Baliol, without a single remonstrance Baliol was crowned John I. at
Scone, rendered homage to his feudal lord, and Scotland was a vassal
kingdom (1292). This whole proceeding, thus disposing of the state,
had in no way recognized the existence of a nation. {260} It was an
arrangement between the Scottish nobles and clergy, and the King of
England. When the heralds had, with great ceremony, proclaimed King
Edward Lord Paramount of Scotland, the matter was supposed to be ended,
and it was forgotten that there was beyond the Grampians a proud
people, whose will would have to be broken before their country would
become the _fief_ of an English king. But Baliol soon discovered how
empty was the honor he had purchased. There was now a right of appeal
from the Scottish Parliament and courts to those of Edward I. Such
appeals were made, and King John I. was with scant ceremony summoned to
London to plead his own cause before a Parliament which humiliated and
insulted him.

In 1295, so intolerable had his position become, that Baliol threw off
the yoke of vassalage, secured an alliance with France, and gathered
such of his nobles as he could about him, prepared to resist the
authority of Edward; whereupon that enraged King marched into the
rebellious land, swept victoriously from one city to another, gathering
up towns and castles by the way; then took the {261} sacred Stone of
Destiny from Scone as a memorial of his conquest, and left the penitent
vassal King helpless and forlorn in his humiliated kingdom. It was
then that the famous stone was built into the coronation-chair, where
it still remains.

We have now come to a name which, as Wordsworth says, is "to be found
like a wild flower, all over his dear country." Everywhere there are
places sacred to his memory. The story of Wallace is a brief one--an
impassioned resolve to free his enslaved country, one supreme triumph,
then defeat, an ignominious and cruel death in London, to be followed
by imperishable renown for himself, and for Scotland--freedom. Sir
William Wallace belonged to the lower class of Scotch nobility. He had
never sworn allegiance to Edward I. His career of outlawry commenced
by his making small attacks upon small English posts. As his successes
increased, so did his followers, until so formidable had the movement
become, that Edward learned there was a rising in his vassal kingdom.
But it could not be much, he thought, as he had all the nobles