The Scottish Chiefs

by Jane Porter

  Chapter XLI.

  The State Prison.

  The regent's re-entrance into the citadel of Stirling, being on theevening preceding the day he had promised should see the English lordsdepart for their country, De Warenne, as a mark of respect to a manwhom he could not but regard with admiration, went to the barbican-gateto bid him welcome.

  Wallace appeared; and as the cavalcade of noble Southrons who hadlately commanded beyond the Tay, followed him, Murray glanced his eyearound, and said with a smile to De Warenne, "You see, sir earl, how weScots keep our word!" and then he added, "you leave Stirling to-morrow,but these remain till Lord Douglas opens their prison-doors."

  "I cannot but acquiesce in the justice of your commander'sdetermination," returned De Warenne, "and to comfort these gentlemenunder their captivity, I can only tell them that if anything canreconcile them to the loss of liberty, it is being the prisoners of SirWilliam Wallace."

  After having transferred his captives to the charge of Lord Mar,Wallace went alone to the chamber of Montgomery, to see whether thestate of his wounds would allow him to march on the morrow. While hewas yet there, an invitation arrived from the Countess of Mar,requesting his presence at an entertainment which, by her husband'sconsent, she meant to give that night at Snawdoun, to the Southronlords before their departure for England.

  "I fear you dare not expend your strength on this party?" inquiredWallace, turning to Montgomery.

  "Certainly not," returned he; "but I shall see you amidst your noblefriends, at some future period. When the peace your arms must win, isestablished between the two nations, I shall then revisit Scotland; andopenly declare my friendship for Sir William Wallace."

  "As these are your sentiments," replied Wallace, "I shall hope that youwill unite your influence with that of the brave Earl of Gloucester, topersuade your king to stop this bloodshed; for it is no vain boast todeclare, that he may bury Scotland beneath her slaughtered sons, butthey never will again consent to acknowledge any right in an usurper."

  "Sanguinary have been the instruments of my sovereign's rule inScotland," replied Montgomery; "but such cruelty is foreign to hisgallant heart; and without offending that high-souled patriotism, whichwould make me revere its possessor, were he the lowliest man in yourlegions, allow me, noblest of Scots, to plead one word in vindicationof him to whom my allegiance is pledged. Had he come hither, conductedby war alone, what would Edward have been worse than any otherconqueror? But on the reverse, was not his right to the supremacy ofScotland acknowledged by the princes who contended for the crown? Andbesides, did not all the great lords swear fealty to England, on theday he nominated their king?"

  "Had you not been under these impressions, brave Montgomery, I believeI never should have seen you in arms against Scotland; but I willremove them by a simple answer. All the princes whom you speak of,excepting Bruce of Annandale, did assent to the newly offered claim ofEdward on Scotland; but who, amongst them, had any probable chance forthe throne, but Bruce or Baliol? Such ready acquiescence was meant tocreate them one. Bruce, conscious of his inherent rights, rejected theiniquitous demand of Edward; Baliol accorded with it, and was madeking. All our chiefs who were base enough to worship the rising sun,and, I may say, condemn the God of truth, swore to the falsehood.Others remained gloomily silent; and the bravest of them retired to theHighlands, where they dwell amongst their mountains, till the cries ofScotland called them again to fight her battles.

  "Thus did Edward establish himself as the liege lord of this kingdom;and whether the oppresion which followed were his or his agents'immediate acts, it matters not, for he made them his own by hisafter-conduct. When remonstrances were sent to London, he neitherpunished nor reprimanded the delinquents, but marched an armed forceinto our country, to compel us to be trampled on. It was not anAlexander nor a Charlemagne, coming in his strength to subdue ancientenemies, or to aggrandize his name, by vanquishing nations far remote,with whom he could have no affinity! Terrible as such ambition was, itis innocence to what Edward has done. He came, in the first instance,to Scotland as a friend; the nation committed its dearest interests tohis virtue; they put their hands into his and he bound them inshackles. Was this honor? Was this the right of conquest? The cheekof Alexander would have blushed deep as his Tyrian robe; and the faceof Charlemagne turned pale as the lilies, at the bare suspicion ofbeing capable of such a deed.

  "No, Lord Montgomery, it is not our conqueror we are opposing; it is atraitor, who, under the mask of friendship, has attempted to usurp ourrights, destroy our liberties, and make a desert of our once happycountry. This is the true statement of the case, and though I wish notto make a subject outrage his sovereign, yet truth demands of you tosay to Edward, that to withdraw his pretensions from this exhaustedcountry, is the restitution we may justly claim--is all that we wish.Let him leave us in peace, and we shall no longer make war upon him.But if he persist (which the ambassadors from the Prince of Walesannounce), even as Samson drew the temple upon himself, to destroy hisenemies, Scotland will discharge itself upon the valleys of England;and there compel them to share the fate in which we may be doomed toperish."

