be of no avail, where Lord Hailes is concerned, to quote Scottish authorities in support of the charge against Edward, as a destroyer of public records; we shall therefore give the following extract, from the works of a learned, intelligent, and candid Englishman--an evidence which, we presume, few of his Lordship’s admirers will object to:--“King Eugene VII., about the beginning of the eighth century, is said to have ordered the depositing of all records, and books relating to the history of Scotland, at Icolm-kill; where he caused their old library (much neglected and decayed) to be pulled down and rebuilt in a very splendid manner, for this sole use and purpose. How long they continued there, and how well that excellent King’s design was answered, I know not; but it is now too sad a truth, that most of these venerable remains of antiquity are quite perished; and it is generally agreed, that they were destroyed on three remarkable occasions. The first of these was, when our King Edward the First, having claimed the sovereignty of Scotland, made a most miserable havock of the histories and laws of that kingdom; hoping that, in a short time, nothing should be found in all that country, but what carried an English name and face. To this end, he forbad, on severe penalties, the keeping of any such books or records; and proceeded so far as even to abolish the very name of Claudius Cæsar in his famous round temple, which he ordered to be called, as it is to this day, Arthur’s Hoff, pulling away the stone which preserved the memory of that great emperor and his conquests. That a great deal of this story is true, appears from the scarcity of Scotch records in our State-archives in England. Amongst the foreign treaties in the Exchequer, there are about 70 original instruments, bagged up, and inscribed, “Scotia ante Unionem:” And in the Tower, about 100 Rolls, relating to the affairs of that kingdom, under the title of Scotia. The former of these begin at the reign of Edward the First, and end with that of Queen Elizabeth; and the latter commences as before, but falls no lower than the reign of Edward the Fourth, the rest being to be looked for in the Chapel of the Rolls. But these are all the produce of our own country; and, instead of enriching us with the spoils of our neighbours, seem rather to prove, that King Edward had an equal spite at the ancient records of both kingdoms--so little is there of apology to be made for so notorious a destroyer of the public registers, together with the private monuments, evidences, and conveyances of lands! I do not doubt but the reason of such barbarity has been justly enough assigned, by those who represent him as “having a jealous eye over any thing that might encourage his new vassals to rebel, endeavouring to root out all memorials of the nobility, and to embase their spirits, by concealing from them their descent and qualities.” I have seen a manuscript list of such records as were carried off by his order.