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of plans for the improvement of those desolate regions. The want of capital, the want of fuel, and a tempestuous and rainy climate, hostile to vegetation, are formidable obstacles to the introduction of manufactures, and the improvement of agriculture. The scarcity of fuel in many respects counterbalances the cheapness of living. It is not less interesting than curious, that most of these northern and western isles, which are now totally destitute of trees, and where none can, without extreme difficulty, be raised, afford evident indications that they once abounded in wood. Numerous roots and trunks of large trees, found in the morasses, are unequivocal proofs of the fact; and it must be left to the naturalist to account for this singular circumstance. The fisheries, which may be carried on with a much less capital than any considerable manufacturing enterprise, seem to be the only channel that nature has pointed out for the primary introduction of that wealth, which must serve as a basis to every further improvement.

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The first authentic accounts that we have of the Scots is from the Romans. Of a country so remote, and never subject entirely to their dominion, they could not acquire any accurate knowledge. It appears, however, that Scotland was anciently inhabited by tribes of different origin. The Caledonians, supposed to have been a Celtic or perhaps Gothic colony, were, in all probability, the primitive inhabitants. The Picts seem to have been those Britons whom the Roman conquest drove northward; and the Scots were probably a Celtic colony, which first settled in Ireland, and afterwards passed over from that country, and formed establishments in Scotland. Caledonia, however, was the name by which the coun

try was known to the Romans, and Caledonians that by which they distinguished its people. When Agricola first carried the Roman arms into that country, he found it possessed by a fierce and warlike race, whom he defeated in that memorable battle, in which they made, under Galgacus their king, so glorious a stand against foreign invasion. The Caledonians, although repulsed, were not conquered: and the Romans, after being long harassed by their desultory inroads, at last constructed the famous wall between the firths of Forth and Clyde, and here fixed the boundaries of their empire, without attempting any farther extension of conquest. This distant frontier was found so difficult to defend, that Adrian contracted the limits of the Roman province, by building a second wall, which extended from Newcastle to Carlisle. The introduction of Christianity is said by some to have taken place about the beginning of the third century; by others as late as the sixth. The history of Scotland is, by Dr. Robertson, divided into four periods. The first of these reaches from the origin of the monarchy, to the reign of Kenneth II. king of the Scots, who, having vanquished the Picts about the year 838, united the two nations, and extended his dominion over all the country, from the wall of Adrian to the Northern ocean. The second comprises the space of time from that epoch to the demise of Alexander III. The third period extends from that time to the death of James V. The fourth dated its commencement at the death of James V. and terminated at the accession of James VI. to the throne of England, when the union of the two crowns was effected. We pass over the first of these periods, which is accounted fabulous and obscure, with a single remark.

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While the Danes were ravaging England, they made similar attempts upon Scotland; but the Scots were more fortunate than the English; for while the Danes were erecting a monarchy in England, they were every where defeated in Scotland with great slaughter. Being masters of the sea, they harassed the country by successive invasions, and, in

conjunction with the Norwegians, conquered the Hebrides, and most of the isles, where they erected a number of petty sovereignties; but they could never make any permanent establishment in Scotland.

The memorable epoch of the Norman conquest of England, may be considered as the middle of what Dr. Robertson calls the second period of Scottish history. The feudal system is generally said to have been introduced into Scotland by Malcolm III. about A. D. 1090. Before this event it is thought that no written charters, or titles to lands, existed in that part of Britain. Previous to that period, possession alone ascertained the property of land, as it must every where have done in the infancy of society, and as it does at this day in the case of personal property. But the feudal law naturally introduced written deeds, for the ascertaining of rights, and of the conditions of tenures. Malcolm was succeeded by his brother Donald VII. who was dethroned by Duncan II. The crown afterwards devolved successively on Edgar, son of Malcolm III., Alexander I., and David I., who ascended the throne A. D. 1124. David shone both as a politician and a warrior; and, under his government, Scotland was prosperous and powerful. He was liberal to ecclesiastics, and generous in his religious endowments. He displayed his magnificence in the erection of churches and monasteries; and the most splendid religious edifices in Scotland owe to him their foundation.

