When the two armies came in sight of each other, near the town of Irvine, in the county of Ayr, they were about equal in numbers; but the English troops were well drilled and obedient to a single general; Wallace's army was disorderly, divided, led by rival chiefs, and little disposed to admit the superiority of an outlaw of low origin. No encounter took place. On the 9th of July, the great Scotch noblemen laid down their arms and tendered their submission to King Edward. One baron alone. Sir Andrew Moray of Bothwell, remained faithful to the national party; but Wallace took with him a large number of vassals of the noblemen who had surrendered, and his raids upon the territory occupied by the English became bolder and bolder every day.

Stirling was seriously threatened by the insurgents, when the Earls of Surrey and Cressingham advanced with large forces. The two parties occupied the opposite banks of the Forth; Wallace's position was excellent, and he was offered terms. "Tell your masters," he replied to the envoy, "that we are not here to parley, but to assert our rights and to deliver Scotland. Let them advance, we are ready." The English hesitated. Surrey deemed the attack dangerous, but Cressingham, like a true financier, was complaining loudly of the ravages made upon the king's treasury by an army which did not fight, and the general yielded. At daybreak, on the 11th of September, 1297, the English army began marching across the bridge. It was narrow, and the soldiers passed over it slowly. When one portion of the army had crossed, Wallace caused the bridge to be occupied by a detachment, and he attacked the English, who had not yet had time to form in order of battle. The slaughter was fearful. Among the dead bodies was found Cressingham, who was odious to the Scotch by reason of the severity of his administration. His savage enemies flayed him, in order to preserve his skin in remembrance of their revenge. Surrey retreated with the remainder of his forces. But Wallace's success had delivered Scotland for the time being; the castles were surrendering in every direction; the popular champion entered Northumberland and pillaged the English territory, while famine kept him away from Scotland. When he reappeared in his country, laden with plunder, an assembly of noblemen awarded to him the title of governor of the kingdom and commander-in-chief of King John's forces. Baliol, still imprisoned in England, smiled bitterly at this use of his name.

Meanwhile, King Edward had recrossed the sea, and his orders for the levying of a large army had preceded him. In the eyes of the conqueror of Scotland the insurrection led by Wallace was a rebellion, not a patriotic movement. Scarcely had he set foot in England than he marched towards the North. Having halted for a while at York, where he was to have convened a Parliament, the barons who had formerly placed themselves at the head of the popular resistance came and met him to demand the ratification of the concessions granted at Ghent. "By and by," cried Edward; "I have no leisure time just now; I must first of all reduce the Scotch rebels to obedience." And he swore before three bishops that he would occupy himself with the liberties of his English subjects when he should have riveted the chains of his Scottish subjects. Bigod and Bohun were satisfied with this promise, and followed him into Scotland.

The king's vessels were delayed. He was detained between Edinburgh and Linlithgow, when an insurrection broke out in his camp. The Welsh troops threatened to leave him and to go over to the Scotch. "I care little," said Edward, "if my enemies join my enemies; I will punish them all in one day." The provisions began to run short, and a retreat was spoken of, when the Bishop of Durham was warned, on the 10th of July, 1298, that the Scotch army was encamped in the forest of Falkirk, and was preparing to attack the English troops. "Glory be to God," cried Edward. "He has delivered me up to the present from all dangers. They need not follow me, for I will go to them." And, raising his camp, he marched against the Scotch troops. It is related that, during the night before the battle, being asleep by the side of his horse, the king had two ribs broken by a kick from the animal. This circumstance created a profound sensation throughout the army; it was said that the king was dying through some treachery. Edward donned his armor, mounted his horse, and continued the march. The Scotch army was at length in sight. In front of them was a marsh, and the archers and pikemen were protected by a palisade. When Wallace saw the lances of the enemy glistening in the sun, he called out to his men, "I have led you to the dance, now hop if you can." The Scottish infantry valiantly withstood the shock of the two army corps led by Bigod, Bohun, and the bellicose Bishop of Durham, but the cavalry were terrified on seeing the superior forces of the English, and fled in confusion. The pikemen and archers began to give way; the palisades were trampled down, and the victory was complete. The field of the battle of Falkirk was strewn with the corpses of the Scottish soldiers, when Wallace contrived to fall back upon Stirling with the remainder of his army. The English followed him there; but they found the town burnt. Wallace had disappeared. King Edward was desolating the country by fire and sword; the inhabitants of the towns were flying at his approach; St. Andrew's was deserted when the king set fire to it. The citizens of Perth burnt their own town. Provisions were now scarce; Edward was obliged to retreat towards the end of September, 1298, leaving all the north of Scotland in the hands of the patriots, who had just constituted a council of the regency, at the head of which was John Comyn. Scarcely had the king crossed the frontier when his enemies threatened Stirling Castle.

