The Scottish Chiefs

by Jane Porter

  CHAPTER LIII.

  Falkirk.

  Before the sun rose, every brave Scot within a few hours' march ofStirling, was on the Carse; and Lord Andrew Murray and his veteranClydesdale men were already resting on their arms in view of the citywalls. The messengers of Wallace had hastened with the speed of thewinds, east and west; and the noon of the day saw him at the head ofthirty thousand men determined to fight or to die for their country.

  The surrounding landscape shone in the brightness of midsummer; for itwas the eve of St. Magdalen; and sky and earth bore witness to theluxuriant month of July. The heavens were clear, the waters of theForth danced in the sunbeams, and the flower-enameled green of theextended plain stretched its beautiful borders to the deepening woods.All nature smiled; all seemed in harmony and peace but the breast ofman. He who was made lord of this paradise awoke to disturb itsrepose, to disfigure its loveliness! As the thronging legions pouredupon the plain, the sheep which had been feeding there, fled scared tothe hills; the plover and heath-fowl which nestled in the brakes, roseaffrighted from their infant broods, and flew in screaming multitudesfar over the receding valleys. The peace of Scotland was again broken,and its flocks and herds were to share its misery.

  When the conspiring lords appeared on the Carse, and Mar communicatedto them the lately discovered treason, they so well affected surpriseat the contents of the scroll, that Wallace might not have suspectedtheir connection with it, had not Lord Athol declared it altogether aforgery of some wanton persons, and then added with bitterness, "togather an army on such authority is ridiculous." While he spoke,Wallace regarded him with a look which pierced him to the center; andthe blood rushing into his guilty heart, for once in his life hetrembled before the eye of man. "Whoever be the degenerate Scot, towhom this writing is addressed," said Wallace, "his baseness cannotbetray us further. The troops of Scotland are ready to meet the enemy;and woe to the man who that day deserts his country!" "Amen!" criedLord Mar. "Amen!" sounded from every lip; for when the conscienceembraces treason against its earthly rulers, allegiance to its heavenlyKing is abandoned with ease; and the words and oaths of the traitor areequally unstable.

  Badenoch's eye followed that of Wallace, and his suspicions fixed wherethe regent's fell. For the honor of his blood, he forbore to accusethe earl; but for the same reason he determined to watch hisproceedings. However, the hypocrisy of Athol baffled even thepenetration of his brother, and on his retiring from the ground to callforth his men for the expedition, in an affected chafe he complained toBadenoch of the stigma cast upon their house by the regent's impliedcharge.

  "But," said he, "he shall see the honor of the Cummin, emblazoned inblood on the sands of the Forth! His towering pride heeds not where itstrikes; and this comes of raising men of low estate to rule overprinces!"

  "His birth is noble if not royal," replied Badenoch; "and before this,the posterity of kings have not disdained to recover their rights bythe sword of a brave subject."

  "True," answered Athol; "but is it customary for princes to allow thatsubject to sit on their throne? It is nonsense to talk of Wallacehaving refused a coronation. He laughs at the name; but see you notthat he openly affects supreme power; that he rules the nobles of theland like a despot? His word, his nod is sufficient!--Go here! gothere!--as if he were absolute, and there was no voice in Scotland buthis own! Look at the brave Mack Callan--more, the lord of the west ofScotland from sea to sea; he stands unbonneted before this mightyWallace with a more abject homage than ever he paid to the house ofAlexander! Can you behold this, Lord Badenoch, and not find the royalblood of your descent boil in your veins? Does not every look of yourwife, the sister of a king, and your own right stamped upon your soul,reproach you? He is greater by your strength. Humble him, my brother;be faithful to Scotland, but humble its proud dictator!"

  Lord Badenoch replied to this rough exhortation with the tranquillitybelonging to his nature--"I see not the least foundations for any ofyour charges against Sir William Wallace. He has delivered Scotland,and the people are grateful. The nation with one voice made him theirregent; and he fulfills the duties of his office--but with a modesty,Lord Athol, which, I must affirm, I never saw equaled. I dissent fromyou in all that you have said--and I confess I did fear the blandishingarguments of the faithless Cospatrick had persuaded you to embrace hispernicious treason. You deny it--that is well. Prove your innocenceat this juncture in the field against Scotland's enemies; and John ofBadenoch will then see no impending cloud to darken the honor of thename of Cummin!"

