WILLIAM WALLACE AND THE TWO FRIARS Imagining that Wallace might be induced to lay down his arms, the English General dispatched two Friars to the Scottish camp, with terms of capitulation. Return, said WALLACE, and tell your masters that we came here not to treat, but to assert our rights, and to set Scotland free. Let them advance, they will find us prepared. WILLIAM WALLACE. 1. AN obscure individual, of no high rank, and of still less fortune, rose to assert the honor and independence of his country, while the nobles and grandees of the kingdom, divided into factions, or adhering to the conqueror, seemed desirous of perpetuating its slavery. That strenuous patriot, but barbarous warrior, William Wallace, to whom many fabulous exploits are ascribed, but who in reality possessed all the valor of Achilles, joined to the prudence of Ulysses, and in these two respects merited the pen of a Homer to celebrate his actions, ventured, almost singly, to attack the colossal power of the conqueror. His band of troops was so inconsiderable, and his progress so rapid, that the boldness and success of his enterprise are equally astonishing. His army, however, was daily increased by the numbers whom success allured to his standard. 2. Having in a very short time recovered all the places which the English had held in their possession, except the single town of Berwick, his courage and conduct raised him so high in the esteem of the army, that he was, by a kind of military election, declared regent of the kingdom. Edward, who had engaged in a war with France, and was at that time in Flanders, agreed with the French king to refer their difference to the arbitration of pope Boniface VIII; and returning home, turned all his attention to quell the Scottish revolt. Having entered Scotland, he advanced to Falkirk, where he met the enemy's army, conducted by Wallace, and an obstinate battle again decided the fate of the kingdom. Although Edward had two of his ribs broken by a fall from his horse, in the beginning of the engagement, he kept the field, and commanded with the same presence of mind as if no accident had happened. The contest was obstinate and bloody, but the issue was fatal to the Scots, whose ferocious, but undisciplined bands, were not a match for Edward's veteran troops. 3. Wallace was defeated with so prodigious a slaughter, that, according to some authors, the Scots lost 60,000 men, while others reduce the number to 10,000, exhibiting, in To what office did Wallace's courage and success raise him?--What is said to have been the loss of the Scots at the battle of Falkirk ? their contradictory narratives, another of those innumerable instances of the uncertainty of all circumstantial accounts, especially in regard to numerical statements. All that can with certainty be said, is, that the slaughter of the Scots was dreadful, and Edward's victory complete. Improving his advantages, he recovered all the places of strength as rapidly as they had been lost; and may, on this occasion, be said to have a second time conquered Scotland. Wallace, with a few faithful followers, retired among the mountains and marshes, which nature had rendered inaccessible to armies; and, perceiving that his patriotic exertions inspired the nobles with jealousy, rather than emulation, he resigned the regency. 4. Comyn was, on his resignation, declared regent, an office at that time of little consequence, as it gave him authority over only a small part of the kingdom, and a few. scattered troops, who had escaped from the late battle. Through the mediation of Philip, king of France, a truce for seven months was procured for such of the Scots as refused to submit to Edward's authority. This gave the new regent an opportunity of exciting the barons to shake off the English yoke. Roused by his exhortations, both the nobles and people immediately flew to arms. In a short time, all Scotland rose as one man, the whole mass of the inhabitants, in the towns, and in the country, taking arms the same day, and almost at the same hour. The English garrisons, being every where attacked at the same moment, in so furious a manner, that all resistance was ineffectual, had no other alternative than that of being put to the sword, or of surrendering on condition of immediately evacuating the kingdom. 5. This general revolt, which happened about the end of the year 1299, induced Edward to march early in the ensuing spring, and a third time to enter Scotland. The Scottish army, which consisted only of an ill-armed and undisciplined militia, not able to stand against Edward's veteran army, retired at his approach. The king, however, with his usual promptitude, pursued, overtook, and routed them, in a decisive engagement. The shattered remains of their forces What induced Wallace to resign the regency of Scotland ?