Other troubles awaited Edward in England; he had convoked the Parliament at Westminster for the month of March, 1299; the barons claimed the fulfilment of his promises, and the ratification of the new liberties added by them to the Magna Charta. The king still delayed, denying the validity of a confirmation made in a foreign country; he experienced, he said, displeasure at finding himself thus pressed to grant a favor against his inclination. The barons, however, insisting, the king left London, almost secretly, and went into the country under pretence of being indisposed; the barons followed him there, renewing their demands. At length the king, wearied of this, sent to the Parliament the required ratification; but, with a puerile want of good faith, he added to the concessions so hardly won this little sentence: "Saving the rights of the crown." The barons, indignant, left London in their turn, but to prepare for resistance. The king still reckoned upon the devotion of the people of the city; he ordered the sheriffs to cause the charter to be read at the cross of St. Paul's; an immense crowd was assembled, hailing with applause each of the clauses which guaranteed the rights of the people; but when the reader came to the phrase, "Saving the rights of the crown," his voice was drowned by whistling, shouting, and loud menaces. Edward was too shrewd and sagacious to resist the will of the people when expressed in such an unmistakable manner; he convened a fresh Parliament, solemnly ratified all the concessions, without mentioning the rights of the crown, and nominated a commission of three bishops, three earls, and three barons, to prepare a charter limiting the royal forests, which had hitherto been extended at times into private property. This charter was ratified in the year 1300. Bohun had just died; but Bigod was still alive, and the victory was definitively assured to the Barons, in spite of the efforts which the king was still making to deliver himself from a yoke which was insupportable to his haughty character and his ambitious projects.

The marriage of King Edward with Margaret of France had taken place, as had also his son's betrothal to Isabel (September, 1299), and two little incursions into Scotland had produced no other result than an intervention on the part of Pope Boniface VIII. in favor of the Scotch, by virtue of the rights which he claimed over that kingdom. Although haughtily refusing to recognize this strange pretension, the King of England had three times granted a truce to the insurgents. The third had just expired, when the treaty of Montreuil, made between England and France on the 30th of May, 1303, gave up Guienne to Edward, who abandoned his Flemish allies as Philip the Fair did his Scottish allies. Freed from care on the score of continental affairs, Edward, on the day following the ratification of the treaty, marched into Scotland. He was already at Edinburgh on the 4th of June, and his progress across the northern counties resembled a triumphal march; all the fortresses opened their gates; Buchan Castle alone remained closed. While the English were attacking, Sir Thomas Maule, the governor, was marching up and down the ramparts, with a handkerchief in his hand, wiping off the dust raised by the battering-rams. On the twentieth day of the siege he was struck with an arrow, and, when dying, stigmatized the soldiers as cowards, who were asking permission of him to surrender. Scarcely had the valiant champion breathed his last when his castle was given up to the English forces. The king established himself in winter quarters in the abbey of Dunfermline, and it was there that the Scotch barons came to negotiate for peace; each one had drawn up his own conditions. Wallace had disappeared since the battle of Falkirk; the noblemen had supplanted him in the government of the country, which he had delivered without their aid. The king caused a proclamation to be made that the outlaw should surrender at discretion. Wallace, however, took no notice, but remained in the mountains. The Castle of Stirling now alone offered any resistance, in spite of the injunctions of the Scottish Parliament assembled by Edward. Sir William Oliphant, who commanded it, was compelled to surrender on the 26th of July, 1304.

A last blow was about to strike the patriotic party in Scotland. Wallace, betrayed by his friend Monteith, was delivered into the hands of the English in the month of August, 1305. King Edward had not the generosity to pardon the proud patriot who had so long resisted him. Wallace had broken no oath; he had never sworn allegiance to King Edward, and he had fought for the independence of his country, but he was nevertheless condemned to suffer a traitor's death. He was executed at Smithfield, on the 23rd of August, and the portions of his dismembered body were sent to different towns in Scotland, where, however, the people were more inclined to treat them as sacred relics than to consider them as emblems of disgrace. Wallace had kindled a fire which was not destined to die out, and it was in vain that Edward had thought to stifle it by severe punishment.

Bruce Warned By Gilbert De Clare.

Scarcely had the government of Scotland been constituted by a commission of prelates and Scottish barons, pursuing their labors in London in conjunction with the English members of Parliament, when a fresh insurrection broke out in Scotland. A new chief presented himself for the cause of independence, one who was destined to achieve the task begun by Wallace; it was Robert Bruce, Earl of Carrick.

