Author: E. Raymond Capt From Mr. Capt's legendary book recording the Declaration of Arbroath we discover that Robert Bruce and his knights whose seals are affixed to that famous document claimed descent from the Israelites in Egypt. The validity of such a claim is supported by many historians who point to Israelite presence (particularly of Dan and Judah) in the British Isles at a very early date even before the Exodus. On the sixth of April 1320 A. D. King Robert (the Bruce) of Scotland authorized the sending of a letter to Pope John XXII which has become what many call "Scotland's most precious possession. " The document is known today as the "Declaration of Arbroath" or "The Scottish Declaration of Independence. " It is kept in a shallow glass case in the Register House of Edinburgh. At the time this famous document was drawn up a two year peace was in effect between Scotland and England. The Pope had taken the side of the English because Robert Bruce had failed to show the 'proper' respect the Pope deemed was due him. Robert recognized that if peace was to be restored it would be necessary for the Pope to see the wisdom of a negotiated settlement and to use his influence upon King Edward II. The author gives the following account of this famous letter's arrival on the historical scene: "In April of the year 1320 A. D. King Robert Bruce called the Scottish Parliament into session at Arbroath Abbey to hammer out a letter of protest to the Pope. The letter composed in memorable Latin prose recorded the great antiquity of the Scottish people and how they had always been ruled by their own kings. . . . they reminded the Pope of the shameful English contention that they had found it impossible to free the Holy Land from the heathen on account of the war they were having with their neighbors. . . . "The letter described Robert Bruce as a king 'who that he might free his people and heritage from the hands of the enemy rose like another Joshua or Maccabeus and cheerfully endured toil and weariness hunger and peril. ' . . . . . . "The Pope acknowledged receipt of the letter and was apparently somewhat mollified by the declaration because he promptly suspended his proceedings against the Scots. . . . However King Edward II refused to conclude a peace settlement with the Scots and in August 1322 when the two-year- old truce was over again invaded Scotland. " "Bruce's letter preserves an intriguing allusion to the origin of the Scots and throws light on one of history's most fascinating mysteries . . . what was the fate of the so-called "Ten Lost Tribes of Israel. " "Robert Bruce and his Knights . . . date their beginnings as a nation one thousand two hundred years after the outgoing (Exodus - 1453 B. C. ) of the 'people of Israel. ' Thus they claim descent from the Israelites in Egypt. " ____E. Raymond Capt The author expands on this idea giving various accounts of the many significant signs from archaeological and historical discoveries that identify the ancient Israelites as the ancestors of the Anglo-Saxon, Celtic, Germanic and kindred peoples . . . to which the Scots are an important part. Though it contains only sixty four pages this book is a remarkable reservoir of Scottish history and interests. It includes photographs drawings and maps as well as famous poems and songs exalting Scotland its culture and its people.