brother, was the nearest in degree. He admitted, that after the death of Malcolm III. his brother ufurped the throne; but he contended, that the fon of Malcolm complained to his lege lord the king of England, who difpoffeffed the ufurper, and placed the son of Malcolm on the throne; that after the death of that fon the brother of Malcolm III. again ufurped the throne; but the king of England again difpoffeffed him, and raised Edgar, the fecond fon of Malcolm, to the fovereignty. 4. Bruce pleaded, that there are examples in other countries, particularly in Spain and Savoy, where the fon of the fecond daughter excluded the grandfon of the eldest daughter. Baliol anfwered, that examples from foreign countries are of no importance; for that according to the laws of England and Scotland, where kings reign by fucceffion in the direct line, and earls and barons fucceed in like manner, the iffue of the younger fifter, although nearer in degree, excludes not the iffue of the eldeft fifter, although more remote; but the fucceffion continues in the direct line. 5. Bruce pleaded, that a female ought not to reign, as being incapable of governing: That at the death of Alexander III. the mother of Baliol was alive; and as the could not reign, the kingdom devolved upon him, as being the nearest male heir of the blood royal. But to this Baliol replied, that Bruce's argument was inconfiftent with his claim: for that if a female ought not to reign, Ifabella the mother of Bruce ought not, nor muft Bruce himself claim through her. Befides, Bruce himself had fworn fealty to a female, the maiden of Norway. The arguments being thus ftated on both fides, Edward demanded an answer from the council as to the merits of the competitors. He alfo put the following queftion to them: By the laws and ufages of both kingdoms, does the iffue of the eldeft fifter, though more remote in one degree, exclude the iffue of the fecond fifter, though nearer in one degree? or ought the nearer in one degree, iffuing from the fecond fifter to exclude the more remote in one degree iffuing from the eldeft fifter? To this it was anfwered unanimously, That by the laws and ufages of both kingdoms, in every heritable fucceffion, the more remote in one degree lineally defcended from the eldeft fifter, was preferable to the nearer in degree iffuing from the second fifter. In confequence of this Bruce was excinded from the fucceffion; upon which he entered a claim for one third of the kingdom: but being baffled in this alfo, the kingdom of Scotland being determined an indivifible fee, Edward ordered Johs Baliol to have seifin of Scotland; with this caveat, however, "That this judgment fhould not impair his claim to the property of Scotland."

they ought to proceed to judgment; and, fup poling there could be no law or precedent found in the two kingdoms, in what manner? 2. Whether the kingdom of Scotland ought to be taken in the fame view as all other fiefs, and to be awarded in the same manner as earldoms and baronies? The commiffioners replied, that Edward ought to give juftice conformable to the ufage of the two kingdoms; but that if no certain laws or precedents could be found, he might, by the advice of his great men, enact a new law. In anfwer to the fecond queftion they said, that the fucceffion to the kingdom might be awarded in the fame manner as to other eftates and great baronies. Upon this, Edward ordered Bruce and Baliol to be called before him, and both of them urged their respective pleas, and answers, to the following purpose: Bruce pleaded, 1. That Alexander II. defpairing of heirs of his own body, had declared that he held him to be the true heir, and offered to prove by the teftimony of perfons ftill alive, that he declared this with the advice and in the prefence of the good men of his kingdom. Alexander III. alfo had declared to thofe with whom he was intimate, that, failing iffue of his own body, Bruce was his right heir. The people of Scotland had also taken an oath for maintaining the fucceffion of the neareft in blood to Alexander III. who ought of right to inherit, failing Margaret the maiden of Norway and her iffueBaliol answered, that nothing could be concluded from the acknowledgement of Alexander II. for that he left heirs of his body; but made no answer to what was faid of the fentiments of Alexander III. and of the oath made by the Scottish nation to maintain the fucceffion of the next of blood. 2. Bruce pleaded, that the right of reign. ing ought to be decided according to the natural law, by which kings reign; and not according to any law or ufage in force between fubject and fubject: That by the law of nature, the neareft col lateral in blood has a right to the crown; but that the conftitutions which prevail among vaffals, bind not the lord, much lefs the fovereign: That although in private inheritances, which are divifible, the eldeft female heir has a certain prerogative, it is not fo in a kingdom that is indivifible; there the nearest heir of blood is preferable whenever the fucceffion opens.-To this Baliol replied, that the claimants were in the court of their lord paramount; and that he ought to give judgment in this cafe, as in the cafe of any other tenements, depending on his crown, that is, by the common law and ufage of his kingdom, and no other. That by the laws and ufages of England, the eldeft female heir is preferred in the fucceffion to all inherit ances, indivifible as well as divifible. 3. It was urged by Bruce, that the manner of fucceffion to the kingdom of Scotland in former times, made for his claim; for that the brother, as being neareft in degree, was wont to be preferred to the fon of the deceased king. Thus when Kenneth Macal pin died, his brother Donald was preferred to his fon Conftantine, and this was confirmed by feveral other authentic inftances in the hiftory of Scotland. Baliol answered, that if the brother was preferred to the fon of the king, the example -proved againft Bruce; for that the fon, not the