For a long time Bruce had vacillated between the two parties; having been engaged during his youth in the service of Edward by his father, he had sworn allegiance, then violated his oath, but finally determined to observe his old professions. After the fall of Baliol, he had proposed to Comyn, surnamed the Red, a powerful Scottish lord, and one of his neighbors, that whichever of the two should establish his claim to the crown should bequeath the kingdom to the other as an indemnity. Comyn had pretended to accept the bargain, but had secretly warned Edward of the conspiracy. Bruce, who was in England, was about to be arrested, in spite of his kinship to the royal family (he had married Joan of Valence, Edward's cousin), when Gilbert de Clare sent a pair of spurs to him by a messenger. Bruce took the hint and immediately mounted his horse; he did not know what danger threatened him, or who had betrayed him, yet he was careful to conceal his traces. Meeting with a servant of Comyn, who was carrying fresh communications to Edward, he seized the missives and assured himself of Comyn's treachery, then hastened back to Scotland. A few days later, on the 10th of February, 1306, these two enemies met at Dumfries, and Bruce called Comyn into a chapel of the Minorites, in order to demand an explanation of his conduct. They were alone; the dispute became furious. Bruce drew his dagger and struck Comyn, who fell upon the steps of the high altar. Pale and agitated, Bruce left the chapel hurriedly; his haggard appearance struck his friends who were in attendance upon him. "What have you done?" Fitz-Patrick of Colesburn asked him. "I think I have killed Comyn." "You think?" cried Fitz-Patrick, "then I will make sure of it." And, re-entering the holy place, he struck the wounded man another blow; killed the latter's uncle, Sir Robert Comyn, who tried to defend his nephew, and returned to Bruce. The little band hurried away at a gallop. Bruce had only one course before him now; he was henceforth an outlaw, and the boldest action became necessary. But the fire was smouldering in all the noble hearts of Scotland. As soon as Bruce raised the standard of independence, some priests and lords gathered round him and boldly crowned him at Scone. On the day of the Annunciation (1306) Scotland had a king; Edward I. heard of it at Winchester a few days later.

In the eyes of the King of England Bruce was a rebel, and was, moreover, a man who must be punished for having committed sacrilege; he sent a small army into Scotland under the command of the Earl of Pembroke, and, tired and sick as he was, began to make extensive preparations for marching personally against the insurgents. Prince Edward, his son, was twenty-two years of age, and had not yet been knighted. On the 23rd of May, during Whitsuntide, the young man, having received his spurs from the hands of his father, conferred the same distinction upon two hundred and seventy young lords, companions of his pleasures, who were about to become his comrades in arms. All the company then met at a magnificent banquet; a golden filet was brought upon a table, containing two swans, emblems of constancy and fidelity; then the king, placing his hand upon their heads, swore to avenge the death of Comyn and to punish the rebels of Scotland, without sleeping for two nights in the same place, and to start immediately afterwards for Palestine in order to rescue the Holy Sepulchre. The young men swore the same oath as the king, and the latter made them promise if he should die during the war in Scotland, not to bury his body until the conquest should have been achieved. The prince immediately afterwards started for the frontiers with his companions. The king followed less rapidly, as he could only travel upon a litter.

Meanwhile Bruce's forces had increased rapidly; the malcontents—and they were very numerous—were beginning to declare themselves and to rally round the new king. When the Earl of Pembroke arrived in Scotland, the insurgents were in high spirits; but a battle was fought on the 19th of June, near the woods of Methven, which destroyed their illusions; many Scots were killed, the prisoners were put to death, and Bruce retired into the mountains of Athol with five hundred men. Too ill to proceed further, King Edward had been obliged to stop at Carlisle, but he was directing all the operations of his troops, and ordering the execution of the prisoners, thus bearing witness to his deep-rooted resentment against Scotland. Bruce was leading the life of a roaming knight in the forests, hunting and fishing, accompanied only by a few faithful friends; his wife, his two sisters, and the Countess of Buchan shared with him his adventurous existence, which the fine weather rendered tolerable, even in Scotland.

Meanwhile, winter was coming on, and it became necessary to seek more civilized quarters. Bruce's little band was attacked by Lord de Lorn, a relation of Comyn's, and a mortal enemy of Bruce. The King of Scotland's companions were falling under the battle-axes of Lochaber, when he sounded the retreat, and, clad in armor and mounted upon a good war-horse, took up his position in a defile, and defended the approach single-handed. Lorn's mountaineers hesitated, being terrified at the immovable countenance, the long sword always on guard, and the bright eyes glistening under the helmet; at length three men, a father and two sons, named Mac-Androsser, famous in their clan for their strength and courage, sprang forward together upon the royal champion; one seized the bridle of the horse, and his arm fell at his side, his hand being severed; another fastened himself to the leg of the horseman: the horse pranced about, and the unhappy warrior had his head split open by a sword-stroke. The father, who was more skilful, as well as maddened at the fate of his sons, clutched the king's cloak; he was still holding it after his death, and Bruce was compelled to leave in the hands of the corpse this token of the desperate struggle. The king had retreated without being wounded, but it was necessary to place his wife and sisters in safety, and the castle of Keldrummie afforded them a shelter, while Bruce took refuge in the Hebrides. The separation was doomed to be a sad and long one, for the castle was taken, and Nigel Bruce, Robert's younger brother, was cruelly put to death. The Queen of Scotland was sent to England, and Bruce's sisters-in-law, shut up in wooden cages, were exposed to the public sight of Berwick and Roxburgh. Every time that any of the adherents of Bruce fell into the hands of the English troops they were put to death; the king himself, who was now excommunicated and proscribed, had taken refuge in the little island of Rachrin. His retreat was unknown to his enemies, and a reward was offered in Scotland to whoever would give news of Robert Bruce, who was "lost, stolen, or strayed."

It was in the spring of 1307, that Bruce suddenly reappeared, supported by some ships which had been lent to him by Christiana, Lady of the Isles. Deceived by a false indication, he attacked Henry Percy, to whom King Edward had recently given the castle of Carrick, Bruce's own property; and, taking his enemies by surprise, he defeated them, caused great slaughter, and returned in triumph to the castle, which however he could not hold for any length of time, surrounded as he was on all sides, not only by the English forces, but by his personal enemies, and all the family of Comyn.