David was succeeded by his grandson Malcolm IV., and he by William, surnamed from his rash valour, the Lion. The unsuccessful courage of this monarch brought his kingdom into a state of humiliation. Having invaded England, he was made prisoner at Alnwick, in Northumberland, and conveyed into Normandy. In order to regain his liberty, He was obliged to do homage to Henry for the whole kingdom of Scotland, which, by this transaction, was made feudatory and dependent on England. According to Speed, He also agreed to pay 100,000l. for his ransom.

William the Lion had for his successor Alexander II., who

was succeeded by Alexander III. A. D. 1249. This prince dispossessed the Norwegians of the Hebrides, and the Orkney islands, which they had long held in possession. Scotland flourished under his reign; but his death ushered in a dreadful train of calamities. Having lost his only son, and presumptive heir, and his daughter, the queen of Norway, being also dead, Alexander had assembled the barons of his kingdom, and prevailed on them to swear that, in case of his death, without male issue, they would acknowledge his granddaughter, the young princess Margaret of Norway, for their queen. Alexander died A. D. 1285, about two years and a half after he had thus regulated the succession. At his demise, Margaret of Norway was only three years old, and a regency was consequently established. A treaty was also concluded between Eric king of Norway, her father, Edward I. king of England, her great uncle, and the regency of Scotland, by which it was agreed, that the young princess should be educated at the court of England, and married to the heir apparent of that crown. Thus did the prudent Edward project the beneficial measure of the union of the two kingdoms, which so long afterwards took place. Providence at that time disappointed the design. The young princess died on her passage, and Scotland was split into factions by the competitions for the vacant throne. The two principal candidates were Robert Bruce, and John Baliol; the former grandson, the latter great grandson of David, earl of Huntingdon, brother of Malcolm IV. and William the Lion. Both had hereditary claims nearly equal; and both were allied to some of the principal families in the kingdom, and supported by powerful friends. The Scottish nobility, to avoid the calamities of a civil war, referred to the king of England, the decision of this important affair, without foreseeing the consequences of so dangerous a measure, as thus throwing themselves into the hands of an enterprising, and politic monarch, commanding a powerful and warlike people, and at peace with all the world.

Edward, being thus chosen the umpire of this important question, considered it as a fit opportunity for reviving the claim of sovereignty over Scotland, which Henry II. had established, and compelled William the Lion to acknowledge. It is not to our present purpose to examine these claims, which are now wholly uninteresting. The consequences were severely felt by both kingdoms, but especially by Scotland, which, in addition to the calamities of civil war, was nearly subjected to a foreign yoke. A war was kindled between England and Scotland, which continued, with little intermission, more than seventy years, and was carried on with a degree of animosity seldom exceeded in the annals of Christian nations.

Under the pretext of examining, with greater solemnity, the different claims to the succession, Edward summoned all the barons of Scotland to Norham, where he opened the business by a declaration of his own paramount authority over the kingdom; adding, that in quality of sovereign lord of Scotland, he was come to render impartial justice to all. He gave them three weeks to consider of the subject, during which time they were to prepare whatever they might object to his demands, and produce all the public acts and monuments by which they might think to invalidate his pretensions. At the time appointed, Bruce and Baliol, the two principal competitors, acknowledged Scotland to be a fief of the English crown, and swore fealty to Edward as their sovereign lord. The rest of the barons, being either gained or intimidated, followed their example. The troops, which Edward had marched to Norham, under the ostensible pretext of guarding the states of Scotland, contributed not a little to strike them with terror. They considered it unsafe to disoblige the king, or to act in opposition to the candidates, one of whom was to be their master, and consequently the business was terminated without difficulty.

But another step,

still more important, remained to be taken. sented to the competitors, that it was in vain

Edward repreto pronounce a

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