king, but also that holy pillar of Jacob** which prophets have declared
to be the palladium of Scotland!"

**The tradition respecting this stone is as follows: Hiber, or Iber,
the Phoenician, who came from the Holy Land to inhabit the coast of
Spain, brought this sacred relic along with him. From Spain he
transplanted it with the colony he sent to people the south of Ireland;
and from Ireland it was brought into Scotland by the great Fergus, the
son of Ferchard. He placed it in Argyleshire; but MacAlpine removed it
to Scone, and fixed it in the royal chair in which all the succeeding
kings of Scotland were inaugurated. Edward I. of England caused it to
be carried to Westminster Abbey, where it now stands. The tradition
is, that empire abides where it stays.-(1809.)

"What!" inquired Wallace, with a yet darker frown, "has Baliol robbed
Scotland of that trophy of one of her best kings? Is the sacred gift of
Fergus to be made the spoil of a coward?"

"Baliol is not the robber," rejoined Monteith; "the halloed pillar was
taken from Scone by the command of the King of England, and, with the
sackings of Iona, was carried on board the same vessel with the
betrayed Douglas. The archives of the kingdom have also been torn from
their sanctuary, and were thrown by Edward's own hands into the fire."

"Tyrant!" murmured Wallace, "thou mayest fill the cup too full."

"His depredations," continued Monteith, "the good monk told me, have
been wide as destructive. He has not left a parchment, either of
public records or of private annals, in any of the monasteries or
castles round Montrose; all have been searched and plundered. And