The capture of Carrick Castle was nevertheless Robert's first step upon the ladder of fortune; but yesterday a fugitive, he was now rejoined by his scattered supporters: after his success, warriors who had previously been undecided, embraced the cause of Bruce, whose forces became so formidable, that Edward, who was furious, resolved to leave Carlisle to march in person against the rebels. He caused his litter to be hung up in York cathedral in memory of his sickness, and was about to mount his horse when he heard that the Earl of Pembroke had been defeated on the 10th of May by Bruce at Loudon Hill; the rage of the king lent him strength for awhile; he started out for Carlisle at the head of a large corps; but the journey was cut short, and he was obliged to stop. When not more than three leagues from Carlisle, death came and chilled the proud heart and the indomitable spirit, once animated by the noblest and most chivalrous desires, but for several years absorbed in ambitious projects and cruel schemes of revenge. His last words were a recommendation to his son to finish the task which had been begun, to be good to his young brothers, and to maintain three hundred knights in the Holy Land. When he was buried at Westminster an inscription was placed upon his tomb, covered by a block of stone brought from Palestine:—

Eduardus Primus.
Edward I.

Malleus Scotorum.
The Scourge of the Scots.

1307 Pactum Serva.
1307 Keep the Covenant.

Among the sovereigns who had governed England, very few had held the power with a firmer hand than Edward I.; very few, however, saw the foundation of more liberties. In vain, in 1307, when the king had thought the conquest of Scotland assured, had he hoped to effect his deliverance from the yoke which his people had imposed upon him; in vain had he obtained from the Pope a bull on the 4th of January, 1305, which relieved him of his oaths and annulled the charters which he had ratified, forbidding any one, under pain of excommunication, to claim their fulfilment; in vain, Bohun being dead, had Edward's threats succeeded in intimidating old Bigod and his faithful ally, the Archbishop of Canterbury; the attitude taken by the entire nation had caused the king to hesitate, and he had not yet made public the Papal bull, when the insurrection in Scotland absorbed all his attention and necessitated the assistance of Parliament. The liberties acquired by the barons now had a durable guarantee; the great lords were not obliged to resort incessantly to arms. Parliaments having been instituted. We have seen the deputies of the towns summoned to Parliament for the first time by the Earl of Leicester. Under King Edward I. the barons began to hold their deliberations privately, and the knights from the shires and the deputies from the towns who were summoned less frequently, formed a second chamber. From this time dates the origin of the House of Lords and the House of Commons. The most complete Parliament which had yet sat, was that of 1295, convened by King Edward before his campaign in Flanders: an Ecclesiastical Parliament had been convoked at the same time. The subsidies which were then granted, and which the king endeavored to increase by acts of extortion, were the cause of the opposition of Bigod and Bohun. At the death of Edward, the charters had been so firmly established in England, that no monarch dreamt of disturbing them again, until the unhappy days of Charles I. The liberties of the nation were assured by the frequent meeting of the Parliaments, their faithful and natural guardians. The constitution of England was founded.

The burdensome inheritance left by the king who had just died fell into hands too feeble to support it. Edward II. was twenty-three years of age when he succeeded his father; the latter had had six sons, of whom three only survived him; the young king had already shown signs of frivolity and obstinacy which augured the misfortunes of his reign. Brought up from childhood with a young Aquitanian, Piers Gaveston, he had conceived for this companion so strong an affection, that the king, his father, had been alarmed thereat, and had on several occasions banished the young favorite. At the death of Edward I. Gaveston was in exile; but at the news of the accession of his young master, he hastened to him, and the first act of the king was to confer upon him the Earldom of Cornwall, which had previously been deemed a position sufficiently conspicuous for princes of the royal blood. Edward did not content himself with this; while he was pretending to carry on a campaign in Scotland, the great officers of the crown were changed; the Lord Treasurer, the Bishop of Lichfield, was even deprived of his property and cast into prison. In spite of the oath which the old king had exacted from his son, the latter had returned to London to inter his father, leaving Bruce free to pursue his successes. Gaveston, who had lately married Margaret, a niece of the king, was nominated regent of the kingdom in the month of January, 1308, by the king, who went over to France to marry the Princess Isabel, according to Froissart, one of the most beautiful women in the world.

King Philip the Fair had just caused the dissolution of the order of Templars in France, an iniquitous proceeding, inspired rather by the prince's greed than by the offences of the order. Philip thereby obtained for the King of England the dowry promised to the latter, and persuaded him, without great difficulty, to withhold his protection from the Templars established in England. A short time afterwards they were prosecuted. Edward set sail on the 7th of February to return to England; he was accompanied by a numerous suite of French noblemen, at the head of whom were two uncles of the Queen. Gaveston came to meet the king, and as soon as Edward perceived him, forgetting his young wife and his noble followers, he threw himself into the arms of the favorite, embracing him and calling him brother, to the great indignation of Isabel and all the beholders. Their indignation was increased when they saw Gaveston decked out with all the jewels which the King of France had recently given Edward. The discontent reached its height, when, at the ceremony of the coronation, which took place with great splendor on the 14th of February, Piers Gaveston, as the people persisted in calling him, in spite of his elevation to the Earldom of Cornwall, was entrusted with the task of carrying before the king the crown of St. Edward, to the exclusion of the highest noblemen of the kingdom, who were all anxious for this honor.