  The brothers immediately separated; and Athol calling his cousin Buchanarranged a new device to counteract the vigilance of the regent. Oneof their means was to baffle his measures by stimulating the lesstreasonable but yet discontented chiefs to thwart him in every motion.At the head of this last class was John Stewart, Earl of Bute. Duringthe whole of the preceding year he had been in Norway, and the firstobject he met on his return to Scotland was the triumphal entry ofWallace into Stirling. Aware of the consequence Stewart's name wouldattach to any cause, Athol had gained his ear before he was introducedto the regent; and then so poisoned his mind against Wallace that allthat was well in him he deemed ill, and ever spoke of his bravery withcoldness, and of his patriotism with disgust. He believed him ahypocrite, and as such despised and abhorred him.

  While Athol marshaled his rebellious ranks, some to follow his broadtreason in the face of day, and others to lurk behind, and delude theintrusted council left in Stirling; Wallace led forth his loyal chiefsto take their stations at the heads of their different clans. SirAlexander Scrymgeour, with the proudest expectations for Scotland,unfurled his golden standard to the sun. The Lords Loch-awe andBothwell, with others, rode on the right of the regent. Lord AndrewMurray, with the brave Sir John Graham, and a bevy of young knights,kept the ground on his left. Wallace looked around; Edwin was faraway, and he felt but half appointed when wanting his youthfulswordbearer. That faithful friend did not even know of the threatenedhostility; for to have intimated to Lord Ruthven a danger he could notassist to repel, would have inflamed his disorder by anxiety, andperhaps hurried him to dissolution.

  As the regent moved forward with these private affections checkeringhis public cares, his heralds blew the trumpets of his approach, and ahundred embattled clans appeared in the midst of the plain, awaitingtheir valiant leaders. Each chief advanced to the head of his line,and stood to hear the charge of Wallace.

  "Brave Scots!" cried he, "treachery has admitted the enemy whomresolute patriotism had driven from our borders. Be steady in yourfidelity to Scotland, and He who hath hitherto protected the justcause, will nerve your arms to lay invasion and its base coadjutorsagain in the dust."

  The cheers of anticipated victory burst from the soldiers, mingled withthe clangor of their striking shields at the inspiring voice of theirleader. Wallace waved his truncheon (round which the plan of his arraywas wrapped) to the chiefs to fall back toward their legions; and whilesome appeared to linger, Athol, armed cap-a-pie, and spurring his roaninto the area before the regent, demanded, in a haughty tone, "Which ofthe chiefs now in the field is to lead the vanguard?"

  "The Regent of Scotland," replied Wallace, for once asserting themajesty of his station, "and you, Lord Athol, with the Lord Buchan, areto defend your country under the command of the brave head of yourhouse, the princely Badenoch."

  "I stir not from this spot," returned Athol, fiercely striking hislance into its rest, "till I see the honor of my country established inthe eye of the world by a leader worthy of her rank being placed in hervanguard."

  "What he says," cried Buchan, "I second." "And in the same spirit,chieftain of Ellerslie," exclaimed Lord Bute, "do I offer to Scotlandmyself and my people. Another must lead the van, or I retire from herstandard."

  "Speak on!" cried Wallace, more surprised than confounded by thisextraordinary attack.

  "What these illustrious chiefs have uttered, is the voice of us all!"was the gen
eral exclamation from a band of warriors who now throngedaround the incendiary nobles.

  "Your reign is over, proud chieftain," rejoined Athol; "the Scottishranks are no longer to be cajoled by your affected moderation. We seethe tyrant in your insidious smile, we feel him in the despotism ofyour decrees. To be thus ridden by a man of vulgar blood; to presenthim as the head of our nation to the King of England, is beneath thedignity of our country, is an insult to our nobles; and therefore, inthe power of her consequence, I speak, and again demand of you to yieldthe vanguard to one more worthy of the station. Before God and St.Magdalen I swear," added he, holding up his sword to the heavens, "Iwill not stir an inch this day toward the enemy unless a Cummin or aStewart lead our army."

  "And is this your resolution also, Lord Bute?" said Wallace, looking onStewart. "It is," was the reply; "a foe like Edward ought to be met asbecomes a great and independent kingdom. We go in the array of anunanimous nation to repel him; not as a band of insurgents, headed by ageneral who, however brave, was yet drawn from the common ranks of thepeople. I therefore demand to follow a more illustrious leader to thefield."

  "The eagles have long enough followed their owl in peacock's feathers,"cried Buchan; "and being tired of the game, I, like the rest, soarupward again!"

