History of England from the earliest to the present time in five volumes

Front matter

FRANCE AND ADJACENT PARTS FROM A.D.12QO TO A.D.15QO. HISTORY OF ENGLAND Jfrom % ÆarJwst to % S.ime IN FIVE VOLUMES BY SIR EDWARD S. CREASY, M.A. EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF HISTORY IN UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, LONDON ; LATE FELLOW OF KING'S COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE VOLUME II COMPLETING THE HISTORY DURING THE EARLY AND MIDDLE AGES LONDON JAMES WALTON BOOKSELLER AND PUBLISHER TO UNIVERSITY COLLEGE 137, GOWER STREET 1870 [Ml Rights of Translation Reserved.] LONDON : BRADBURY, EVANS, AND CO., PRINTERS, WHITEFRIARM. PAGE 1 CONTENTS.

Chapter I. Edward II

Edward II. abandons the conquest of Scotland — His devotion to favourites — Gaveston — The Spensers — Fate of Gaveston — Progress of Bruce in Scotland — Edward leads an army into that kingdom — His total defeat at Bannockburn — The Scotch attack the English both in England and in Ireland — State of Ireland — Weakness of the English there — Causes that made the Anglo-Norman conquest of Ireland speedy but imperfect — Turbulence and degeneracy of the Anglo- Norman nobles in Ireland — System of ruling by Deputies— Successes of Edward Bruce in Ireland — His final defeat and death- Great effort of the native Irish under Phelim O'Connor to achieve their own independence — Their defeat at Athunree — Constitutional events in Edward II.'s reign — The Lords ordainers and the articles of reform of 1312 — Important declaratory statute as to the Constitution and power of Parliament in 1322 — Edward's personal history resumed — His neglect of his queen — She joins the insurgent barons against him and the Spensers — The Spensers put to death — Edward taken prisoner, deposed, and compelled to resign the crown — His cruel murder — Miscellaneous events during this reign — Abolition of the Knights Templars — Papal Residence at Avignon — Our great schoolman, William of Ockham — His writings against the Pope's claims to temporal supremacy and to spiritual infallibility

Chapter II. Edward III

— CRESSY AND POITIERS. Brilliancy of Edward III.'s reign— The half-century very important also as to commerce, and the political and social state of the people ■ — This period the special age of chivalry — General history of Edward III.'s reign to be dealt with first — Edward's marriage — His position under the Dowager Queen Isabella and Mortimer — Their unpopularity — Edward emancipates himseU from them — Mortimer i CONTENTS. IV PAGE put to death, and Isabella imprisoned— Edward's personal advan tages—His popularity— Scotch wars— The claim to the French crown— The French peers decide against it— The immediate out break of hostilities caused by the French king— Edward's alliances on the Continent— General state of Europe at this period— France, the Empire, Flanders, Spain, &e. —Edward's first campaign— His great naval victory off Sluys— His further campaigns in France- Battle of Cressy— Calais besieged and taken— Commercial interests served by this conquest — The Scots invade northern England ; defeated, and King David of Scotland taken prisoner— The Black Plague— The Statute of Labourers— War renewed in the south of France— The Black Prince wins the great battle of Poitiers— Treaty of Bretigni 37

Chapter III. Edward III

— THE CONSTITUTION. Expedition of the Black Prince to Castile — His Victory at Navarette — His illness — War with France resumed — Hi-success of the English — The Black Prince storms Limoges — He returns to England — Disputes of parties in England— Dotage of the King — William of Wykeham — Wyclif — Lancaster — The King's Ecclesiastical Ministry displaced — English Fleet defeated by the Spaniards — Losses in France — Lancaster's power in England through Alice Perrers' power over King Edward — Reform movement headed by Black Prince — Ministers impeached — Death of Black Prince — Lancaster and Alice Perrers regain power — Persecution of William of Wykeham — Wyclif charged with heresy — Death of Edward III. — Progress of the Constitution during his reign — Patriotism of leaders of the Commons — System of Taxation — Judicial functions of Parliament—The King's Council— Ordinances— Statute of Treasons — Justices of the Peace— Statutes of the Staple — Other measures respecting Commerce— The Guilds— State of Trade— Ecclesiastical History— Conflict against Papal exactions — Statutes of Provisors — Attacks on the higher clergy of the realm 180