Isabel had already begun to complain to her father of her husband and the favorite, when the barons came to the king four days after his coronation. "Sire," they said, "send back this stranger who has no business here." The king promised to give his reply on the assembling of Parliament after Easter: meanwhile, he endeavored to lessen the resentment of the noblemen towards his friend. But Piers was most imprudent, frivolous and vain; he loved to make a show of his talent for chivalrous exercises, and threw successively from their horses in several tournaments the Earls of Lancaster, Hereford, Pembroke, and Warren, whose wounded pride was added to the many serious causes of resentment against him. On the assembling of Parliament, the annoyance of the barons was so great, that the king was constrained to give way and to banish Gaveston; he loaded him with presents on his departure, giving him all the jewels which he had received from Queen Isabel, and accompanied him as far as Bristol to bid him farewell. Gaveston was believed to be in Aquitaine, when news came that the king had appointed him governor of Ireland, and that he had just established himself there with a degree of splendor almost regal.

The king longed to recall his favorite; he lavished favors upon the great lords in order to win them over, and, when he had been relieved by the Pope of the oath which he had sworn never to recall Gaveston to England, he sent for his friend, and went as far as Chester to meet him, publicly announcing that the Earl of Cornwall had been unjustly banished, and that justice demanded a fresh examination of his conduct. On the other hand, the barons declared that the king had violated his oath and would not scruple to break all those which he had sworn for the maintenance of the public liberties. The discontent was increasing; the queen complained of the desertion of her husband; the Countess of Cornwall was representing to her brother, the Earl of Gloucester, Gaveston's unworthy conduct towards her. The king and his favorite did not heed the storm which was about to burst; feasts, dances, and tournaments succeeded each other without intermission at the court. The king's funds meanwhile had run low, and, in the month of August, 1311, he found himself compelled to convene Parliament at Westminster.

The barons came, discontented but resolute; old Archbishop Winchelsea had exhorted them to deliver the kingdom from the power of the favorite; the Earl of Lincoln, when dying, had sent for his son-in-law, the Earl of Lancaster. "Do not abandon England to the king and the Pope," he said; "do as the ancient barons did, and stand firmly by your privileges." Scarcely had the barons arrived at Westminster, when they renewed the stipulations of the "Mad Parliament" of Oxford; they demanded the formation of a temporal council entrusted with the task of providing for the government of the kingdom; one of the new concessions forced from the king was that he should convoke Parliament at least once a year.

The barons had brought with them their men-at-arms. Edward II. signed all that they demanded, and Gaveston was once more obliged to leave the country. The king then proceeded to the North, and was busy raising an army, when his favorite suddenly appeared at his side. Such daring was beyond endurance. The Earl of Lancaster, the king's cousin, came unexpectedly upon Edward; the king only had time to escape with Gaveston, leaving the queen in the hands of the barons, who treated her with great respect. The king and his friend had set out in a little bark; they landed at Scarborough, and Piers shut himself up in the fortress there, while the king proceeded to York in the hope of joining his army. But the barons had already set out for Scarborough. Being besieged in the castle, Gaveston surrendered, on the 17th of May, to the Earl of Pembroke and Lord Henry Percy, who promised to spare his life, and then undertook to take him to his castle of Wallingford. The little band started on their journey; but when they arrived at Dedington, the Earl of Pembroke left his prisoner to go and see his wife, who was in the neighborhood. On the morning of the 19th, Gaveston received orders to dress himself at once; he descended into the courtyard, and found that his guards had been changed; the Earl of Warwick, the "black dog of the Ardennes," as the favorite called him when jesting with the king, had arrived during the night; the prisoner was tied on the back of a mule and led to Warwick Castle. The Earl of Lancaster was there. Piers was accustomed to call this nobleman the "old boar," but he now threw himself at his feet, begging for mercy. The judges were inflexible; he was hastily tried, and being condemned, the unlucky Piers was conducted to Blacklow Hill, between Warwick and Coventry, where a scaffold had been erected; the executioners hesitated for a moment to accomplish so horrible a deed. "You have caught the fox; if you let him go, you will have to give chase to him again," cried a voice from among the crowd, and the favorite's head fell; he was only thirty-three years of age.

While Edward II. was mourning for his murdered friend, Robert Bruce was slowly conquering Scotland; twice had the king of England attempted an expedition in support of the power which was slipping from his hands, and twice he had returned without result; the authority of Bruce was being established everywhere in his country; the castles of Perth, Jedburgh, Dunbar, Edinburgh were in his hands; he was besieging the fortress of Stirling, when the governor, Sir Philip Mowbray, contrived to make his appeals for succor reach the king; Edward aroused himself for a moment from his natural indolence and raised a large army to march against Scotland; he started from Berwick on the 11th of June, 1313.

