E N G L A N D. 
Scottifh laws and cuftoms; he endeavoured to fubftitute 
thofe of England in their place ; he raifed or deftroyed all 
their monuments of antiquity, and endeavoured to blot 
out everrthe memory of their former independence and 
freedom. There feemed to remain only one obftacle to 
the final deftrubtion of the Scottifh monarchy; and that 
was William Wallace, who (till continued refraftory, and, 
wandering from one dreary mountain to another, ftill pre- 
ferved his native independence and ufual good fortune. 
But even all their feeble hopes from this lingular veteran 
were foon difappointed ; he was betrayed into the king’s 
hands by fir J-ohn Monteith, afalfe and treacherous friend, 
whom he had made acquainted with the place of his con¬ 
cealment; and was furprifed and taken by him as he lay 
afieep in the neighbourhood of Glafgow. The inexorable 
king, determined to ftrike the Scots with an awful exam¬ 
ple of feverity, ordered him to be conducted in chains to 
London, whither he was carried amidft infinite crowds of 
fpedfators, who flocked to fee a man that had filled the 
country with fo much alarm. On the day after his arri¬ 
val he was brought to trial as a traitor, at Weftminfter- 
hall, where he was placed upon arhigh chair, and invi- 
dioufly crowned with laurel in derilion. Being accufed 
of various imputed crimes, he pleaded not guilty, and 
refilled to own the jurifdidtion of the court, affirming 
that it was equally unjuft and abfurd to charge him with 
treafon againft a prince whofe title he had never acknow¬ 
ledged ; and as he was born under the laws of another 
country, it was cruel to try him by thofe to which he 
was a ftranger. The judges difregarded his defence ; for 
confidering Edward as the rightful fovereign of Scotland, 
they found him guilty of high treafon, and condemned 
him to be hanged, drawn, and quartered. This lentence 
was executed with the mod rigorous feverity > and his 
head and quarters were expofed in the chief cities of 
England. Such was the wretched end of a brave man, 
who had, through a courfe of many years, with fignal 
pedeverance and magnanimity, defended his native coun¬ 
try againft an unjuft invader. 
Robert Bruce was among thofe on whom the cruel fate 
of Wallace had made the deepeft impreflion. This no¬ 
bleman, who was a competitor for the crown, and whofe 
claims, though fet afide by Edward, were ftill fecretly 
ptirfued, was now actually in the Englifh army. He never 
■ was lincerely attached to the Englilh monarch, whom he 
was in fome meafure compelled to follow ; and an inter¬ 
view with Wallace, fome time before that champion was 
taken, confirmed him in his refolution to fet his country 
free'. But as he was now grown old and infirm, he was 
obliged to give up the flattering ambition of being the 
deliverer-of his people, and to leave it in charge to his 
fon, whofe name was Robert Bruce alfo, and who re¬ 
ceived his father’s injunction with ardour. This young 
nobleman was brave, adtive, and prudent; and a favour¬ 
able conjuncture of circumftances feemed to confpire with 
its views. John Baliol, whom Edward had dethroned, 
and banifhed into France, had lately died in that country ; 
his eldeft fon continued a captive in the fame place ; fo 
that there was none to difpute his pretentions, except 
Comyn, who was regent of the kingdom; and he alfo 
was foon after brought over to fecond his interefts. He 
therefore folemnly refolved upon freeing his country from 
the Englifh yoke ; and although he attended the court of 
Edward, yet he began to make fecret preparations for his 
intended revolt. Edward, who had been informed not 
only of his intentions, but of his aCtual engagements, 
contented himfelf with fetting (pies upon his conduit, 
and ordered all his motions to be guarded, that he might 
not efcape. Bruce was bufily employed in forwarding 
his plans, unconfcious of being fufpeCted, or even of 
having a watch fet upon his conduct; but he was taught 
to underhand his danger by a prefent fent him by a young 
nobleman, of a pair of gilt fpurs, and a purfe of gold. 