(27) SCOTLAND, HISTORY OF, UNDER JOHN BALIOL, TILL HIS RESIGNATION. After fo many difgraceful and humiliating conceffions on the part of the Scots, John Balio was crowned king at Scone, on the 30th November 1292; and finithed the ceremony by doing homage to the king of England. All his fubmiffions, however, could not fatisfy Edward, as long as the leaft fhadow of independence remained to Scotland. A citizen of Berwick appealed from a fentence of the Scots judges appointed by Edward, in order to

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niece of the French king, in renouncing his fealty, in attacking the English territories, and in refifting Edward. He acknowledged the juftice of the English invafion and conqueft; and therefore he, of his own free confent, refigned Scotland, its people, and their homage to his liege lord Edward, 2d July 1296.

(28.) SCOTLAND, HISTORY OF, UNDER KING EDWARD'S TYRANNY, TILL WALLACE'S VICTORY AT STIRLING. Edward pursued his conquefts, the barons everywhere crowding in to fwear fealty to him, and renounce their allegiance with France. His journey ended at Elgin, from whence he returned fouthward; and, as an evidence of his having made an abfolute conquest of Scotland, he carried off from Scone the wooden chair in which the kings were wont to be crowned. This chair had for its bottom the fatal marble ftone regarded as the national palladium. (See DUNSTAFFNAGE.) Some of the charters belonging to the abbey were carried off, and the feals torn from others. On the 28th Auguft 1296 Edward held a parliament at Berwick, where he received the fealty of the clergy and laity of Scotland. Among those who profeffed their allegiance at this parliament was Robert Bruce the younger, earl of Carrick. (See BRUCE, N° 4.) After this, Edward took the moft effectual methods of fecuring his new conqueft. He ordered the eftates of the clergy to be restored; and having received the fealty of the widows of many of the Scottish barons, he put them in poffeffion of their jointure-lands, and even made a decent provifion for the wives of many of his prifoners. Yet, though in every thing he behaved with great moderation towards the Scots, he committed the government of certain diftricts, and of the chief caftles in the fouth of Scotland, to his English fubjects, of whofe fidelity and vigilance he thought himfelf affured. To conciliate the affections of the clergy, he granted to the Scottish bishops for ever the privilege of bequeathing their effects by will, in the fame manner as that privilege was enjoyed by the archbishops and bishops of England. In honour of the "glorious Confeffor St Cuthbert," he gave to the monks of Durham an annual penfion of 40 pounds, payable out of the revenues of Scotland, by the tenure of maintaining, before the shrine of the faint, two wax tapers of 20 pounds weight each, and of diftributing twice a-year one penny each to 3000 indigent perfons. At laft, having fettled every thing, as he thought, in tranquillity, he departed for England, with all the pride of a conqueror. The tranquillity established by Edward, however, was of fhort duration. The government of Scotland at that time required many qualities which Edward's vicegerents had not. Warrene, earl of Surry, who had been appointed governor, took up his abode in England, on pretence of recovering his health. Creffingham, the treasurer, was a voluptuous, proud, and felfish ecclefiaftic; while Ormefby the jufticiary was hated for his feverity. Under thefe officers the administration of Edward became more and more feeble; bands of robbers infested the highways, and the English government was univerfally defpifed. At this critical moment arofe Sir WILLIAM WALLACE, the hero fo much celebrated in Scottish poetry, and