The forces of the King of England amounted, it is said, to nearly a hundred thousand men. While they were marching with their banners flying, the sun, which was glistening upon the armor and the lances, appeared to inundate the country with a flood of light. King Robert was concealed in the forests with an army of forty thousand men, nearly all on foot, awaiting the enemy, and preparing barriers which were intended to check the onslaught of the English troops, on the only spot open to attack. On the morning of the 23rd of June, 1313, the two armies met near Bannockburn.

The English had hastened their march, and had arrived in some disorder, in front of the Scottish army. Lord Clifford, who attempted an ambuscade, was repulsed by Randolph, earl of Moray, nephew of King Robert and one of his best knights; the king himself, with a golden crown on his helmet, was marching slowly along the line of his troops. A relative of the Earl of Hereford's, Sir Henry Bohun, sprang forward against the "Scottish traitor," reckoning upon throwing him by the weight of his horse alone, Bruce being mounted upon one of the small horses of the country.

The king did not expect the shock; he turned, however, with great skill, and Bohun's lance passed close by his side without inflicting any injury upon him. Raising himself up in his stirrups and displaying his gigantic figure, he struck the rash Englishman a terrible blow with his battle-axe: the helmet was shattered by his powerful arm, and Sir Henry Bohun, whose skull was fractured, was carried off by his horse dead. Bruce returned slowly to the spot where the greater part of his forces was concentrated. While his friends were surrounding him, reproaching him for running so great a risk, the Scottish hero was looking sorrowfully at his notched axe, and laughingly answered, "I have spoilt my good battle-axe."

Robert Bruce Regretting His Battle-axe.

The night had been passed in prayer in the Scottish camp and in feasting and debauchery by the English. King Edward had not expected a battle, and held his forces assembled in such a manner as to render any manœuvres impossible. At daybreak the young king was astonished at the good order observed in the Scottish ranks. "Do you think they will fight?" he asked of his marshal, Sir Ingeltram d'Umfreville. At the same moment the Abbot Maurice d'Inchaffray appeared before the Scottish troops holding a crucifix in his hand. All bent their knees, all uncovered their heads. "They are asking for mercy," cried Edward. Umfreville smiled bitterly. "Of God, not of us, Sire," said he; "these men will win the battle or die at their posts." "So be it!" replied the king, as he gave the signal for the attack.

The struggle was furious from the commencement; the Earls of Gloucester and Hereford sprang towards the Scottish infantry, which remained firm; their long lances withstood the onslaught of the English knights. Randolph was still advancing with his best regiment. Keith was attacking with five hundred mounted men-at-arms, the English archers, who could not fight at close quarters and were trampled under foot by the horses. Banners were torn and lances and swords were shattered to pieces; the feet of the combatants were slipping in the blood; the majority of the English began to hesitate. "They fly, they fly!" cried the Scotch. At the same moment a loud noise was heard behind them upon the hill; the camp followers and the sick and the wounded soldiers, excited by the ardor of the struggle, were descending in a mass towards the scene of action. The English imagined themselves attacked by a fresh army; a disorderly retreat had begun, when Robert Bruce, charging with his reserve, decided the fate of the day beyond the possibility of a doubt. The Earl of Gloucester was killed while attacking Edward Bruce, Robert's brother. Clifford and twenty-seven other barons fell by the king's side. The Earl of Pembroke seized the bridle of Edward's horse and dragged him away from the battlefield. Sir Giles d'Argentine accompanied him out of the crowd, then retraced his steps, exclaiming, "It is not my custom to fly!" and was killed by Bruce's soldiers.

Never had a victory been more complete: the fortress of Stirling surrendered immediately; the Earl of Hereford, who had shut himself up in Bothwell Castle, offered to capitulate, and was exchanged for the wife, the sister, and the daughter of the King of Scotland, who had been detained for several years in England. There still remained a great deal of territory to conquer, but the work of Edward the First was destroyed, and Scotland was no longer a dependency of England.

Edward Bruce's ambition was not satisfied; he had assisted his brother in conquering a kingdom, and he now wished to secure a crown for himself. On the 23rd of May, 1315, while England was beginning to feel the miseries of a famine which was soon to be followed by a plague, he landed at Carrickfergus in Ireland at the head of six thousand men. He was soon joined by a large number of Irish chiefs; and they then proceeded to ravage the territory of the English colonists there, pillaging and burning the towns. At length he caused himself to be crowned King of Ireland on the 2nd of May, 1316. His brother Robert came to his assistance, and, in spite of the resistance of the English, who held Dublin and several other important towns, the invading army overran the whole of Ireland. The northern portion of the country had been completely subjugated by Edward Bruce, when King Robert was called back to his kingdom, in consequence of the incursions of the English. Nineteen pitched battles besides numberless skirmishes had been fought, and had exhausted the resources of the rash conqueror, when, on the 5th of October, 1318, Edward Bruce was at length defeated and killed at Fagher, near Dundalk, and the little body of Scots who escaped returned to Scotland. The death of one man had sufficed to overthrow the slender edifice, which for three years he had been striving to raise. The independence of Scotland was more firmly established than the conquest of Ireland.

