The process is in the form of a petition and complaint against Brodie, Smith, and Ainslie. It states that, on a certain night in January last, he, Hamilton, accidentally met with these persons in the house of Clark, vintner, at the head of the Fleshmarket Close; that when he joined them there playing at dice, that, suspecting no fraud or deceit, he had joined in the amusement, and, in a short space, lost six guineas, and some odd shillings; that, being surprised how this could happen, he seized on the dice, and had them examined, and discovered that they were loaded or false dice, filled at one end or corner with lead; and he concludes with praying for a warrant to apprehend and incarcerate the said persons, until they should repeat the sum of which he had been so defrauded, and pay a sum over and above, in name of damages and expenses.

Answers were given in for Mr. Brodie to this complaint, and separate answers for Smith and Ainslie.

They stated, in general, that, on the evening mentioned in the petition, they were innocently amusing themselves with a game at dice over a glass of punch, and that the petitioner intruded himself upon their company; that, if false dice were used on that occasion, it was unknown to the defenders, as the dice they played with belonged to the house; that, if the petitioner had lost the sum he alleged, it had not been gained by the defenders, as Smith and Ainslie had said, that, so far from gaining any thing that evening, they had lost, and Brodie said he had only gained 7s. 6d.; that the prisoner himself was a noted adept in the science of gambling; and it was not very credible that he would have allowed himself to be imposed upon in the manner he had alleged.

The replies for Hamilton to these answers are a curious production. After stating the nature of the complaint, and the defences that had been made to it for Brodie, Smith, and Ainslie, they say, “A wonderful story indeed! Smith and Ainslie, two noted sharpers at the business, in their answers, assert they were losers, and innocent Mr Brodie avers he was only a gainer in this paltry trifle of 7s. 6d.; and yet the petitioner finds himself out of pocket near as many guineas as that gentleman says he received of shillings. Certain, however, it is, that in their company, by undue means, he lost five guinea notes, two half guineas in gold, and six shillings in silver, before he suspected the fraud.”

“Neither Dr Katterfelto, nor Breslaw, were present to transmute it. Unless, therefore, some of their learned pupils had not been very near him he would have been in possession of his money at this moment. Mr Brodie knows nothing about, and is entirely ignorant of such devices and always considered all dice to be alike. It is, says he in his answers, the petitioner who ‘is such an adept in the science, as to be alone capable of using such instruments and of explaining the nature of them.’

“Miserable!—that the petitioner, a deemed sharper, should be taken in by a pigeon, to use the lingua of the Club. But so it has happened. Mr Brodie knows nothing of such vile tricks—not he! He never made them his study—not he! Never was at either pains or expense to acquire them, nor ever studied under Mr Breslaw, &c., &c., for that very special purpose—not he indeed! Mr Brodie never haunted night-houses, where nothing but the blackest and vilest arts were practised to catch a pigeon; nor ever was accessary either by himself or others in his combination, to behold the poor young creature plucked alive, and not one feather left upon its wings—not he indeed! He never was accessory to see or be concerned in fleecing the ignorant, the thoughtless, the young, and the unwary, nor ever made it his study, his anxious study, with unwearied concern, at midnight hours, to haunt rooms where he thought of meeting with the company from which there was a possibility of fetching from a scurvy sixpence to a hundred guineas—not he indeed! He is unacquainted altogether with packing or shuffling a set of cards—he is indeed! Mr Brodie, in all his innocent amusements, never met with any person, who, after having been fleeced of money to the amount or a hundred pounds, and detected of the vile and dishonest methods by which it had been abstracted from him, received, as a return for his moral rectitude, a very handsome incision on the eye—never he indeed! He never was in such company, nor ever met with such accident—not he! It is only the petitioner, or such like him, who are known and adepts in the devices—which Mr Brodie very modestly says he is innocent of—who could be guilty of such practices, and receive such returns.

“But, however certain Mr Brodie’s innocence may be on these scores, previous to the 17th January current, it is as certain that on that night, both him and Ainslie, and Smith, had acquired more complete knowledge of the business of gambling than the petitioner; for, notwithstanding all his art, they went infinitely beyond him; he was totally at a loss when he observed the dice take such a run; not indeed but he was apprehensive something was going on unfair and ungenerous. At last, having been despoiled of his money, he seized them, and discovered the charm. For this unjustifiable procedure in the defender, the petitioner is confident every good magistrate will feel it their duty to give him reparation; and it is their business to check these infamous proceedings, be they followed by whatsoever person they may; for, the greater the man is, and the weightier his purse, the more is he the object of justice and example; and the lower the man is in rank or station, who suffers by such, the louder is the cry and more the demand for redress.

“If, so long ago as the 1711, the Legislature had perceived its pernicious consequences, how much is it the duty of those to whom its execution is entrusted to act up to its very letter; when it is a fact, that, in these modern times, gaming of every kind has pervaded all ranks; from the stable-boy to the Peer it is the subject of study and of practice; and some of every denomination have made it their chief business to attain the method or art how to cheat his neighbour the best; his neighbour, nay, his friend and companion, who never would have suspected such a latent serpent lay in his breast.

“There are living instances of men, who, though born to independence and enjoying most ample fortune, can intermix with the very lowest class of the multitude, and even court this company from motives prompted surely by the principles only of rapacity and avarice; and, without shame or remorse, use the most unjustifiable and dishonest practices to fleece them of their little pittance—pittances so much below their envy, that a relation of them would not bear the appearance of truth; and what must these men appear to be in the mind of every good person; yet still there are such who demean themselves to these practices, and, rather than associate with their equals, will descend to keep company with ostlers, pedlars, and stable-boys.”