Chapter IV. Domestic And Social History Under Edward III And Richard II

Practical importance of the domestic social History of England during the reigns of Edward III. and Richard II.— Unity of the subject— Beginning of the modem History of the English Poor CONTENTS. V PAGE Diminution of villeinage in Edward III.'s time— Its causes — Growth of free peasant copyholders — Growth of a class of free labourers unconnected with the land — A class of Proletarians — Effects of changing a mass of serfs into a mass of free paupers — Prompt legislation against Vagabondage and Mendicancy — Legislation less prompt in aid of Impotent Poor — The first Poor Laws— Demand and supply in the labour market balanced before the Black Death —Half the labourers swept off by the Black Death — The survivors demand high wages — Distress of the landowners— They pass laws to keep down the price of labour, and to coerce the working classes — These continue to combine, and wages still rise — Greater rise in prices— Increased taxation — Wide-spread discontent of 1381 — Effect of writings of Wyclif and Langland — John Ball— Misconduct of government officers in enforcing the Poll-tax lights up the insurrection — Wat Tyler — The risings in Essex and Kent — Similar risings throughout England — The Kentish insurgents march on London — ■ Peril of the young King — Demands of the insurgents— Death of Wat Tyler — His followers disperse — Insurrection when and how sup pressed — Proceedings of Parliament — More labour-laws — Their in efficacy — Great increase of free labourers unconnected with the land 255

Chapter V. John Wyclif

John Wyclif — His enduring influence on after ages — His high position as a Schoolman at Oxford, then the highest Theological University — Alarm of the Papacy at Wyciif's power, and his doctrines — The Pope orders proceedings against him — Wyclif summoned before the Pope's delegates at Lambeth — The proceedings broken off by a tumult of the Londoners — Wyciif's Poor Priests — His regard to Preaching — His translation of the Bible — Its great effect on the community — His advice as to the study of Scripture — He attacks the doctrine of Transubstantiation — He is censured by the University of Oxford — His Confession of Faith — Archbishop Courtenay takes proceedings to check heresy — Council at the Black Friars Chapter House — Condemnation of tenets imputed to Wyclif — Proceedings at Oxford— Wyclif retires to Lutterworth — His unabated industry as a writer and preacher — He advises the total confiscation of Church property — The Bishop of Norwich's crusade — Wyclif cited before the Pope — His answer — His death — His character — His influence over Europe, especially over England, wide-spread and enduring CONTENTS. VI PAGE

Chapter VI. Richard II

General history of Richard II.'s reign— Troubles of its first years — Characters of his uncles — His proneness to low favourites — The French war— Reverses of the English — Serious peril of French invasion— The French expedition baffled by adverse winds — Truce with France— Scottish wars in Richard's reign— Irish affairs— His successful expedition to Ireland in 1385— Constitutional history of England during this reign — Proceedings of Richard's first Parliaments — Dissension between the King and Parliament— Impeachment of the Earl of Suffolk — Ascendancy of the Duke of Gloucester — Council of Regency — Further impeachments — The King overthrows the Regency — Death of Gloucester — Disposition of Richard — He goes to Ireland — The Duke of Lancaster returns from exile with an armed force — The people join him — The King falls into his power — Richard II. is formally deposed — Legislation of this reign — Increased power of the Court of Chancery .... 336

Chapter VII. House Of Lancaster

— HENRY IV. Henry of Lancaster claims tlie Crown — Questions as to the lawful course that should have been taken — Commencement of the reigns of the Lancastrian line of Princes — General character of our history from this period to the close of the wars between the Houses of Lancaster and York — Greater harmony between Crown and Parliament—Increase of power of Parliament— Hostility of Commons against the Church— Persecutions of the Lollards— Disturbed reign of Henry IV.— Rebellions in England ; insurrections in Wales- Henry's Crusading projects — His death 364

CHAPTER VIIL HENRY

V.— CONQUEST OF FRANCE. Popularity of Henry V.— His character in early youth— Troubles at the opening of his reign— Insurrectionary schemes, real or supposed of the Lollards-Energy of Henry— The Clergy alarmed for their property—War with France resolved on — Miserable state of that country— Injustice of the war— Henry's preparations— Siege and conquest of Harfleur— Victory at Agincourt— Joy of the English nation— The Emperor Sigismund in England- Council of Constance CONTENTS. VII PAGE — Negociations with the French — Second invasion of France — Capture of Caen, Cherbourg, and Rouen — Duke of Burgundy joins Henry — Treaty of Troyes — French Dauphin continues the war — Henry takes Melun and Montereau — Duke of Clarence defeated by the French and Scots at Beauge — Powerful army led by Henry into France— His sickness and death — Internal history during his reign 389