by which indeed his real exploits are fo much obfcured that it is difficult to give an authentic relation of them. He was the younger fon of Wallace of Ellerflie, in the neighbourhood of Paifley. Having been outlawed for fome offence (supposed to have been the killing of an Engishman), he affociated with a few companions, of fortunes equally defperate with his own. Wallace himself was endowed with great strength and courage, and an active and ambitious fpirit; and by his affability, eloquence, and wisdom, he mintained an authority over the rude and undifciplined multitudes who flocked to his standard. In May 1297 he began to infeft the English quarters; and being fuccefsful in his predatory incurfions, his party became more numerous, and he was joined by Sir William Douglas. With their united forces thefe two allies attempted to furprise Ormesby the jufticiary, while he held his courts at Scone; but he faved himself by a precipitate flight. After this the Scots roved over the whole country, affaulted caftles, and massacred the English. Their party was joined by many perfons of rank; among whom were Robert Wifheart bishop of Glasgow, the Steward of Scotland, and his brother Alexander de Lindefay, Sir Richard Lundin, and Sir Andrew Moray of Bothwell. Young Bruce would have been a vaft acceffion to the party; for he poffeffed all Carrick and Annandale, fo that his territories reached from the frith of Clyde to Solway; but the wardens of the western marches of England fufpected his fidelity, and fummoned him to Carlisle. He obeyed, and made oath on the confecrated hoft, and on the fword of Becket, to be faithful and vigilant in the caufe of Edward; and to prove his fincerity, he invaded the eftate of Sir William Douglas, and carried off his wife and children. However, he inftantly repented of what he had done: "I truft (said he), that the pope will abfolve me from an extorted oath," on which he abandoned Edward, and joined the Scottish army. All this time Edward was in France, not in the leaft fufpecting an infurrection among people whom he imagined he had thoroughly fubdued. As foon as he received the intelligence, he ordered the earl of Surry to fupprefs the rebels; but he declining the command of the army himself on account of his health, refigned it to his nephew, Lord Henry Percy. A great army, fome fay no fewer than 40.cco men, was now affembled, with which Percy marched against the Scots. He found them encamped at Irvine, with a lake in their front, and their flanks fecured by entrenchments, fo that they could not be attacked without the utmost danger. The Scots, however, ruined every thing by their diffenfions. Wallace was envied on account of his accomplishments, which had raised his reputation above the other officers, whofe birth and circum. ftances were higher than his. His companions accordingly became jealous, and began to fuggeft, that an oppofition to the English could only be productive of farther national deftruction. Sir Richard Lundin, an officer of great rank, formed a party against Wallace, and went over to Edward with all his followers. He attempted to juftify his treachery, by saying, "I will remain no longer of a party that is at variance with N 2

itself,

the caftle of Dundee, he was informed that the English army approached Stirling. Wallace, having charged the citizens of Dundee, under the pain of death, to continue the blockade of the caftle, haftened with all his troops to guard the important paffage of the Forth; and encamped behind a rifing ground in the neighbourhood of the abbey of Cambuskenneth. Brian Fitz-Allan had been appointed governor of Scotland by Edward; but Warrenne, who waited the arrival of his fucceffor, remained with the army. Imagining that Wallace might be induced by fair means to lay down his arms, he difpatched two friars to the Scottish camp, with terms of capitulation. "Return," said Wallace," and tell your mafters, that we came not here to treat, but to affert our right, and to fet Scotland free. Let them advance, they will find us prepared." The English, provoked at this anfwer, demanded impatiently to be led on to battle. Sir Richard Lundin remonstrated against the abfurdity of making a numerous army pafs by a long narrow bridge in prefence of the enemy. He told them that the Scots would attack them before they could form on the plain to the north of the bridge, and thus certainly defeat them; at the fame time he offered to fhew them a ford, which, having croffed with 500 horfe and a chofen detachment of infantry, he propofed to come round upon the rear of the enemy, and by this diverfion facilitate the operations of the main body. But this propofal being rejected, the English army began to pafs over; which was no fooner perceived by Wallace, than he rushed down upon them, and broke them in a moment. Creffingham the treafurer was killed, and many thousands were flain on the field, or drowned in their flight. The lofs of the Scots would have been inconfiderable, had it not been for that of Sir Andrew Moray, the intimate friend and companion of Wallace, who was mortally wounded in the engagement. The Scots are faid to have treated the dead body of Creffingham with the utmoft indignity; to have flead him, and cut his fkin into pieces, which they divided among themselves; while others tell us, they used it for making girths and saddles.

