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into some degree of confusion, by the loss of those who were slain by the arrows of the English, the heavy cavalry of Edward again charged and broke through the ranks, which were already disordered. Sir John Grahame, Wallace's great friend and companion, was slain, with many other brave soldiers; and the Scots, having lost a very great number of men, were at length obliged to take to flight. This fatal battle was fought upon the 22d July, 1298.

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30. Sir William Wallace continued to maintain himself among the woods and mountains of his native country for no less than seven years after his defeat at Falkirk, and for more than one year after all the other defenders of Scottish liberty had laid down their arms. Many proclamations were sent out against him by the English, and a great reward was set upon his head; for Edward did not think he could have any secure possession of his usurped kingdom of Scotland while Wallace lived.

31. At length he was taken prisoner; and shame it is to say, a Scotchman, called Sir John Menteith, was the person by whom he was seized and delivered to the English. It is generally said that he was made prisoner at Robroyston, near Glasgow; and the tradition of the country bears, that the signal made for rushing upon him unawares, was, when one of his pretended friends, who betrayed him, should turn a loaf, which was placed on the table, with its bottom or flat side uppermost. And in after-times it was reckoned ill-breeding to turn a loaf in that manner, if there was a person named Menteith in the company; since it was as much as to remind him that his namesake had betrayed Sir William Wallace, the Champion of Scotland. . . .

32. Edward having thus obtained possession of the person whom he considered as the greatest obstacle to his complete conquest of Scotland, resolved to make Wallace an example to all Scottish patriots who should in future venture to oppose his ambitious projects. He caused Wallace to be brought to trial in Westminster Hall, before the English judges, and produced

him there, crowned, in mockery, with a green garland, because they said he had been king of outlaws and robbers among the Scottish woods. He was accused of having been a traitor to the English crown; to which he answered, "I could not be a traitor to Edward, for I was never his subject." He was then accused of having killed many men, and done much evil. He replied, with the same calm resolution, "that it was true, he had killed very many Englishmen, but it was because they had come to subdue and oppress his native country of Scotland; and far from repenting what he had done, he declared he was only sorry that he had not put to death many more of them.”

33. Notwithstanding that Wallace's defence was a good one, both in law and in common sense (for surely every one has not only a right to fight in defence of his native country, but is bound in duty to do so), the English judges condemned him to be executed. So this brave patriot was dragged upon a sledge to the place of execution, where his head was struck off and his body divided into four quarters, which, according to the cruel custom of the time, were exposed upon pikes of iron, upon London Bridge, and were termed the limbs of a traitor.

34. No doubt King Edward thought that by exercising this great severity toward so distinguished a patriot as Sir William Wallace, he would terrify all the Scots into obedience, and so be able in future to reign over their country without resistBut though Edward was a powerful, a brave, and a wise king, and though he took the most cautions, as well as the most strict measures to preserve the obedience of Scotland, yet his claim being founded in injustice and usurpation, was not permitted by Providence to be established in security or peace. Sir William Wallace, that immortal supporter of the independence of his country, was no sooner deprived of his life in the cruel and unjust manner I have told you, than other patriots arose to assert the cause of Scottish liberty.

The Battle of Bannockburn.-Campbell.

[The people of Scotland made another effort to regain their liberties under Robert Bruce, son of one of the competitors of Baliol, at the time the case was referred to Edward I. Bruce was very popular, and was generally acknowledged King of Scotland, since by his efforts the English experienced several disastrous defeats. Edward II., the son and successor of Edward I., in 1314, invaded Scotland with an army of one hundred thousand men, but was signally defeated by Bruce, with about thirty thousand, at Bannockburn. The following spirited lines describe the chief incidents of this interesting and important battle,--the most glorious in Scottish history.]

WIDE o'er Bannock's heathy wold

Scotland's deathful banners roll'd,

And spread their wings of sprinkled gold
To the purpling east.

Freedom beamed in every eye;

Devotion breathed in every sigh;

Freedom heaved their souls on high,
And steeled each hero's breast.