  "Resign that baton!" cried Athol; "give peace to a more honorableleader!" repeated he, supposed that he had intimidated Wallace; butWallace, raising the visor of his helmet, which he had closed on hislast commands to his generals, looked on Athol with all the majesty ofhis truly royal soul in his eyes: "Earl," said he, "the voices of thethree estates of Scotland declared me their regent, and God ratifiedthe election by the victories with which he crowned me. If in aught Ihave betrayed my trust, led the powers which raised me be my accusers.Four pitched battles have I fought and gained for this country. TwiceI beat the representatives of King Edward on the plains of Scotland;and a few months ago I made him fly before me over the fields ofNorthumberland! What then has befallen me, that my arm is to be tooshort to meet this man? Has the oil of the Lord, with which the saintof Dunkeld anointed my brows, lost its virtue, that I should shrinkbefore any king in Christendom? I neither tremble at the name ofEdward, nor will I so disgrace my own (which never man who bore it everdegraded by swearing fealty to a foreign prince), as to abandon at sucha crisis the power with which Scotland has invested me. Whoeverchooses to leave the cause of their country, let them go; and somanifest themselves of noble blood! I remain, and I lead the vanguard!Scotsmen, to your duty."

  As he spoke with a voice of unanswerable command, several chiefs fellback into their ranks. But some made a retrograde motion toward thetown. Lord Bute hardly knew what to think, so was he startled by theappeal of the accused regent, and the noble frankness with which hemaintained his rights. He stood frowning as Wallace turned to him, andsaid, "Do you, my lord, adhere to these violent men? or am I toconsider a chief who, though hostile to me, was generous in his ire,still faithful to Scotland, in spite of his prejudice against herleader? Will you fight her battles?"

  "I shall never desert them," replied Stewart; "'tis truth I seek;therefore be it to you. Wallace, this day according to yourconscience!" Wallace bowed his head, and presented him the truncheonaround which his line of battle was wrapped. On opening it he foundthat he was appointed to command the third division; Badenoch andBothwell to the first and second; and Wallace himself to the vanguard.

  When the scouts arrived, they informed the regent that the English armyhad advanced near to the boundary of Linlithgow, and from the rapidityof their march, must be on the Carron the same evening. On thisintelligence, Wallace put his troops to their speed and before the sunhad declined far toward the west, he was within view of Falkirk. Butjust as he had crossed the Carron, and the Southron banners appeared insight, Lord Athol, at the head of his rebellious colleagues, rode up tohim. Stewart kept his appointed station and Badenoch, doing the same,ashamed of his brother's disorder, called after him to keep his line.Regardless of all check, the obstinate chief galloped on, and extendinghis bold accomplices across the path of the regent, demanded of him, onthe penalty of his life, "that moment to relinquish his pretensions tothe vanguard."

  "I am not come here," replied Wallace indignantly, "to betray mycountry! I know you, Lord Athol: and your conduct and mine will thisday prove who is most worthy the confidence of Scotland."

  "This day," cried Athol, "shall see you lay down the power you haveusurped."

  "It shall see me maintain it, to your confusion," replied Wallace, "andwere you not surrounded by Scots of too tried a worth for me to suspecttheir being influenced by your rebellious example, I would this momentmake you feel the arm of justice. But the foe is in sight; do yourduty now, sir earl, and for the sake of the house to which you belong,even this intemperate conduct shall be forgotten."

  At this instant, Sir John Graham, hastening forward, exclaimed:

  "The Southrons are bearing down upon us!"

  Athol glanced at their distant host and turning on Wallace with asarcastic smile, "My actions," cried he, "shall indeed decide the day!"and striking his spurs furiously into his horse, he rejoined LordBadenoch's legion.

  Edward did indeed advance in a most terrible array. Above a hundredthousand men swelled his numerous ranks; and with these were united allfrom the Lothians and Teviotdale, whom the influence of the faithlessMarch and the vindictive Soulis could bring into the field. With thisaugmented host, and a determination to conquer or to die, the Southronsmarched rapidly forward.

  Wallace had drawn himself up on the ascent of the hill of Falkirk, andadvantageously planted his archers on a covering eminence flanked bythe legions of Badenoch. Lord Athol, who knew the integrity of hisbrother, and who cared not in so great a cause (for such his ambitiontermed it) how he removed an adversary from Edward, and a censor fromhimself, gave a ridding order to one of his emissaries. Accordingly,in the moment when the trumpet of Wallace sounded the charge, and thearrows from the hill darkened the air, the virtuous Badenoch wasstabbed through the back to the very heart. Athol had placed himselfnear, to watch his purpose; but in the instant the deed was done, hethrew himself on the perpetrator, and wounding him in the same vitalpart, exclaimed, holding up his dagger, "Behold the weapon that hasslain the assassin, hired by Sir William Wallace! Thus it is, that hisambition would rob Scotland of her native princes. Let us fly from hissteel to the shield of a king and a hero."