Atfelf;" without confidering that he himself and his party were partly the occafion of that variance. Other leaders entered into a negociation with the English. Bruce, the Steward, and his brother Alexander de Lindefay, and Sir William Douglas, acknowledged their offences, and made fubmiffions to Edward for themselves and their adherents. This fcandalous treaty feems to have been negociated by the bishop of Glasgow, and their recantation is recorded in the following words:"Be it known to all men: Whereas we, with the commons of our country, did rife in arms against our lord Edward, and against his peace, in his territories of Scotland and Galloway, did burn, flay, and commit divers robberies; we therefore, in our own name, and in the name of all our adherents, agree to make every reparation and atonement that fhall be required by our fovereign lord referving always what is contained in a writing which we have procured from Sir Henry Percy and Sir Robert Clifford, commanders of the English forces; at Irvine, 9th July, 1297." To this inftrument was fubjoined, " Efcrite a Sire Willaume," the meaning of which Lord Hailes fuppofes to be, that the barons had notified to Sir William Wallace their having made terms of accommodation for themselves and their party. Edward accepted the fubmiffion of the Scottish barons who had been in arms, and granted liberty to those whom he had made prifoners in the courfe of the former year, on condition that they fhould ferve him in his wars against France. The inconftancy of Bruce, however, was fo great, that acknowledgments of fubmiffion or oaths of fealty were not thought fufficiently binding on him; for which reason the bishop of Glasgow, the Steward, and Alexander de Lindefay, became fureties for his loyalty and good behaviour, until he fhould deliver his daughter Marjory as an hoftage. WALLACE alone refufed to be concerned in these fhameful fubmiffions; and, with a few refolute followers, refolved to fubmit to every calamity rather than give up the liberty of his country. The barons had undertaken to procure his fubmiffion as well as their own; but finding that to be impoffible, the bishop of Glafgow and Sir William Douglas voluntarily furrendered themfelves prifoners to the English. Edward, however, afcribed this voluntary furrender, not to any honourable motive, but to treachery. He afferted, that Wifheart repaired to the caftle of Roxburgh under pretence of yielding himself up, but with the concealed purpose of forming a confpiracy to betray that caftle to the Scots; and in proof of this, Edward appealed to intercepted letters of Wifheart. On the other hand, Wallace, afcribing the bishop's conduct to traiterous pufillanimity, plundered his houfe, and carried off his family captives. Immediately after the defection of the barons at Irvine, Wallace, with his band of determined followers, attacked the rear of the English army, and plundered their baggage; but was obliged to retire, with the lofs of 1000 men. He then found himself deferted by almoft all the men of eminence and property. His army, however, increased confiderably by the acceffion of numbers of if ferior rank, and he again began to act on the ollenfive. While he employed himself in befieging

(29.) SCOTLAND, HISTORY OF, UNDER SIR WILLIAM WALLACE, TILL THE BATTLE OF FALKIRK. The victory at Stirling was followed by the furrender of Dundee caftle and other places of ftrength in Scotland; at the fame time the Scots took poffeffion of Berwick, which the English had evacuated. But as a famine now took place in Scotland by the bad seasons and miseries of war, Wallace marched with his whole army into England, that he might in fome measure relieve the neceffities of his countrymen by plundering the enemy. This expedition lafted three weeks, during which time the whole country from Cockermouth and Carlifle to the gates of Newcastle was laid wafte, with all the fury of revenge and rapacity; though Wallace endeavoured, as far as poffible, to reprefs the licentioufpefs of his foldiers. In 1298 Wallace affumed the title of "Governor of Scotland," in name of king John, and by confent of the Scottish nation; but in what manner this office was obtained is now in a great measure unknown. In a parliament which he convoked at Perth, he was confirmed in his authority; and

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