Berwick had at length fallen into the power of the Scotch; King Edward II. resolved, in 1319, to make a fresh effort to regain that town and to recommence his attempts against Scotland. On the 1st of September he laid siege to Berwick, by land and by sea; but while he was detained there by the obstinate resistance of the Lord Stewart of Scotland, Douglas and Randolph, King Robert's most faithful companions, had crossed the borders into England with fifteen thousand men, carrying their ravages as far as York, so that Edward was obliged to abandon Berwick and march against the invaders of his own dominions. The Scots escaped from him and re-entered their country; a truce of two years was concluded, and, in 1323, after several renewals of hostilities, it was followed by a new treaty which restored peace to the two countries; not, however, without leaving in England a feeling of animosity against the little country whose proud independence of spirit all their power had not been able to subdue.

King Edward had not taken warning by the fate of Piers Gaveston; he had become attached to a young man at his court, Hugh le Despencer, who had been placed at his side by his cousin the Earl of Lancaster, and whom he soon elevated to the dignity of chamberlain. A short time afterwards he married him to Eleanor de Clare, sister of the young Earl of Gloucester, who had been killed at Bannockburn; she brought him an enormous estate upon the borders of Wales. His aunt, Margaret de Clare, had enriched Gaveston in the same manner. Le Despencer was an Englishman, and Edward had perhaps hoped to enjoy his friendship in peace; but the benefits which he heaped upon his new favorite soon excited the jealousy of the barons. At their head was the Earl of Lancaster, who was enraged at seeing preferred to himself a man who had formerly been a member of his own household. An abuse of the royal authority for the benefit of the royal favorite soon furnished a pretext to the great noblemen for resisting the king's authority. They armed their vassals; the lands of the Despencers were pillaged and their castles destroyed, in 1321. Lancaster joined the insurrection, swearing not to lay down his arms before banishing the favorite. They advanced as far as St Alban's, and the earl sent a messenger to the king to announce the conditions of peace. Edward was as timid as he was stubborn; he defended his friends as well as he was able, and declared that they could not be condemned without a trial. The barons marched towards London and took up their quarters in the suburbs; Parliament was convened at Westminster; and with their arms in their hands, the Earl of Lancaster and his friends accused Hugh le Despencer and his father of having usurped the royal authority, kept the king away from his faithful barons, and illegally imposed taxes, &c. At length they demanded that they should be banished. The bishops protested that the sentence was irregular; the king gave in; the two Le Despencers left England, and the barons became so arrogant, that Queen Isabel, when making a pilgrimage to Canterbury, was refused admittance to Leeds Castle, in the county of Kent, although that fortress belonged to the crown. The governor's wife, Lady Badlesmere, even caused several arrows to be shot at the royal suite, and several of the queen's attendants were killed.

This insolence enraged the king. He punished Lord and Lady Badlesmere, and at the same time recalled the Despencers. Lancaster rallied round him all his friends and entered into a correspondence with the Scots, who promised to invade the northern provinces. This negotiation had no other effect than to crush the popularity of the Earl of Lancaster, the Scots being so much detested. The king had already attacked and defeated the Earl of Hereford and his ally, Roger Mortimer, and the latter was a prisoner in the Tower. Hereford had joined Lancaster, and the king was marching against them. The two earls had raised the siege of Tichnall Castle and were retreating before the royal army, when at Boroughbridge, on the borders of the Urc, Lancaster found the Governors of York and Carlisle with a body of troops, prepared to dispute his passage. Hereford was killed upon the bridge, and during the retreat which followed, Lancaster was made a prisoner. He was brought back in triumph to his Castle of Pontefract, and the king soon joined him there. Lancaster foresaw the fate which awaited him. "Lord," he said on being captured, kneeling before a crucifix, "I surrender to Thee, and throw myself upon Thy mercy." His conviction was certain, his treason being flagrant. Lancaster was condemned by six earls and six barons. The people insulted him while he was being led to the scaffold. He lifted his pinioned hands towards heaven. "Heavenly King, have mercy on me," he cried, "for the king of earth has abandoned me." He was beheaded on the 22nd of March, 1322. Fourteen bannerets and as many knights also suffered the extreme penalty. Mortimer was condemned to imprisonment for life. The Despencers enriched themselves with the spoils taken from the victims; the father was created Earl of Winchester, and the enmity of the people towards the favorites was increased by the compassion which the condemned men inspired. It was found necessary to forbid the people to kneel before the portrait of the Earl of Lancaster in St. Paul's Cathedral, and rumors of miracles which had taken place at his tomb were spread throughout England, as had formerly been the case with Simon of Montfort, Earl of Leicester.

Roger Mortimer had succeeded in escaping from prison, probably not without having held some communication with Queen Isabel, who resided at the Tower during his captivity. He was in France and had just entered the service of Charles the Beautiful. The queen was enraged at the execution of his uncle, the Earl of Lancaster. When her husband came back from the expedition in the North, she received him haughtily, and manifested towards the Despencers the same hostility which she had formerly displayed towards Piers Gaveston. The King of France, Charles the Beautiful, seized the pretext of the grievances of Isabel, to take possession of the greater number of the towns and castles belonging to Edward. The latter, in return, seized upon all the property which the queen held in England, declaring that she should possess nothing while in communication with his enemies.