Chapter IX. Henry VI

— WARS OF THE ROSES.— EDWARD IV.— EDWARD V. —RICHARD III. Progress of the War in France — Death of Charles VI. — Henry VI. proclaimed King in Paris — Siege of Orleans — Joan of Arc — Death of the Regent Bedford — Continued ill-success of the English— Close of the French Wars — Constitutional history of England during the Lancastrian reigns — Limitation of the Electoral Franchise — Change in borough rights — Strife of parties — Character of Hemy VI. — His unpopular marriage — The Duke of York's claim to the throne — Cade's Rebellion — Henry becomes imbecile — York Protector — ■ Birth of Prince Edward — Henry recovers— Beginning of the War of the Roses —Attempted compromise — Queen Margaret renews the war — Defeat and death of the Duke of York — Victories of his son, who becomes Edward IV. — His quarrel with Warwick — Henry VI. restored — ■ Edward regains the crown — Deaths of Warwick and Henry VI. — Factions in Edward's court — His war with France — Treaty of Pecquigny — Accession of Edward V. — Position and character of Richard Duke of Gloucester — Richard is Protector — He claims the Throne and becomes Richard III. — Deaths of the Young Princes in the Tower— Character of Richard's reign — Expeditions of the Earl of Richmond — Defeat and death of Richard III. at Bosworth — The Earl of Richmond becomes Henry VII.— Constitutional History— General survey of state of Europe — Transmarine Discoveries — Printing — Firearms — Decay of Feudalism . . . 432

Chapter X. English Language And Literature

Progress of the English Language and Literature in the Fourteenth and Fifteenth Centuries — English Literature practically begins in Edward III.'s Reign— Chaucer — Langland — Minot) — Occleve — Gower — Songs and Carols — Wyclif — Mandeville's Travels — Fifteenth Century — Lydgate — Old English Ballads — Pecock — Fortescue — Malory — Romances — Caxton — State of Learning — Decline of Scholasticism — Colleges — Public Schools — State of Classical Learning — General Education of Nobility and Gentry .... HISTOEY OF ENGLAND.

Chapter I

Edward II. abandons the conquest of Scotland — His devotion to favourites — Gaveston — The Spensers— Fate of Gaveston — Progressof Bruce in Scotland — Edward leads an army into that kingdom — His total defeat at Bannockburn — The Scotch attack the English both in England and in Ireland — State of Ireland — Weakness of the English there — Causes that made the Anglo-Norman conquest of Ireland speedy but imperfect— Turbulence and degeneracy of the Anglo-Norman nobles in Ireland — System of ruling by Deputies— Successes of Edward Bruce in Ireland — His final defeat and death — Great effort of the native Irish under Phelim O'Connor to achieve their own independence — Their defeat at Athunree — Constitutional events in Edward II. 's reign — The Lords ordainers and the articles of reform of 1312 — Important declaratory statute as to the Constitution and power of Parliament in 1322 — Edward's personal history resumed — His neglect of his queen — She joins the insurgent barons against him and the Spensers — The Spensers put to death — Edward taken prisoner, deposed, and compelled to resign the crown — His cruel murder — Miscellaneous events during this reign — Abolition of the Knights Templars — Papal Residence at Avignon — Our 'great schoolman, William of Ockham — His writings against the Pope's claims to temporal supremacy and to spiritual infallibility.

At the death of King Edward I., Scotland escaped CHap. subjugation, even as eleven hundred years before, _^ Caledonia had escaped that fate at the death of 1307- the Emperor Severus.* In each case a weak and Edward ... -. . , . . . . -II. , like profligate son disobeyed, the dying injunctions ot a caracaiia, abandons * See vol. i. p. 66. VOL. II. B EDWARD II. 2 veteran conqueror, and dropped irretrievably the prize which a prompt and persistent grasp would have secured. Edward II. was insensible to glory; and regardless of filial as well as of regal duty. His sole desire was for a speedy return to the society of his favourite Gaveston. King Edward I., only three months before his death, had, with the consent of Parliament, banished Gaveston from the realm as a corrupter of the Prince ; but almost the first act of the new King was to recall this pernicious minion, on whom he forthwith lavished the dignities and treasures of his kingdom, and whom he encouraged in insolence and injury towards his father's old counsellors, and towards the most powerful nobles of the land.

