all, to do homage to him as their superior
Lord; and when they hesitated, he said, " By
holy Edward, whose crown I wear, I will
have my rights, or I will die in maintaining
them! " The Scottish gentlemen, who had
not expected this, were disconcerted, and
asked for three weeks to think about it.

At the end of the three weeks, another
meeting took place, on a green plain on the
Scottish side of the river. Of all the competitors
for the Scottish throne, there were only
two who had any real claim, in right of their
near kindred to the Royal family. These were
JOHN BALIOL and ROBERT BRUCE: and the
right was, I have no doubt, on the side of
John Baliol. At this particular meeting
John Baliol was not present, but Robert Bruce
was; and on Robert Bruce being formally
asked whether he acknowledged the King of
England for his superior lord, he answered,
plainly and distinctly, Yes, he did. Next day,
John Baliol appeared, and said the same.
This point settled, some arrangements were
made for inquiring into their titles.

The inquiry occupied a pretty long time—
more than a year. While it was going on,
King Edward took the opportunity of making
a journey through Scotland, and calling upon
the Scottish people of all degrees to acknowledge
themselves his vassals, or be imprisoned
until they did. In the meanwhile,
Commissioners were appointed to conduct the inquiry,
a Parliament was held at Berwick about it,
the two claimants were heard at full length,
and there was a vast amount of talking. At
last, in the great hall of the Castle of Berwick,
the King gave judgment in favour of John
Baliol: who, consenting to receive his crown
by the King of England's favour and permission,
was crowned at Scone, in an old stone
chair which had been used for ages in the
abbey there, at the coronations of Scottish
Kings. Then, King Edward caused the great
seal of Scotland, used since the late King's
death, to be broken in four pieces, and placed
in the English Treasury; and considered that
he now had Scotland (according to the common
saying) under his thumb.

Scotland had a strong will of its own yet,
however. King Edward, determined that
the Scottish King should not forget he was
his vassal, summoned him repeatedly to come
and defend himself and his Judges before the
English Parliament when appeals from the
decisions of Scottish courts of justice were
being heard. At length, John Baliol, who
had no great heart of his own, had so much
heart put into him by the brave spirit of the
Scottish people, who took this as a national
insult, that he refused to come any more.
Thereupon, the King further required him to
help him in his war abroad (which was then
in progress), and to give up, as security for
his good behaviour in future, the three strong
Scottish Castles of Jedburgh, Roxburgh, and
Berwick. Nothing of this being done; on
the contrary, the Scottish people concealing
their King among their mountains in the
Highlands and showing a determination to
resist, Edward marched to Berwick with an
army of thirty thousand foot, and four
thousand horse; took the Castle, and slew its
whole garrison, and the inhabitants of the
town as well—men, women, and children.
LORD WARRENNE, Earl of Surrey, then went
on to the Castle of Dunbar, before which a
battle was fought, and the whole Scottish
army defeated with great slaughter. The
victory being complete, the Earl of Surrey
was left as guardian of Scotland; the principal
offices in that kingdom were given to Englishmen;
the more powerful Scottish Nobles were
obliged to come and live in England; the
Scottish crown and sceptre were brought
away; and even the old stone chair was carried
off and placed in Westminster Abbey, where
you may see it now. Baliol had the Tower
of London lent him for a residence, with
permission to range about within a circle of
twenty miles. Three years afterwards he was
allowed to go to Normandy, where he had
estates, and where he passed the remaining
six years of his life: far more happily, I dare
say, than he had lived for a long while in
angry Scotland.

Now, there was, in the West of Scotland, a
gentleman of small fortune, named WILLIAM
WALLACE, the second son of a Scottish knight
He was a man of great size and great
strength; he was very brave and daring;
when he spoke to a body of his countrymen,
he could rouse them in a wonderful manner
by the power of his burning words; he loved
Scotland dearly, and he hated England with
his utmost might. The domineering conduct
of the English who now held the places of
trust in Scotland made them as intolerable to
the proud Scottish people, as they had been,
under similar circumstances, to the Welsh;
and no man in all Scotland regarded them
with so much smothered rage as William
Wallace. One day, an Englishman in office,
little knowing what he was, affronted him.
Wallace instantly struck him dead, and taking
refuge among the rocks and hills, and there
joining with his countryman, SIR WILLIAM
DOUGLAS, who was also in arms against King
Edward, became the most resolute and
undaunted champion of a people struggling for
their independence that ever lived upon the
earth.

The English Guardian of the Kingdom fled
before him, and, thus encouraged, the Scottish
people revolted everywhere, and fell upon the
English without mercy. The Earl of Surrey,
by the King's commands, raised all the power
of the border counties, and two English
armies poured into Scotland. Only one Chief,
in the face of those armies, stood by Wallace,
who, with a force of forty thousand men,
awaited the invaders at a place called
Cambuskenneth, on the river Forth, opposite to
Stirling. Across the river there was only one
poor wooden bridge—so narrow, that but two