrell, and his Party, who stood in Competition with the Lord Lattymer, and whose Interest was Espoused at the former Election by the Duke of Bucks, in a very strange and extraordinary manner (of which I suppose you are not ignorant) as also at this last Election, although he was not present, as he designed to be, whose not succeeding therein, is the true ground of all that rancour and animosity the Duke hath expressed against the Town, and Sir Richard Temple, and of all those Libels against them, and nicknames so often mentioned in that Pamphlet, which hath been so falsely given him, of which I think it no unnecessary digression to give you this short account.  
The Town of Bucks, after the Dissolution of the Convention that brought in the King; having severally given their words to Sir Richard Temple, and Sir William Smith, to choose them as Burgesses for the next Parliament, and the Duke of Bucks having engaged Sir Richard to promote his Secretary, Mr. Matthew Clifford, Sir William Smith called in Mr. John Dormer of Lee, lately deceased, to join against him; but finding their Interest too weak, betook themselves to several Arts to draw off the Town from Sir Richard; amongst the rest, they wrote a Letter to the Town, taking notice, that the Town was impoverished much for want of Public Meetings, and supposed the greatest cause was, the want of a convenient Town-Hall, which they were resolved to build; of which Proposition Sir R. T. having notice, wrote a Letter to the Town from London, to this effect, That he hoped those Gentlemen had no design to stand for Burgesses, since such practices would make the Election illegal, and void; for which reason, he hoped the Town did not expect, that at this time he should follow their Example: Nevertheless, this Proposition was so pursued in his absence by the aforesaid Gentlemen, that the Ground was viewed, and three hundred pounds laid down by Mr. Dormer, Sir William Smith engaging to lay down the other three hundred; whereupon a Friend of Sir R. T's. that lived in the Town, being sent to by the Bailiff and Burgesses, the matter was pressed upon him, that these Gent. had thought it lawful and safe to do this for the Town, and therefore Sir R. ought not to decline doing something for them; he apprehending lest this should cause some sudden change in them towards Sir R. told them, that though he had no order from Sir R. yet he would venture to begin the building of one half of it, if the other two Gentlemen would build the other half, and immediately sent to know what Timber was in the Town, and bought it up to the value of forty pound, and if it were safe, he said he doubted not Sir R. would thank him for it, and go thorough with it; but as soon as Sir R. had advice thereof, he writ him word that it was a thing not to be done, and he would come down and further satisfy both him and his Friends concerning it; which he did forthwith, and then calling the Bailiff and Burgesses together, declared that he neither could nor would engage in this or any like matter, whether they would choose him or no; and after this he had but six Voices, and Mr. Dormer five, and the Competition was very hot between them who should gain the other two, which when Sir R. T. effected, Dormer turned over all his Voices to Sir Wi●●iam Tyrringham, with whom also he had a great Contest, who without doubt could they have made any thing of this story, would have made use of it against him; though it be now revived by his Enemies, upon this occasion, to colour their irregular proceeding at the former Election. But that he ever carried a chip of this away from the Town, or brought any thither, as hath been falsely and maliciously reported, is well know to the Town and Country to be a notorious untruth, the same having remained ever since in the Town where it was bought, and having been long since given to the Town, to be employed as they should think fit.  
But to return to our former story; Sir Peter Tyrrel and his friends, having the Conduct of the bringing the Election to Buckingham, accompanied the High Sherriff to Ailesbury on Tuesday the 19 of Aug. cir●ying with him as many Freeholders', as might make a Jury; nor was Sir R. T. called into it until the matter was actually to be done, when the High Sherriff invited him to go along with him to Ailesbury, but some occasions prevented him that he came after him.  
The next morning was appointed for them all to meet in Court, where the adjournment was delayed till near eight of the clock, for the Under-Sherriffs coming; nor did the said Mr. Hambden or the Country come in till after eight, or the Duke of Buckingham, though he came there overnight, express any dissatisfaction to the High-Sherriff, or opposition to the adjournment, the obligation he had to the Town of Buckingham, and concern for Sir P. T. making the Sherriff and all others believe he came in favour of it, though it appeared quite contrary afterwards.  