-Who was declared his successor ?-Through whose mediation was a truce between England and Scotland effected? In what year did the re volt of the Scots under Comyn take place? etreated into the marshes, which were known only to the atives, and amidst which the conquerors durst not continue heir pursuit. Despairing of any good effects from further esistance, the Scots had now recourse to negotiation and enreaties; but the inexorable Edward, rejecting all offers of econciliation, and insisting on unconditional submission, hey put themselves and their country under the papal rotection, and made Boniface VIII. an offer of the soveeignty. The 6. This produced a brief from the pope to Edward, exhibiting his own claim to the crown of Scotland. The English monarch assembled a parliament at Lincoln, for the purpose of deliberating on the pretensions of the Roman see. papal brief was answered by a manifesto, asserting that England possessed, from time immemorial, the right of sovereignty over Scotland. This manifesto of the parliament, was followed by a memorial from the king, in justification of his measures; in which, if he could not equal the pope in sanctity, he resolved to outdo him in antiquity. Improving on that presented to the Scottish barons at Norham, in which he carried his claim no higher than Edward, the father of Athelstan, he now derived it from Brutus, the first fabulous king of Britain, and traced it through the reigns of all the fictitious monarchs, with whose names and exploits Geoffrey of Monmouth had embellished his historical romance. 7. This letter being written in the most respectful manner, without any expressions that could be offensive to his holiness, the difference between Edward and the pope was accommodated, and, at the solicitation of the French king, the truce with the revolted Scots was prolonged. At its expiration, Edward sent Segrave, governor of Berwick, with a formidable force, to renew the war, and complete the reduction of Scotland. This general, apprehending no danger from the Scots, whom he considered as unable to make any resistance, divided his army into three columns, in order more completely to ravage the country. Meeting, however, unexpectedly, with the Scotch army, under the command of Comyn and Frazer, all the three bodies were successively defeated. When again subdued by Edward, under whose protection did the Scots place themselves? 8. In consequence of this disaster, Edward, the next year 1303, entered the fourth time into Scotland, with so nume rous an army, that he penetrated to the extremities of the kingdom, and ravaged the country, without meeting with any considerable resistance, the Scots being unable to oppose so formidable a power. Wallace alone, with a body of troops, continually harassed him, and revenged the Scots on such of the English soldiers as happened to stray from the main body of the army. Stirling castle was besieged the whole winter, and was at last obliged to capitulate. By its surrender, Edward became master of all the fortified places, and, in this fourth expedition, completed his third conquest of Scotland. 9. A few determined patriots, however, retreating to places inaccessible to hostile approach, still held the conqueror's powers at defiance; but Wallace, the principal instigator and soul of revolt, being betrayed into the hands of the English, was tried, condemned, and executed, as guilty of treason. His head, was, by Edward's command, placed upon London bridge, and his four quarters hung up in the four principal towns of Scotland. Here, as in many other cases, we have an opportunity of considering the difficulty of making a just estimate of actions from the echoes of common fame, and the ipse dixit of partial or inconsiderate writers. This extraordinary severity to the Scottish patriot is universally regarded as an indelible blemish on Edward's memory; but, if the cruelties imputed to Wallace had any foundation in fact, his punishment must be regarded as a just retribution. 10. Indeed, if the whole conduct of those conspicuous characters, who, in all ages and countries, have fallen by the hand of violence, could be minutely investigated, they would often be found, although less fortunate, little less criminal than their oppressors; and the distributive justice of Providence would appear more impartially dealt than superficial observers can perceive. But so often are we the dupes of misrepresentation, and so prone to hasty decision, that the illustrious victim of oppression and violence, who has himself sacrificed, at the shrine of his ambition, his avarice, or his resentment, thousands of inferior celebrity, appears in In what year did Edward enter Scotland the fourth time?-What became of Wallace? |