This he confidered as’ a warning to make his efcape, 
which he did, by ordering his horfes to be fhod with their 
59? 
fhoes turned backwards, to prevent his being tracked in 
the fnow which had juft fallen. He travelled front Lon¬ 
don to Lochmaben, which is near four hundred miles, in 
feven days. Contyn, who had in the beginningconcurred 
in his fchemes, was privately known to have communi¬ 
cated the whole to Edward ; and Bruce was refolved to 
take vengeance upon hint for his perfidy. Hearing that 
he was at Dumfries, he went thither; and meeting him in 
the cloifters of a morfaftery belonging to the Grey Friars, 
reproached him, in fevere terms, with his treachery; and 
drawing his fword, inftantly plunged it in his bread. 
Bruce, by this aition, not only rendered himfelf the ob¬ 
ject of Edward’s refentment, but involved all his party 
in the mifehief. They had now no refource left, but to 
confirm, by defperate valour, what they had begun in 
cruelty; and they foon expelled fuch of the Englilh forces 
as had remained to guard the kingdom. Bruce was fo¬ 
lemnly crowned king of Scotland by the biftiop of St, An¬ 
drew’s, in the abbey of Scone ; and numbers flocked to 
his ftandard, determined to fliare in his fortunes. Thus, 
after twice conquering the kingdom, and as often pardon¬ 
ing the delinquents ; after having fpread his victories in 
every part of the country, and received the mod humble 
fubmifllons, king Edward faw that his whole work was 
to begin afrefh, and that nothing but the final deftruction 
of the inhabitants' could give him atfurance of tranquil¬ 
lity. But no difficulties could reprefs the apdour of this 
monarch; who, though verging towards his decline, was 
refojved to ftrike a deciftve blow, and make the Scots 
once more tremble at his appearance. He vowed fignal 
revenge againft the whole nation ; and averred, that no¬ 
thing but complete bondage ftiould fatisfy his refentment. 
He fummoned the prelates, nobility, and all who held by 
knight's fervice, to meet him at Carlifie, which was made 
the general place of rendezvous; and he detached a body 
of forces before him into Scotland, under the command of 
Aymer de Valence, who began the threatened vengeance 
by a complete vidtory over Bruce, near Methuen, in 
Perthfhire. That heroic prince fought with great vigour 
and obftinaev ; he was thrice difmounted from his horfe, 
and as often recovered his place in the hotteft of the ac¬ 
tion ; at laft he was overwhelmed, and obliged to tak'e 
fhelter, with a few followers, in the Weftern Ifles. The 
earl of Athol, fir Simon Frafer, and fir Chriftopher Seton, 
who had been taken prifoners, were executed as traitors 
on the fpot. Edward himfelf now entered Scotland with 
his army divided into two parts, when the fevereft punifh- 
ments were expected to be infiiited on the poor defeated 
Scots people. But the temper of Edward was never cruel 
but from motives of political necefiity. His anger was 
foon appeafed by their humiliation ; and he was afhamed 
to extirpate thofe who only oppofed patience to his in¬ 
dignation. It was upon the confederated nobles of the 
country that his anger fell. The filter of Bruce, and the 
countefs of Buchan, were ftiut up in wooden cages, and 
hung over the battlements ofafoftrefs; and his two bro¬ 
thers fell by the hands of the executioner. The obftinacy 
of Robert Bruce himfelf operated ftill to inflame the 
king’s refentment. Fje continued to'excite freftt commo¬ 
tions in the Highlands ; and, though often overcome, per- 
fifted in unfhaken oppofttion. Edward, irritated beyond 
meafure, now refolved, at the head of a great army, again 
to enter Scotland, to exterminate the whole race of infur- 
gents, and to give no quarter. But Edward’s hidden 
death put an end to thefe fearful denunciations. He iick- 
ened at Carlifle, and died of a dyfentery in his tent about 
five miles from that city, on the 5th of July, 1307 ; after 
enjoining his fon, with.his laft breath, to profecute the 
enterprife, and never to defift till he had finally fubdued 
the Scottifh kingdom. Fie expired in the fixty ninth year 
of his age and the thirty-fifth of his* reign, after having 
added more to the folid interefts of the kingdom than 
any of his predeceifors,; who had ever filled the throne 
of England. 
The character of Edward I. ftands high on the records 
of 