CHAP. I. 1307. the con quest of North Britain, His devotion to his favourite Gaveston. Gaveston recalled from banishment. When Edward I. died, the English army had advanced without resistance as far as Cumnock in Ayrshire ; it was admirably appointed, and was officered by the old King's victorious veterans. Bruce could collect no forces sufficient to cope with it, or even to impede its progress. The greater number of the Scotch fortresses were still held by English garrisons. The majority of the Scotch nobles were still willing to acknowledge the sovereignty of the King of England, of which they gave proof by doing homage to young Edward at Dumfries on the 6th of August, 1307. But on the 15th of that month the English advance was stayed, and the main English army was disbanded by the imbecile youth, when in a few weeks it would have made him certain monarch of the whole island.

The new King of England then hurried back southward to complete one of the most wretched and dishonourable reigns that are recorded in any history. Withdrawal of the great English army from Scotland, when there was nothing in the field to oppose it ; and when Bruce's position was des perate. As we find peculiar attraction and instructiveness THE KING'S FAVOUEITES. 3 ill even the smallest anecdotes respecting the friendly chap. intercourse, which great and wise sovereigns main- ' tain with the men of merit in arms, in arts, in 1308 learning, in policy, and in laws, whom such princes Worthiessi-ii ness e love to bring around them ; so on the other hand, historythat the narratives are pre-eminently repulsive and prodetail with fitless, that offer to posterity the details of how foolish kings consort with worthless favourites.

It is true that the trifling, vet offensive tale of royal stunt has its moral debasement and of upstart arrogance has usually a lessons grim moral at its conclusion ; and both princes and taught. their parasites may be warned by the punishments, National which such criminal folly has often received at the 0n royal hands of a jealous nobility and an indignant people." Dement But the vengeance dealt in such cases, whether by the a.n? Para* ° iiii SI'1C ins°* democracy, or by the aristocracy, or by both, has too lence, commonly been sullied by so much treachery and to°of.e.n J J J sullied by cruelty, as to leave behind not only a just sympathy treachery for the sufferers in their extreme of misery, but also a cruelty. considerable degree of mischievous partiality for their The C0Qse general character, which makes many seek to palliate which are their crimes, and throw unmerited odium on their tJl^e10U opponents.

These remarks apply to more than one mmds of , J. r rs. J many, ana Kino* of England, and to more than one train of royal a tendency f ■ i i i ii to justify favourites ; but they apply to none more strongly than the mea to Edward II., and to those whom he dishonoured conducts himself by delighting to honour. The careers of the ?Ter_ J <D O _ punished Edward's favourites will be only briefly noticed in this royal and place ; although there will be occasion again to allude wrong to them, and to the dissensions which they caused * J Innuenceof between the Kins; and his barons, when we come Edward presently to consider the important constitutional vouriteson events and ordinances of this reign. stitution, The domination of Gaveston over Edward II. lasted t'-roughthe dissensions with brief intermission until 1312, when that foolish which they B EDWAED II. 4 chap, and insolent young Gascon was beheaded by the _±_ order, and in the presence of the Earl of Lancaster, isio. who was the first prince of the blood-royal, and who created ie(j t^e English nobles in their armed opposition to the "he nS Kino* and his favourite.

Two years before this time, batntand in 1310, the Parliament had compelled the King to tie coisejoin intfie appointment of Lords ordainers, consisting of struggles the Archbishop of Canterbury, seven bishops, and roy_Ttynand thirteen barons, with power to draw up ordinances aristocracy. for better regulati0n of the King's household. It putetoOU was also enacted that no royal grant of lands should be she Eariof valid without their assent, and the King's former grants Lancaster, were tQ be revoked. The King was not to make war, Ordinances or go out of the kingdom, without the approbation of ofl31°- the barons in Parliament, The chief officers of the Crown were to be appointed with their consent. All evil counsellors were to be banished. A short Act was also passed in this session, providing that a Parliament should be held "every year, and oftener if need be."

Gaveston had fled before the meeting of this Parliament in 1310. He had been recalled by the King early in 1312, and reinstated in all his obnoxious ascendancy and favour. The Earl of Lancaster then headed the armed rising of the barons, and besieged Scarborough Castle, in which the King had placed Gaveston for safety. The troops, that the King raised, refused to fight against their countrymen for Gaveston : Scarborough surrendered, and Gaveston was executed. King Edward was obliged to make peace with his barons, and to promise them a formal pardon for Lancaster Gaveston's death. Ten years afterwards the King death* by avenged his favourite's fate upon the Earl of Lancaster, iE32Td' wli0 was captured by the Eoyalists at Pontefract during a renewal of civil war, in which Edward showed unusual energy, and obtained the sole military suequent THE SPENSERS. 5 cess of his life.