Charging then the coursers sprang,
Sword and helmet clashing rang,
Steel-clad warriors' mixing clang
Echoed round the field.
Deathful see their eyeballs glare!
See the nerves of battle bare!
Arrowy tempests cloud the air,
And glance from every shield.

Hark, the bowmen's quivering strings!
Death on gray-goose pinions springs!
Deep they dip their dappled wings,
Drunk in heroes' gore.

Lo! Edward, springing on the rear,
Plies his Caledonian spear:

Ruin marks his dread career,

And sweeps them from the shore.

See how red the streamlets flow!

See the reeling, yielding foe,
How they melt at every blow!

Yet we shall be free!

Darker yet the strife appears;
Forest dread of flaming spears!
Hark! a shout the welkin tears!

Bruce has victory.

The Black Prince.-Collier.

[Edward II., by his indolence and fondness for ignoble favorites, became very un popular, and finally, through the contrivance of his wicked queen, Isabella, and her paramour Mortimer, was dethroned and imprisoned in Berkeley Castle, where he was put to death in a very barbarous manner. He was succeeded by his son, Edward III, during whose reign there were repeated wars between England and France, in which the son of the king, called the Black Prince, gained very great glory. A sketch of his exploits is given in the following extract from Collier's "Pictures from English History."]

1. EDWARD PLANTAGENET, eldest son of King Edward III., and from the color of a suit of armor which he wore to set off the fairness of his skin and hair, commonly called the Black Prince, was born in 1330, at Woodstock. When he was sixteen, he crossed with his warlike father into France, and was knighted on the wet sands of La Hogue, where the expedition had landed. A little later he fought his first fight on the field of Crecy (1346).

2. Having marched toward Paris, King Edward found it necessary to turn off somewhat sharply toward the sea. But he could not get across the River Somme for a long time. At last, when he was almost in despair, a common man told him of a place called the White Spot, where he could carry his army over at low water. Starting from Abbeville at dawn, he reached the place when it was high water, and had to wait some hours, during which he was very anxious lest the King of France, who was chasing him, might come up. And even when his men entered the water, they had a fierce fight with the French cavalry in the very centre of the current.

3. However, they found their way across, and took up a position near the forest of Crecy. There a great battle was fought, in which the Black Prince won his golden spurs. He was placed in command of the foremost of the three battalions into which the English army was divided; and, when the English arrows flew as thick as flakes of snow among the French lines, strewing the ground with dead and wounded men, he was attacked with the full force of the bravest men in the hostile army, who had managed to pass the band of archers.

4. King Edward, who commanded the reserve, was watching the progress of the battle through the narrow window of a windmill, which stood upon a little hill above the field, and must have felt no small anxiety mingling with his pride, when he saw the dangerous position of his fair-haired son. He felt, however, that it would never do to show the slightest fear or doubt; and so, when a gentleman came spurring to the old mill with an eager request for help, the king replied, "Is my son killed, wounded, or thrown to the ground?" "No, sire," said the knight; "but he is hard beset."

5. “Then," said Edward, "return to those who sent you, and tell them not to send again to me to-day, or expect that I shall come as long as my son has life; and say that I command them to let the boy win his spurs." And to this resolve King Edward kept, for during all that bloody day he did not so much as put on his helmet, but sat watching the prowess of his son and the valor of his troops.

6. The Black Prince was also present at a great naval battle, which was fought in the Strait of Dover, between the fleets of England and Spain. One August evening, as King Edward, dressed in black velvet, was sitting on the high deck of his ship, listening to the music of a minstrel, the man who sat in a little sentry-box on the top of the thick mast, called out, "Ho! I spy a sail." Taking a cup of wine to strengthen themselves for the struggle, the English knights put on their helmets. A battle by sea was then almost the same as a battle by land, for after attempting to run each other down, the ships grappled together, and the fighting was performed with arrows and lances.

7. In scenes like these this celebrated warrior learned to use his sword and lance, and to direct the movements of armed men. When he acted as governor of Guienne, in the south of France, he penetrated central France almost to the Loire (lwahr), and defeated the French king in a movement which that monarch made to cut him off from the place he was retreating to. The battle of Poictiers was gained by ten thousand English over sixty thousand French, owing to the

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