  The men had seen their leader fall; they doubted not the words of hisbrother; and with a shout exclaiming, "Whither you lead we follow!" allat once turned toward him. "Seize the traitor's artillery!" At thiscommand they mounted the hill and the archers, little expecting anassault from their countrymen, were either instantly cut down, orhurried away prisoners by Athol and Buchan; who now, at the head of thewhole division of the Cummins, galloped toward the Southrons; and withloud cries of "Long live King Edward!" threw themselves en masse intotheir arms. The squadrons which followed Stewart not knowing but theymight be hurried into similar desertion, hesitated in the charge he hadcommanded them to make; and, while thus undecisive, some obeyed inbroken ranks; and others lingered. The enemy advanced briskly up,surrounded the division, and on their first onset slew its leader. Hisfaithful Brandanes,** seeing their beloved commander trampled to theearth by an overwhelming foe, fell into confusion, and communicatingtheir dismay to their comrades, the whole division sunk under the shockof the Southrons, as if touched by a spell.

  **Brandanes was the distinguished appellation of the military followersof the chiefs of Bute.

  Meanwhile Bothwell and his legions were fiercely engaged with the Earlof Lincoln amid the swamps of a deep morass; but being involved byreciprocal impetuousity, equal peril engulfed them both. The firmbattalion of the vanguard; alone remaining unbroken, stood before thepressing and now victorious thousands of Edward without receding astep. The archers being lost by the treachery of the Cummins, all hopelay on the strength of the spear and sword; and Walla
ce, standingimmovable as the rock of Stirling, saw rank after rank of his dauntlessinfantry mowed down by the Southron arrows; while, fast as they fell,their comrades closed over them, and still presented the sameimpenetrable front of steady valor against the heavy charges of theenemy's horse. The King of England, indignant at this pause in hisconquering onset, accompanied by his natural brother, the valiant Frerede Briagny, and a squadron of resolute knights, in fury threwthemselves toward the Scottish pikesmen. Wallace descried the jeweledcrest of Edward amidst the cloud of battle there, and rushing forward,hand to hand engaged the king. Edward knew his adversary, not so muchby his snow white plume as by the prowess of his arm. Twice did theheavy claymore of Wallace strike fire from the steely helmet of themonarch; but at the third stroke the glittering diadem fell in shiversto the ground; and the royal blood of Edward followed the blow. Hereeled; and another stroke would have settled the freedom of Scotlandforever, had not the strong arm of Frere de Briagny passed betweenWallace and the king. The combat thickened; blow followed blow; bloodgushed at each fall of the sword; and the hacked armor showed in everyaperture a grisly wound. A hundred weapons seemed directed against thebreast of the Regent of Scotland, when, raising his sword with adetermined stroke, it cleft the visor and vest of De Briagny, who felllifeless to the ground. The cry that issued from the Southron troopsat this sight again nerved the vengeful Edward, and ordering the signalfor his reserve to advance, he renewed the attack; and assaultingWallace, with all the fury of his heart in his eyes and arms, he torethe earth with the trampling of disappointed vengeance, when he foundthe invincible phalanx still stood firm.

  "I will reach him yet!" cried he; and turning to De Valence, hecommanded that the new artillery should be called into action.

  On this order, a blast of trumpets in the Southron army blew; and theanswering war-wolves it had summoned sent forth showers of red-hotstones into the midst of the Scottish battalions. At the same momentthe English reserve, charging round the hill, attacked them in theflank, and accomplished what the fiery torrent had begun. The fieldwas heaped with dead; the brooks which flowed down the heights ran withblood; but no confusion was there--no, not even in the mind of Wallace;though, with amazement and horror, he beheld the saltire of Annandale,the banner of Bruce, leading onward the last exterminating division!Scot now contended with Scot, brother with brother. Those valiantspirits, who had left their country twenty years before to accompanytheir chief to the Holy Land, now re-entered Scotland to wound her inher vital part; to wrest from her her liberties; to make her mourn inashes, that she had been the mother of such matricides. A horridmingling of tartans with tartans, in the direful grasp of reciprocaldeath; a tremendous rushing of the flaming artillery, which swept theScottish ranks like blasting lightning, for a moment seemed to make thereason of their leader stagger. Arrows, winged with fire, flashedthrough the air; and sticking in men and beasts, drove them againsteach other in maddening pain. Twice was the horse of Wallace shotunder him; and on every side were his closest friends wounded anddispersed. But his terrific horror at the scene passed away the momentof its perception; and though the Southron and the Bruce pressed on himin overwhelming numbers, his few remaining ranks obeyed his call; andwith a presence of mind and military skill that was exhaustless, hemaintained the fight till darkness parted the combatants. When Edwardgave command for his troops to rest till morning, Wallace, with theremnant of his faithful band slowly recrossed the Carron, that theyalso might repose till dawn should renew the conflict.

  Lonely was the sound of his bugle, as sitting on a fragment of thedruidical ruins of Dunipacis, he blew its melancholy blast to summonhis chiefs around him. Its penetrating voice pierced the hills, but noanswering note came upon his ear. A direful conviction seized upon hisheart. But they might have fled far distant! he blushed as the thoughtcrossed him, and hopeless again, dropped the horn, which he had raisedto blow a second summons. At this instant he saw a shadow darken themoonlight ruins, and Scrymgeour, who had gladly heard his commander'sbugle, hastened forward.

  "What has been the fate of this dismal day?" asked Wallace, lookingonward, as if he expected others to come up. "Where are myfriends?--Where Graham, Badenoch and Bothwell?--Where all, braveScrymgeour, that I do not know see?" He rose from his seat at sight ofan advancing group. It approached near and laid the dead body of awarrior down before him. "Thus," cried one of the supporters, instifled sounds, "has my father proved his love for Scotland!" It wasMurray who spoke; it was the Earl of Bothwell that lay a breathlesscorpse at his feet!

  "Grievous has been the havoc of Scot on Scot!" cried the intrepidGraham, who had seconded the arm of Murray in the contest for hisfather's body. "Your steadiness, Sir William Wallace, would haveretrieved the day but for the murderer of his country; that Bruce, forwhom you refused to be our king, thus destroys her bravest sons. Theirblood be on his head!" continued the young chief, extending his martialarms toward heaven. "Power of Justice, hear! and let his days betroubled, and his death covered with dishonor!"

  "My brave friend!" replied Wallace, "his deeds will avenge themselves,he needs not further malediction. Let us rather bless the remains ofhim who is gone before us thus in glory to his heavenly rest! Ah!better is it thus to be laid in the bed of honor, than, by surviving,witness the calamities which the double treason of this day will bringupon our martyred country! Murray, my friend!" cried he to LordAndrew, "we must not let the brave dead perish in vain! Their monumentshall yet be Scotland's liberties. Fear not that we are forsakenbecause of these traitors; but remember our time is in the hand of theGod of justice and mercy!"

  Tears were coursing each other in mute woe down the cheeks of theaffectionate son. He could not for some time answer Wallace, but hegrasped his hand, and at last rapidly articulated, "Others may havefallen, but not mortally like him. Life may yet be preserved in someof our brave companions. Leave me, then, to mourn my dead alone! andseek ye them."

  Wallace saw that filial tenderness yearned for the moment when it mightunburden its grief unchecked by observation. He arose, and making asign to his friends, withdrew toward his men. Having sent a detachmentto guard the sacred inclosure of Dunipacis, he dispatched Graham on thedangerous duty of gathering a reinforcement for the morning. Thensending Scrymgeour, with a resolute band, across the Carron, to bringin the wounded (for Edward had encamped his army about a mile south ofthe field of action), he took his lonely course along the northern banktoward a shallow ford near which he supposed the squadrons of LordLoch-awe must have fought, and where he hoped to gain accounts of himfrom some straggling survivor of his clan. When he arrived at a pointwhere the river is narrowest, and winds its dark stream beneathimpending heights, he blew the Campbell pibroch; the notes reverberatedfrom rock to rock, but, unanswered, died away in distant echoes. Stillhe could not relinquish hope, and pursuing the path, emerged upon anopen glade. The unobstructed rays of the moon illumined every object.Across the river, at some distance from the bank, a division of theSouthron tents whitened the deep shadows of the bordering woods; andbefore them, on the blood-stained plain, he thought he descried asolitary warrior. Wallace stopped. The man approached the margin ofthe stream, and looked toward the Scottish chief. The visor of Wallacebeing up, discovered his heroic countenance bright in the moonbeams;and the majesty of his mien seemed to declare him to the Southronknight to be no other than the Regent of Scotland.

  "Who art thou?" cried the warrior, with a voice of command, that betterbecame his lips than it was adapted to the man whom he addressed.

  "The enemy of England!" cried the chief.

  "Thou art Wallace!" was the immediate reply; "none else dare answer theLord of Carrick and of Annandale with such haughty boldness."

  "Every Scot in this land," returned Wallace, inflamed with anindignation he did not attempt to repress, "would thus answer Bruce,not only in reference to England, but to himself! to that Bruce, who,not satisfied with having abandoned his people to their enemies, hasstolen a
base fratricide to slay his brethren in their home! To havemet them on the plain of Stanmore, would have been a deed his posteritymight have bewailed; but what horror, what shame will be theirs, whenthey know that he came to ruin his own rights, to stab his people, inthe very bosom of his country! I come from gazing on the murdered bodyof the virtuous Earl of Bothwell! The Lords Bute and Fyfe, and perhapsLoch-awe, have fallen beneath the Southron sword, and your unnaturalarm; and yet do you demand what Scot would dare to tell you, that heholds the Earl of Carrick and his coadjutors as his most mortal foes?"

  "Ambitious man! Dost thou flatter thyself with belief that I am to bedeceived by thy pompous declamation? I know the motive of all thispretended patriotism, I am well informed of the aim of all this vauntedprowess; and I came, not to fight the battles of King Edward, but topunish the proud usurper of the rights of Bruce. I have gained mypoint. My brave followers slew the Lord of Bothwell; my bravefollowers made the hitherto invincible Sir William Wallace retreat! Icame in the power of my birthright; and, as your lawful king, I commandyou, this hour, to lay your rebel sword at my feet. Obey, proudknight, or to-morrow puts you into Edward's hand, and, without appeal,you die the death of a traitor."

  "Unhappy prince," cried Wallace, now suspecting that Bruce had beendeceived; "is it over the necks of your most loyal subjects that youwould mount your throne? How have you been mistaken! How have youstrengthened the hands of your enemy, and weakened your own by thisday's action! The cause is now probably lost forever; and from whomare we to date its ruin but from him to whom the nation looked as toits appointed deliverer? From him, whose once honored name will now beregarded with exaggeration?"

  "Burden not my name, rash young man," replied Bruce, "with the chargesbelonging to your own mad ambition. Who disturbed the peace in whichScotland reposed after the battle of Dunbar, but William Wallace? Whoraised the country in arms, but William Wallace? Who stole from me mybirthright, and fastened the people's love on himself, but WilliamWallace? Who affected to repel a crown that he might the morecertainly fix it on his head, but William Wallace? And who dares nowtaunt me with his errors and mishaps, but the same traitor to hislawful sovereign?"

  "Shall I answer thee, Lord of Carrick," replied Wallace, "with asimilar appeal? Who, when the Southron tyrant preferred a false claimto the supremacy of this realm, subscribed to the falsehood; and bythat action did all in his power to make a free people slaves? Who,when the brand of cruelty swept this kingdom from shore to shore, layindolent in the usurper's court, and heard of these oppressions withouta sigh? Who, horror on horror! brought an army into his owninheritance, to slay his brethren and to lay it desolate before hismortal foe? Thy heart will tell thee, Bruce, who is this man; and ifhonor yet remain in that iron region, thou wilt not disbelieve theasseverations of an honest Scot, who proclaims that it was to save themwhom thou didst abandon, that he appeared in the armies of Scotland.It was to supply the place of thy desertion that he assumed the rule,with which a grateful people, rescued from bondage, invested him."

  "Bold chieftain!" exclaimed Bruce, "is it thus you continue to braveyour offended prince? But in pity to your youth, in admiration of aprowess which would have been godlike had it been exerted for yoursovereign, and not used as a bait to satisfy an ambition wild as it istowering, I would expostulate with you; I would even deign to tell youthat, in granting the supremacy of Edward, the royal Bruce submits notto the mere wish of a despot, but to the necessity of the times. Thisis not an area of so great loyalty that any sovereign may venture tocontend against such an imperial arm as Edward's. And would you--a boyin years, a novice in politics, and though brave, and till this daysuccessful--would you pretend to prolong a war with the dictator ofkingdoms? Can rational discrimination be united with the valor youpossess and you not perceive the unequal contest between a weak state,deprived of its head and agitated by intestine commotions, and a mightynation conducted by the ablest and most martial monarch of his age--aman who is not only determined to maintain his pretensions to Scotland,but is master of every resourse, either for protracting war or pushingit with vigor? If the love of your country be indeed your motive forperseverance, your obstinacy tends only to lengthen her misery. Butif--as I believe is the case--you carry your views to privateaggrandizement, reflect on their probable issue. Should Edward, by amiracle, withdraw his armies, and an intoxicated people elevate theirminion to the throne, the lords of Scotland would reject the boldinvasion and, with the noble vengeance of insulted greatness, hurl fromhis height the proud usurper of their rights and mine."

  "To usurp any man's rights, and least of all, my king's" repliedWallace, "never came within the range of my thoughts. Though lowlyborn, Lord Carrick, I am not so base as to require assumption to giveme dignity. I saw my country made a garrison of Edward's, I beheld itspeople outraged in every relation that is dear to man. Who heard theircry? Where was Bruce? Where the nobles of Scotland, that none aroseto extinguish her burning villages, to shelter the mother and thechild, to rescue purity from violation, to defend the bleeding fatherand his son? The shrieks of despair resounded through the land andnone appeared! The hand of violence fell on my own house! the wife ofmy bosom was stabbed to the heart by a magistrate of the usurper! Ithen drew the sword!--I took pity on those who suffered as I hadsuffered! I espoused their cause, and never will I forsake it tilllife forsakes me. Therefore, that I became champion of Scotland, Lordof Carrick, blame not my ambition, but rather the supineness of thenobility, and chiefly yourself--you who, uniting personal merit todignity of descent, had deserted to occupy! Had the Scots, from thetime of Baliol's abdication, possessed such a leader as yourself (forwhat is the necessity of the times but the pusillanimity of those whoought to contend with Edward?) by your valor and their union you musthave surmounted every difficulty under which we struggle, and haveclosed the contest with success and honor. If you now start from yourguilty delusion, it may not be too late to rescue Scotland from theperils which surround her. Listen then to my voice, prince of theblood of Alexander! forswear the tyrant who has cajoled you to thisabandonment of your country, and resolve to be her deliverer. Thebravest of the Scots are ready to acknowledge you their lord, to reignas your forefathers did, untrammeled by any foreign yoke. Exchange,then a base vassalage, for freedom and a throne! Awake to yourself,noble Bruce, and behold what it is I propose! Heaven itself cannot seta more glorious prize before the eyes of virtue or ambition, than tojoin in one object, the acquisition of royalty with the maintenance ofnational independence! Such is my last appeal to you. For myself, asI am well convinced that the real welfare of my country can neversubsist with the sacrifice of her liberties, I am determined, as far asin me lies, to prolong, not her miseries, but her integrity, bypreserving her from the contamination of slavery. But, shouldmysterious fate decree her fall, may that power which knows the viceand horrors which accompany a tyrant's reign, terminate the existenceof a people who can no longer preserve their lives but by receivinglaws from usurpation!"

  The truth and gallantry of these sentiments struck the awakened mind ofBruce with the force of conviction. Another auditor was nigh, who alsolost not a syllable; "and the flame was conveyed from the breast of onehero to that of the other."

  Lord Carrick secretly repented of all that he had done; but being tooproud to acknowledge so much, he briefly answered: "Wallace, your wordshave made an impression on me, that may one day still more brighten theglory of your fame. Be silent respecting this conference; be faithfulto the principles you have declared, and ere long you shall hearroyally of Bruce." As he spoke, he turned away and was lost among thetrees.

  Wallace stood for some minutes musing on what had passed, when, hearinga footstep behind him, he turned round, and beheld approaching him ayoung and graceful form, habited in a white hacqueton wrought in gold,with golden spurs on his feet, and a helmet of the same costly metal onhis head, crested with white feathers. Had the scene been inPalestine, he might have mistaken him for the ho
st's guardian angel inarms. But the moment the eyes of Wallace fell on him, the strangerhastened forward, and threw himself on one knee before him, with sonoble a grace that the chief was lost in wonder what this beautifulapparition could mean. The youth, after an agitated pause, bowing hishead, exclaimed:

  "Pardon this intrusion, bravest of men! I come to offer you my heart,my life! To wash out, by your side, in the blood of the enemies ofScotland, the stigma which now dishonors the name of Bruce!"

  "And who are you, noble youth?" cried Wallace, raising him from theground. "Surely my prayers are at last answered; and I hear thesesentiments from one of Alexander's race!"

  "I am indeed of his blood," replied he; "and it must now be my study toprove my descent by deeds worthy of my ancestor. I am Robert Bruce,the eldest son of the Earl of Carrick and Annandale. Grieving over theslaughter that his valor had made of his own people (although, till youtaught him otherwise, he believed they fought to maintain theusurpation of an ambitious subject), he walked out in melancholy. Ifollowed at a distance; and I heard, unseen, all that has passedbetween you and him. He has retired to his tent; and, unknown to him,I hastened across the Carron, to avow my loyalty to virtue, to declaremy determination to live for Scotland, or to die for her; and to followthe arms of Sir William Wallace, till he plants my father in the throneof his ancestors."

  "I take you at your word, brave prince!" replied the regent; "and thisnight shall give you an opportunity to redeem to Scotland, what yourfather's sword has this day wrested from her. What I mean to do mustbe effected in the course of a few hours. That done, it will beprudent for you to return to the Carrick camp; and there take the mosteffectual means to persuade your father to throw himself at once intothe arms of Scotland. The whole nation will then rally round theirking; and as his weapon of war, I shall rejoice to fulfill thecommission with which God has intrusted me!" He then briefly unfoldedto the eagerly listening Bruce (whose aspiring spirit, inflamed by thefervor of youth, and winged by natural courage, saw the glory alone ofthe enterprise), an attack which he meant to make on the camp ofEdward, while his victorious troops slept in fancied security.

  He had sent Sir John Graham to Stirling, to call out its garrison; Kerhe had dispatched on a similar errand; and expecting that by this timesome of the troops would be arrived on the southern extremity of thecarse, he threw his plaid over the prince's splendid garb to concealhim from notice; then returning to the few who lay on the northern bankof the river, he asked one of the young Gordons to lend him his armor,saying he had use for it, and to seek another suit in the heap that hadbeen collected from the buried dead. The brave Scot cheerfullyacquiesced; and, Wallace retiring amongst the trees with his royalcompanion, Bruce soon covered his gay hacqueton with this rough mail;and placing the Scottish bonnet on his head, put a large stone into thegolden helmet, and sunk it in the waters of the Carron. Being thuscompletely armed like one of the youthful clansmen in the ranks (andsuch disguise was necessary), Wallace put the trusty claymore of hiscountry into its prince's hand; and clasping him with a hero's warmthto his heart--

  "Now it is," cried he, "that William Wallace lives anew since he hasseen this hour!"

  On re-emerging from the wood, they met Sir John Graham, who had justarrived with five hundred fugitives from Lord Bute's slaughtereddivision, whom he had rallied on the carse. He informed his friendthat the Earl of Mar was within half a mile of the Carron, with threethousand more; and, that he would soon be joined by otherre-enforcements to a similar amount. While Graham yet spoke, asquadron of armed men approached from the Forth side. Wallace,advancing toward them, beheld the Bishop of Dunkeld, in his sacerdotalrobes, at their head, but with a corselet on his breast, and instead ofhis crosier he carried a drawn sword. "We come to you, champion ofScotland," cried the prelate, "with the prayers and the arms of thechurch. The sword of the Levites of old smote the enemies of Israel;and in the same faith, that the God of Justice will go before us thisnight, we come to fight for Scotland's liberties."

  His followers were the younger brethren of the monastery ofCambus-Kenneth, and others from the neighboring convents, altogethermaking a stout and well-appointed legion.

  "With this handful," cried Wallace, "Heaven may find a David, who shallyet strike yon Goliath on the forehead!"

  Lord Mar and Lord Lennox now came up; and Wallace, marshaling histrain, found that he had nearly ten thousand men. He gave to eachleader his plan of attack; and having placed Bruce with Graham in thevan, before he took his station at its head, he retired to the ruinsnear Dunipacis, to visit the mourning solitude of Murray. He found thepious son sitting silent and motionless by the side of his dead parent.Without rousing the violence of grief by any reference to the sightbefore him, Wallace briefly communicated his project. Lord Andrewstarted to his feet. "I will share all the peril with you! I shallagain grapple with the foe that has thus bereaved me! This darkmantle," cried he, turning toward the breathless corpse, and throwinghis plaid over it, "will shroud thy hallowed remains till I return. Igo where thou wouldst direct me. Oh, my father!" exclaimed he, in aburst of grief, "the trumpet shall sound, and thou wilt not hear! ButI go to take vengeance for thy blood!" So saying, he sprung from theplace, and accompanying Wallace to the plain, took his station in thesilent but swiftly moving army.