SCOTLAND is on the "cusp of making history" by voting for independence next week, First Minister Alex Salmond has said.
Salmond said the eyes of the world are on Scotland, as he addressed an audience of international journalists in Edinburgh exactly 17 years since the country voted Yes to devolution.
Vowing that Scots "will vote Yes" in six days' time, he attacked the No camp for being in "terminal decline" the day after the leaders of three main UK parties travelled north of the border in a bid to save the union.
Mr Salmond said: "Scotland is on the cusp of making history. The eyes of the world are upon Scotland. And what the world is seeing is an articulate, peaceful, energised debate.
"Scotland will vote Yes next Thursday and they will vote Yes because last minute, cobbled up promises from the No campaign which unravel at the slightest scrutiny will not fool anyone in this country and neither will the blatant bullying and intimidation of the Westminster Government.
"The No campaign is in terminal decline. In contrast a Yes vote is the opportunity of a lifetime. An opportunity to build a fairer more prosperous country."
The latest Survation poll for the Daily Record puts support for the union at 53 per cent and backing for independence on 47 per cent, when undecided voters are excluded.
Mr Salmond said it is Scotland's people, not politicians, who are "re-invigorating and transforming" the political process during the debate over the country's constitutional future.
An independent Scotland would succeed not only because of its wealth and natural resources, but also by building on the "energy, participation and involvement" seen in the campaign, he said.
Salmond said: "It has been a process of national empowerment. As a country we have re-discovered national self-confidence. As a nation, we are finding our voice.
"Our message to the people of Scotland is this - for the first time in Scottish history, on the 18th September we, the people, hold our destiny in our own hands.
"We shall not wake up on the 19th of September having given it away. We shall wake up knowing that we did the right thing.
"Wake up to a lifetime of feeling confident in ourselves and in our country."
Meanwhile, the John Lewis Partnership has issued a warning that shoppers in Scotland are likely to face higher prices if the country goes it alone.
At a Better Together rally in Kilmarnock, East Ayrshire, former prime minister Gordon Brown said: "I think Mr Salmond has to face facts now. You can dismiss some of the warnings some of the time but you can't dismiss all of the warnings all of the time.
"We've got John Lewis worried about price rises in the shops, we've got the oil companies saying investment would be cut and jobs lost, we've got the banks and financial institutions saying they may have to relocate which means that there are further jobs lost.
"We've got worries about the fiscal gap which is £6 billion and cannot be filled."
* INDEPENDENCE: Left, Yes supporters gatecrash a Labour Better Together rally on Buchanan Street in Glasgow yesterday. Above, Scottish first minister Alex Salmond addresses international journalists at the Edinburgh International Conference Centre