In the meantime he had taken to chap. himself a new favourite, Hugh le Despenser, or _^_ Spenser, a young Englishman, whose birth and abili- 1310-1321. ties made him a somewhat less unworthy object of The the royal regards than Gaveston ; and whose father, Hu<rllleDe- Hugh le Despenser the elder, appears to have been spenserthe a nobleman of high personal character, and to have the king's become involved with little or no blame of his own .ourite. in the fortunes of his son at Edward's Court. But although a rational amount of royal esteem, and even The Spen favour, might have been well bestowed upon the ofm'arkand Spensers as men of rank and merit, such was the ™eri?'. h*1 x ... . t°-e kmg s reckless prodigality with which the King heaped partiality excessive honours, gold, and lands on them, — his besotted fondness for the company of the younger one was displayed with such disregard of royal, and even of manly Their un- . popularity dignity, — that the hatred of the nobles and of the nation with the generally was roused against both father and son, as fiercely as it had raged against Gaveston.

Un- Personal warned also by the fate of that minion, the younger many 0f Spenser brought both personal and public enmity on towards.08 himself and his family, by the arrogance of his them demeanour, by his rapacity in grasping after forfeitures, and by the jeers and sarcasms at the expense of the arms t0 , J J ..... procure the leading men among the nobility, with which he downfall of amused the shallow King and the other buffoons of the sere. pen Court. Eisings in arms and civil war followed, in Success of . the ba which the barons were at first successful, and in 1321 roniai the King was obliged to assent to a decree of the party' ° ° The Spert- Parliament, banishing the Spensers for ever from the sers ban- , ished in realm. 1321. In the following year both parties were again in arms; Tne kins and nowit was that the King obtained the advantages in vantage, the war, which enabled him to put to death Lancaster the Speu and other chiefs of the baronial party.

The Spensers sers> 1322chap, were immediately called back to England by the 1 King's command, and were retained by Edward in 1307-13U. their ignominious ascendancy until the successful He retains attack made on him and them by the Queen and the h.m?tuTr nobles in 1326, which will require our attention when pherishndIie we come to the close of this reign. in 1326. We !iave seen tbat the abandonment of the conquest Scottish of Scotland had been the first act of Edward II. on affairs' becoming King. We must now watch the vehement but vain effort which he made seven years afterwards to resume and complete the task of bringing the Their conwhole island under a single sceptre. The disastrous kadsto011 failure of his attempt, and the retaliatory attacks irfshtffairs which the victorious Scots made upon the English also. -m Ireland, as well as in Britain, will cause us to revert to the special subject of Anglo-Irish history.

We shall have to consider the position both of the English immigrants and of the natives in the western island since the apparent conquest which had been made in the time of Henry II. The reality of the English conquest cannot be said to have been decided till the failure of the great effort made by the Irish against Edward II.'s commanders in Ireland, at the time when Reign of England was weakened by the disasters of her war- Edward ii. ° . J . an importare against the Scots. Indeed the reign oi innAngi°oC- Edward II., though one of little interest so far as welkin regards the intercourse between England and the Anglonations of the continent, is one of very great Scottish . . JO history. importance with regard to the relations of this country bumdt" with both Scotlancl and Ireland. If Bruce's victory cidedScotat Bannockburn in 1314 confirmed the independence pendence." of Scotland for centuries, Phelim O'Connor's defeat at Sr Athunree in 1316 was almost equally decisive in sub-action establisliing ancl in perpetuating Ireland's subjection.

The period which Edward wasted after his retreat BATTLE OF BANNOCK-BURN. 7 from Scotland in 1307 had been vigorously and skilfully employed by Bruce in reducing the strong holds of the English in Scotland, in extending his own influence among his countrymen, and in training a small but gallant band of captains, some of whom almost equalled their great chief in sagacity and skill, as well as in personal prowess and bravery. Not content with the almost total expulsion of the English from the northern kingdom, the Scots made inroads into Cumberland and the adjoining English counties, which became more and more daring and devastating. The complaints of the English people at the tidings that the garrison of Stirling Castle (almost the only Scottish fortress still in English hands) had been obliged to make terms with Bruce, by which that stronghold was to be surrendered, unless relieved by an English army within a stipulated time, at last roused Edward into activity.

