XIII. THOMAS CHAMBERLAIN, a gentleman of fome CHA P. note, had affembled feveral of his affociates at Boston, in Lincolnshire, under pretence of holding a tournament, an exercife practifed by the gentry only; but in reality with a view of plundering the rich fair of Boston, and robbing the merchants. To facilitate his purpose, he privately fet fire to the town; and while the inhabitants were employed in quenching the flames. the confpirators broke into the booths, and carried off the goods. Chamberlain himself was detected and hanged; but maintained so steadily the point of honor to his accomplices, that he could not be prevailed on, by offers or promises, to discover any of them. Many other instances of robbery and violence broke out in all parts of England ; though the fingular circumftances attending this confpiracy have made it alone be particularly recorded by hiftorians ". 24 BUT the corruption of the judges, by which the fountains of justice were poisoned, feemed of ftill more dangerous confequence. Edward, in order to remedy this prevailing abuse, fummoned a parliament, and brought the judges to a trial; where all of them, except two, who were clergymen, were convicted of this flagrant iniquity; were fined, and depofed. The amount of the fines, levied upon them, is alone a fufficient proof of their guilt; being above one hundred thousand marks, an immense fum in those days, 1289. 1289. CHAP. and fufficient to defray the charges of an expenXIII. five war between two great kingdoms. The king afterwards made all the new judges fwear, that they would take no bribes; but his expedient, of depofing and fining the old ones, was the more effectual remedy. Affairs of We now come to give an account of the state of affairs in Scotland, which gave rife to the most interesting tranfactions of this reign, and of fome of the fubfequent; though the intercourse of that kingdom with England, either in peace or war, had hitherto produced fo few events of moment, that, to avoid tediousness we have omitted many of them, and have been very concife in relating the reft. If the Scots had, before this period, any real hiftory, worthy of the name, except what they glean from scattered paffages in the English hiftorians, thofe events, however minute, yet, being the only foreign transactions of the nation, might deserve a place in it. THOUGH the government of Scotland had been continually expofed to thofe factions and convulfions, which are incident to all barbarous, and to many civilized nations; and though the fucceffions of their kings, the only part of their hiftory which deferves any credit, had often been difordered by irregularities and ufurpations; the true heir of the royal family had ftill in the end prevailed, and Alexander III. who had espoused the fifter of Edward, probably inherited, after a period of about eight hundred years, and through a fucceffion of males, the fceptre of all 26 XIII. 1289. the Scottish princes, who had governed the nation, cHA . fince its firft eftablishment in the island. This prince died in 1286 by a fall from his horfe at Kinghorn ", without leaving any male iffue, and without any defcendant, except Margaret, born of Eric, king of Norway, and of Margaret, daughter of the Scottish monarch. This princefs, commonly called the maid of Norway, though a female, and an infant, and a foreigner, yet being the lawful heir of the kingdom, had through her grandfather's care, been recognized fucceffor by the ftates of Scotland '; and on Alexander's death, the difpofitions, which had been previously made against that event; appeared fo juft and prudent, that no diforders, as might naturally be apprehended, enfued in the kingdom. Margaret was acknowledged queen of Scotland; five guardians, the bishops of St. Andrews and Glafgow, the earls of Fife and Buchan, and James, fteward of Scotland, entered peaceably upon the adminiftration; and the infant princefs, under the protection of Edward, her great uncle, and Eric, her father, who exerted themselves on this occafion, feemed firmly feated on the throne of Scotland. The English monarch was naturally led to build mighty projects on this incident; and having lately, by force of arms, brought Wales under fubjection, he attempted, by the marriage of Margaret with his 25 Heming. vol. i. p. 29. Trivet, p. 267. 26 Rymer, vol. ii. p. 266. 1290. CHAг. eldest fon Edward, to unite the whole island into XIII. one monarchy, and thereby to give it fecurity both against domeftic convulfions and foreign invafions. The amity, which had of late prevailed between the two nations, and which, even in former times, had never been interrupted by any violent wars or injuries, facilitated extremely the execution of this project, fo favorable to the happiness and grandeur of both kingdoms; and the states of Scotland readily gave their affent to the English propofals and even agreed, that their young fovereign fhould be educated in the court of Edward. Anxious, however, for the liberty and independence of their country, they took care to ftipulate very equitable conditions, ere they intrufted themselves into the hands of fo great and fo ambitious a monarch. It was agreed, that they fhould enjoy all their ancient laws, liberties, and customs; that in cafe young Edward and Margaret fhould die without iffue, the crown of Scotland fhould revert to the next heir, and should be inherited by him free and independent; that the military tenants of the crown fhould never be obliged to go out of Scotland, in order to do homage to the fovereign of the united kingdoms, nor the chapters of cathedral, collegiate, or conventual churches, in order to make elections; that the parliaments, fummoned for Scottish affairs, fhould always be held within the bounds of that kingdom; and that Edward should bind himself, under the penalty of 100,000 marks, payable to the pope for the XIII. ufe of the holy wars, to obferve all thefe articles". CHA P. It is not easy to conceive, that two nations could have treated more on a foot of equality than Scotland and England maintained during the whole course of this tranfaction: And though Edward gave his affent to the article, concerning the future independence of the Scottish crown, with a saving of his former rights; this reserve gave no alarm to the nobility of Scotland, both because thefe rights, having hitherto been little heard of, had occafioned no difturbance, and because the Scots had fo near a profpect of feeing them entirely abforbed in the rights of their fovereignty. 1291. crown of BUT this project, fo happily formed and fo amicably conducted, failed of fuccess, by the fudden death of the Norvegian princefs, who expired on her paffage to Scotland ", and left a very dismal profpect to the kingdom. Though Competitors disorders were for the prefent obviated by the for the authority of the regency formerly established, the Scotland. fucceffion itfelf of the crown was now become an object of difpute; and the regents could not expect, that a controverfy, which is not usually decided by reafon and argument alone, would be peaceably fettled by them, or even by the ftates of the kingdom, amidst so many powerful pretenders. The pofterity of William, king of Scotland, the prince taken prifoner by Henry II. being all extinct by the death of Margaret of |