  "I will think of this discourse," returned Montgomery, "when I am fardistant; and rely on it, noble Wallace that I will assert the privilegeof my birth, and counsel my king as becomes an honest man."

  "Highly would he estimate such counsel," cried Wallace, "had he virtueto feel that he who will be just to his sovereign's enemies must be ofan honor that will bind him with double fidelity to his king. Suchproof give your sovereign; and, if he have one spark of that greatnessof mind which you say he possesses, though he may not adopt youradvice, he must respect the adviser."

  As Wallace pressed the hand of his new friend, to leave him to repose,a messenger entered from Lord Mar, to request the regent's presence inhis closet. He found him with Lord de Warenne. The latter presentedhim with another dispatch from the Prince of Wales. It was to say,that news had reached him of Wallace's design to attack the castlesgarrisoned by England, on the eastern coast. Should this informationprove true, he (the prince) declared that, as a punishment for suchincreasing audacity, he would put Lord Douglas into closer confinement;and while the Southron fleets would inevitably baffle Wallace'sattempts, the moment the exchange of prisoners was completed on theborders, an army from England should enter Scotland, and ravage it withfire and sword.

  When Wallace had heard this dispatch, he smile and said, "The deed isdone, my Lord de Warenne. Both the castles and the fleets are taken;and what punishment must we now expect from this terrible threatener?"

  "Little from him, or his headlong counselors," replied De Warenne; "butThomas Earl of Lancaster, the king's nephew, is come from abroad with anumerous army. He is to conduct the Scottish prisoners to the borders,and then to fall upon Scotland with all his strength, unless youpreviously surrender, not only Berwick, but Stirling, and the whole ofthe district between the Forth and the Tweed, into his hands."

  "My Lord de Warenne," replied Wallace, "you can expect but one returnto these absurd demands. I shall accompany you myself to the Scottishborders, and there made my reply."

  De Warenne, who did indeed look for this answer, replied, "Ianticipated that such would be your determination, and I have to regretthat the wild counsels which surround my prince, precipitate him intoconduct which must draw much blood on both sides, before his royalfather's presence can regain what he has lost."

  "Ah, my lord," replied Wallace, "is it to be nothing but war? Have younow a stronghold of any force in all the Highlands? Is not the greaterpart of the Lowlands free? And before this day month, not a rood ofland in Scotland is likely to hold a Southron soldier. We conquer, butit is for our own. Why then this unreceding determination to invadeus? Not a blade of grass would I disturb on the other side of theCheviot, if we might have peace. Let Edward yield to that, and thoughhe has pierced us with many wounds, we will yet forgive him."

  De Warenne shook his head; "I know my k
ing too well to expect pacificmeasures. He may die with the sword in his hand; but he will nevergrant an hour's repose to this country till it submits to his scepter."

  "Then," replied Wallace, "the sword must be the portion of him and his!Ruthless tyrant! If the blood of Abel called for vengeance on hismurderer, what must be the vials of wrath which are reserved for thee?"

  A flush overspread the face of De Warenne at this apostrophe; andforcing a smile, "The strict notion of right," said he, "is very wellin declamation, but how would it crop the wings of conquerors, andshorten the warrior's arm, did they measure by this rule!"

  "How would it, indeed!" replied Wallace; "and that they should is mostdevoutly to be wished. All warfare that is not defensive is criminal;and he who draws his sword to oppress, or merely to aggrandize, is amurderer and a robber. This is the plain truth, Lord de Warenne."

  "I have never considered it in that light," returned the earl, "norshall I turn philosopher now. I revere your principle, Sir WilliamWallace; but it is too sublime to be mine. Nay, nor would it bepolitic for one who holds his possessions in England by the right ofconquest to question the virtue of the deed. By the sword my ancestorsgained their estates; and with the sword I have no objection to extendmy territories."

  Wallace now saw that De Warenne, though a man of honor, was not one ofvirtue. Though his amiable nature made him gracious in the midst ofhostility, and his good dispositions would not allow him to actdisgracefull in any concern, yet duty to God seemed a poet's flight tohim. Educated in the forms of religion, without knowing its spirit, hedespised them; and believing the Deity too wise to be affected by merevirtuous shows of any kind, his ignorance of the sublime benevolence,which disdains not to provide food even for the "sparrow ere it falls,"made him think the Creator of all too great to care about the actionsof men; hence, being without the true principles of good-virtue, asvirtue, was nonsense to Earl de Warenne.

  Wallace did not answer his remark, and the conference soon closed.