The full power of England was assembled at Berwick ; and on the 1 8th of June, 1314, the English King led as splendid and as numerous an army across the borders as this country has ever sent into the field. Bruce's forces were far inferior ; but his own consummate generalship, and the ability with which Randolph, Douglas, the Stewart, Edward Bruce, and the other Scottish officers carried out his plans, more than compensated for the disparity of numbers. On the English side King Edward showed some personal courage, but displayed utter incompetency as a commander. The two armies encountered at Bannockburn, near Stirling, on the 24th of June, 1314, and the result was the most complete overthrow that the military power of England has ever sustained. English troops have met repulses and reverses before and after the day of Bannockburn; there have been many wars in the course of which CHAP. I. 1307-1314.

Energy and skiU of Bruce in using the respite given him by the English king in 1307. He makes himself effective king of Scotland, and almost entirely frees that country from the English forces. Edward II. collects the full power of England for the Scottish war. Military skill of Bruce and his captains. Ed ward's incompetency as a general. Battle of Bannock burn,1314. The greatest defeat ever experien ced by the English arms. chap, small English armies have been routed, destroyed, or _L_ captured; but never, except at Bannockburn, was 1314- the largest and the best English army, that the land at the time could send forth, beaten in a fair pitched battle by a numerically inferior foe. The full force of England was then not only beaten, but routed, — not only routed, but hounded by its victorious enemies for miles and miles off the field of Bannockburn in bloody Effect of chase ancl panic flight.

The effect on the Scottish onMe*017 nation of this glorious victory was not limited to the Scotch. generation then in being, great as were its immediate Bannockresults. Bannockburn became to the Scots of ah Scottish ages what Marathon was to the Greeks. It was and Marathon. •_, a worcl that calls up feelings of just pride for a triumph boldly and wisely won over a powerful foe — so powerful as to have been previously regarded as possessing, if not invincibility, such preponderating strength, as to make an encounter with it almost hope- Nobie exiess. The noble patriotism and stubborn courage, noble feelwhich thenceforth became nationalised in Scotland, Scottish e may best be expressed in the very words of the rnTchiefs Scottish men of that age, many of whom must them- 0f that age. selves have been among the survivors of Bannockburn.

The Pope by the proclamation to two of his cardinals, who at the time were in Edward's Court, declared Bruce and his adherents to have incurred excommunication on account of their non-observance of a truce which the Papal Legate ordained at the Memorial end of the year 1317. The Scottish Parliament in tishparC-° 1318 sent a memorial to the Pope, which in the name JheTpe!° of the PeoPle of Scotland deprecated his Holiness' 1318. displeasure. But at its conclusion the Scots thus Their gramade their declaration of independence : — " We have p^ce/the been freed from the English yoke by Robert Bruce, Liberator, who has been made our King by Divine Providence SCOTTISH MEMORIAL TO THE POsE. 9 by his own hereditary right, and by our lawful and unanimous consent. But if he should betray us, we would treat him as an enemy, we would choose another King, and we would hold English domination at defiance as long as a hundred Scots remain.

Free dom is what we seek for : and freedom is what no good man would wish to outlive. Let the King of England be content with his own dominions, which once sufficed for seven kings, and let him leave Scotland to the Scots — -Scotland the extreme of the habitable earth, and rough and barren, but dear to us because it is our own country, our country which we wish to possess in peace. We are the Pope's obedient children as far as a higher duty allows. But we commit the protection of our country's cause to God, as the Supreme Judge of all. We cast all our care upon God : and we put our trust in God that He will enable us to do valiantly, and that He will tread down all our enemies."0 CHAP. I. 1318. But even if he should desert them, they will not yield to the Eng lish. They will have a king of their own, and will defy English domination as long as a hundred Scots have breath.

England for the English. The Scots will have their own Fatherland to Brave words ; and the large utterance of men whose deeds were as brave as their words. themselves. They have a higher During the four years that had elapsed between the battle of Bannockburn and this Grand Remonstrance in behalf of Scottish independence, the usual border warfare had been waged with increasing vigour on the part of the Scots, and more and more feebly by the English. But the Bruces did not limit their bold projects to this island. The general weakness of the English state at this period, and the feebleness of the English occupants of Ireland, gave Edward Bruce, the younger brother of King Robert, a bold, but a not unreasonable hope of winning a kingdom there for himself, as his brother had acquired one in duty than their duty to the Pope.