The Parliament of Lincoln closes the constitutional drama of the reign; but two or three minor points in connection with what has gone before may be mentioned here. In 1303 and 1304 Edward was again in great straits for money, and he did not wish to be again subjected to the treatment which he had endured at Lincoln. In searching for the means of raising a revenue he recurred to the same source from which he had obtained the custom of wool at the beginning of his reign--the assistance of the merchants. He called together the foreign merchants in 1303 and offered them certain privileges of trading, on the condition that they should consent to pay import duties. They agreed; and, although an assembly of English representatives from the mercantile towns refused to join in the arrangement, the institution held good. The “New Custom,” the origin of our import duties, was established without the consent of parliament, although not in direct contravention of the Act of 1297, for it was a special agreement made with the consent of the prayers and in consideration of immunities received. In 1304 he adopted an expedient even more hazardous, and collected a tallage from the royal demesne; yet even here he avoided breaking the letter of his promise. Such tallage was not expressly renounced in 1297, and it was now sanctioned by the consent of the baronage, who raised money from their vassals in the same way. In 1305 he did a still more imprudent and dangerous act, in obtaining from Clement V. a formal absolution from the engagements taken in 1297. Except in a slight modification of the forest regulations, which was perhaps made rather as a demonstration of his power than as a real readjustment of the law, he took no advantage of this absolution. These three facts, however, remain on record as illustrations of Edward’s chief weakness, the legal captiousness, which was the one drawback on his greatness. The last was too grievously justified by the morality of the time, and proves that in one respect at least Edward was not before other men of the age. [Sidenote: Rebellion in Wales under Madoc. ] We turn now to trace the course of events which had so powerfully affected the king’s action during these critical years. We saw him in 1294 preparing for an expedition to France, which was delayed until 1297 by troubles in Wales and Scotland, and by the political crisis on which we have dwelt so long. The Welsh revolt under Madoc, a kinsman of the last princes, involved an expedition which Edward himself in the winter of 1294 led into Wales. It was an unseasonable undertaking, and attended with no great success. Madoc was, however, taken prisoner in 1295, and the rebellion came to an end. The Scottish troubles were more general and lasted much longer. [Sidenote: Summons of Edward to Balliol. ] [Sidenote: Alliance of Scotland with France. ] [Sidenote: Scottish war. ] [Sidenote: Surrender of Balliol to Edward. ] [Sidenote: