xii PRELIMINARY DISCOURSE. 



conqusft, or the extirpation from fea to fca, as he ex- 

 preffed himfclf, of all thofe who oppofed his arms. 

 Frefh armies were poured into that unhappy kingdom 

 on every fide, fupplied by fea with provifions and what- 

 ever was necefTary for carrying the war to the furtheft 

 extremities of the ifland, while the Scots now reduced 

 by endlefs encounters, and ftill more through fa- 

 tigue and famine, loft their brave commander, who 

 was taken prifoner, carried in chains to London, 

 tried, hanged and quartered, without flinching from 

 his principles, to the laft moment. 



The lols of this great man ftruck a damp on the 

 minds of the independent Scots, who being at the 

 fame time facrificed by the French, they were taking 

 leave of their liberties with a parting figh, when 

 Robert Bruce, of the royal blood of Scotland, flep- 

 ped forth in the worft of times, colle&ed the dif- 

 perfed remains of thefe brave men, partook of all 

 their hardfhips and hair-breadth efcapes, baffled the 

 efforts of Edward I. II. and III. carried the war 

 into England, and firmly eftablilhed the indepen- 

 dency of Scotland, whofe throne hath continued in 

 his family to the prefent time. 



But though the Scots thus bravely regained their 

 freedom, Edward III. the heroic conqueror of 

 France, renewed the fatal conteft, for the fuperiority 

 of Scotland, after the death of Robert Bruce, and 

 proved a fevere fcourge on that kingdom during the 

 greateft part of his long reign. At length, all thofe 

 mighty expeditions, fo ruinous to Scotland, and fo 

 expenfive and ineffectual to England, ended in a 

 definitive treaty, whereby the independency of Scot- 

 land, both in church and ftate, was acknowledged 

 and ratified by Edward, at Windfor, in 1365; and 

 thus after a ftruggle, with fome inter millions, of 70 

 years, the independent Scots withftood the efforts of 

 3 fucceffive monarchs, who perfonally invaded "the 

 devoted kingdom 16 different times, befides many 

 armies and detachments under the command of the 



nobles; 