The Duke of Buckingham at the instigation (as is supposed) of the Tar-box Justice Sir J. B. an upstart and great incendiary amongst his Neighbours, and a professed enemy to Buckingham; having borrowed the Chair at the last Sessions, to affront and abuse the Town, and reviled them at the last Assizes; for which he was justly and publicly rebuked by the Judge, did endeavour to engage the Country, who were come into Ailesbury, to make a halt at Winslow, and the next morning arriving before eight of the Clock at Buckingham, prevailed with the under Sherriff to put a further affront upon the High Sherriff, and adjourned the Court before he came, which was not long after eight. But as for the accident that is related of the Sherriffs encounter with a Parson, there is nothing more notoriously false; the matter being barely thus, that the Inn yard, to which the Court was adjourned, being very full, the Sheriff at his entrance finding his way obstructed, and his men endeavouring to make way, he clapped Spurs to his Horse to ride in, and by accident the Horses hind legs slipped up and fell with him, but there was neither a crying out a Hambden or a Wharton by the Parson, nor a whipping of him by the Sherriff, or any attempt of the Parson upon the Sheriff, or other matters, save only that he stood in the way accidentally next him with others; these passages being not only false but very ridiculous, the Sherriff having half a score men with him well Horsed and Armed, who certainly would not have endured any affront to be put upon him of this kind.  
As to that Adventure of his Son, the matter was thus; The Son was sent by the Father to the Under-Sherriff, to know, since the Election was past, where the Indentures would be sealed; which Message the Son delivered some thing too pleasantly, calling him Mr. High-Sherriff, to which the Under-Sherriff replied, That he was sealing them there upon the place; he added afterwards, as he related to his Father, not the demand of a Poll; but whether any Poll had been demanded, which he alleged he did for his Father's security, since the Return was making, for that at his coming out of Town, the Streets being full of Free holder's, cried, a Chester, and a Verney, as it seems they had done the Night before, not twenty or thirty Boys by order, as is related, but by Newport three Hundreds, who came there the day before, and lodged there all night; but we will suppose he made such demand as is related, though the Crowd that was about him was such at the delivery of his message, and the noise, that those that were nearest him were not able to give any true account thereof, and that he erred in the Method of it, in not naming the person; yet having declined it, when better informed, and rid civilly away from the Company, yet he being a Freeholder, at present had a right to demand a Poll if he would, and might further have insisted upon it for those Gentlemen that were cried up; therefore there was little ground for that notorious riot then committed; which was begun by an eminent and overbusy person, who, upon his going off, called to him to speak with him, and when he came up to him struck him with a great Truncheon of Oak which he brought with him into the Field, though the blow fell short of his Head, and brushing on his Belly lighted upon his Horse, by whose Example the Multitude were encouraged to follow him into the Town, not only with Whips, but naked Swords, crying, kill him, prick him in the back, and several times stopping of him in the way, and endeavouring to pull him off his Horse, and pursued him with that violence into the Town, that he was forced to run in at a Wicket of a Gate to save his life, where his Horse could scarce be brought out afterward; nor were they herewith appeased, but endeavoured forcibly to enter the House, breaking the Windows, and searching the Stables for his Horse, and affrighted the Maid-Servant to that degree with Swords and Pistols, that they put her into Convulsion-Fits, and pursued their Riot, until by some of the Sherriffs' men that were left behind him, and Constables of the Town, they were endeavoured to be seized and chased back; of all which proceed, I suppose, there will be a further account taken according to Law. As to those reproachful words they gave of the Burgesses that were chosen, it was begun only by Sir Tarbox Busbie, and some small party that followed him of the Rabble, and not seconded by any person of Quality; nor did the Knights of the Shire, nor any other that I could be informed of, declare any aversion to the Town upon the account of the Election, but were willing enough to have stayed in the Town, had it not been for the Duke of Buckingham, and the aforesaid Sir T. B.  
Thus, Sir, I have given you a just account of this matter, I shall now only add, that it is worth the remarking, that those who gave their Voices for Sir Peter Tyrrel, at the Election of the Town, all offered their services to the Lord Lattymer before, and at the very morning of the Election, though they take all ways by Libels and otherwise to reproach the Town for it, and that the intermeddling of Peers of the Realm in Elections, made by the Commons, is very illegal, and hath been frequently complained of in Parliament, as a high Invasion of the liberty of the Subject, and may be of evil Consequence if countenanced for the future.  
Buckingham, Aug. 30. 1679.  
FINIS.