Isabel immediately proposed to act as mediator between her brother and her husband. The weak king fell into the trap, and allowed her to depart. She was received in France with open arms, and soon informed her husband that he would have to come and do homage to the King of France for his duchy of Aquitaine. Edward was preparing to start when he was detained in England in consequence of indisposition. The Despencers, who did not dare to accompany him into France, but who would not lose sight of him, persuaded the weak monarch to cede Guienne and Ponthieu to his son, Prince Edward, the King of France promising to content himself with receiving homage from the young man. The Prince of Wales therefore followed his mother into France. But in vain did the king await the return of his wife and son, the queen was continually delaying; at length, she haughtily declared that her life was not safe in England and that the Despencers were plotting against her and her son.

King Edward, astounded, defended himself as well as he was able, causing all the prelates in England to write and reassure the queen; but she would not be convinced, and when King Charles the Beautiful, tired, no doubt, of the bad conduct of Isabel, and of the injunctions which he received from England, told his sister that he could no longer keep her at his court; she set out, surrounded by the knights who had embraced her cause, the Earl of Kent, her husband's brother, D'Artois, John of Hainault, and, still accompanied by her favorite, Mortimer, she embarked at Dort with a little army of Frenchmen and Brabantines, to land at Orcewell in Suffolk, on the 24th of September. Scarcely had she set foot upon English soil with her son, when, in spite of all the damaging rumors which were afloat concerning her, a large number of knights flocked round her standard. The people were tired of the weakness of King Edward, of the avidity of his favorites, and of the disorder which reigned over the kingdom. When Edward sent and asked for the assistance of the citizens of London, they replied that by their charters they were not obliged to follow him into battle, but that they would be faithful to the king, the queen, and the princes, by closing their gates to the foreigners. Edward was alone with the two Despencers, the Chancellor Baldock and a few knights. Scarcely had he set out for Wales, when the people of London rose, murdered the Bishop of Exeter, who had been elevated by the king to the position of governor, and sent his head to the queen. Edward had halted at Gloucester, whence he had sent old Despencer to defend Bristol; the citizens revolted, and Despencer was compelled to surrender at the discretion of Isabel. She immediately caused him to be executed as a traitor, and the old man's head was exposed to the public sight at Winchester. Hugh le Despencer and Chancellor Baldock, as well as the king, were wandering in the county of Glamorgan, where they had been shipwrecked, after having ineffectually endeavored to take refuge in Ireland. Le Despencer and the chancellor were recognized and arrested. The king immediately surrendered to his enemies, having decided to share the fate of those who loved him, and who were already condemned in anticipation.

Baldock soon died of ill-treatment, and it was necessary to hasten the execution of Hugh le Despencer. He had refused to take any food since his arrest, and he was half dead when he was dragged to the scaffold to suffer the same fate as his father. The Earl of Arundel, who had been at the head of the judges who condemned Lancaster, was beheaded with two of his friends, and their property was given to Mortimer.

The queen had arrived in London, Parliament had just met; and, on the 7th of January, 1327, the Bishop of Hereford, Adam Orleton, Isabel's adviser and able agent, asked this question of the assembly: "Should the father be re-established upon the throne, or ought the son to replace him?" He dwelt upon the weakness, the bad deeds, the treacherous acts of King Edward, and asked the lords to reply on the morrow to his question. The decision was not doubtful. While the barons were pronouncing, in the great hall of Westminster, the fall of Edward II., King of England, the people of London, assembled in crowds at the doors of the palace, loudly demanded his immediate condemnation. Several bishops alone had the courage to speak in favor of the unhappy king, who had not seen a sword drawn nor a bow stretched in his defence: they were insulted, and the Bishop of Rochester was trampled in the mud on leaving the palace. The young prince was proclaimed king by the public voice, and all the peers who were present swore allegiance to him on the spot.

When the queen was informed of the success of all her schemes, she cried bitterly. "Alas!" she said, "they have deposed my husband the king. Parliament has overstepped its authority." These hypocritical tears did not deceive anybody; the young prince, Edward, alone was touched at them. "Do not be afraid, mother," said he, "I will never deprive my father of his crown." A deputation was therefore sent to the poor king, who was a prisoner in Kenilworth Castle. When Edward II. perceived the Bishop of Hereford at the head of the embassadors, he fell to the ground, stricken with grief. The judge who had condemned the two Despencers, Sir William Trussel, advanced in the name of the Parliament, and, taking his turn to speak, told Edward that he was no longer King of England. At the same moment, Sir Thomas Blount, steward of the royal household, broke his baton, renouncing his allegiance to the king. Edward listened without complaining, and without urging anything on his own behalf, simply thanked the Parliament for having recognized the rights of his son. On the 24th of January, 1327, King Edward III. was proclaimed throughout the kingdom. Edward II. was, according to the decree of Parliament, deposed from the throne by the lords and commons, and the power was entrusted to Queen Isabel, who was to administer the affairs of the kingdom for her son, then only fifteen years of age.