proper person to supply his room; and that nobleman endeavoured to shew himself worthy of this pre-eminence. He soon began to annoy the enemy; and, not content with a defensive war, made incursions into the southern counties of the kingdom, which Edward had imagined wholly subdued. They attacked an army of English lying at Roslin, near Edinburgh, and gained a complete victory. 11. But it was not easy for any circumstances of bad fortune to repress the enterprising spirit of the king. He assembled a great fleet and army; and, entering the frontiers of Scotland, appeared with a force which the enemy could not think of resisting in the open field. Assured of success, he marched along, and traversed the kingdom from one end to the other, ravaging the open country, taking all the castles, and receiving the submissions of all the nobles. 12. There seemed to remain only one obstacle to the final destruction of the Scottish monarchy, and that was William Wallace, who still continued refractory and wandering with a few forces from mountain to mountain, preserved his native independence and usual good fortune. But even their feeble hopes from him were soon disappointed; he was betrayed into the king's hands by Sir John Monteith, his friend, whom he had made acquainted with the place of his concealment, being surprised by him as he lay asleep in the neighbourhood of Glasgow. 13. The king, willing to strike the Scots with an example of severity, ordered him to be conducted in chains to London, where he was hanged, drawn, and quartered, with the most brutal ferocity. Robert Bruce, who had been one of the competitors for the crown, but was long kept prisoner in London, at length escaping from his guards, resolved to strike for his country's freedom. 14. Having murdered one of the king's servants, he left himself no resource but to confirm by desperate valour, what he had begun in cruelty, and he soon expelled such of the English forces as had fixed themselves in the kingdom. Soon after he was solemnly crowned king, by the bishop of St. Andrew's, in the abbey of Scone; and numbers flocked to his standard, resolved to confirm his pretensions. 15. Thus, after twice conquering the kingdom, and as often pardoning the delinquents; after having spread his victories in every quarter of the country, and receiving the most humble submissions; the old king saw that his whole work was to begin afresh, and that nothing but the final destruction of the inhabitants could give him assurance of tranquillito. But no difficulties could repress the ardent spirit of this monarch, who, though now verging towards his decline, yet resolved to strike a parting blow, and to make the Scots once more tremble at his appearance. 16. He vowed revenge against the whole nation; and averred that nothing but reducing them to the completest bondage could satisfy his resentment. He summoned his prelates, nobility, and all who held by knight's service, to meet him at Carlisle, which was appointed as the general rendezvous: and in the mean time he detached a body of forces before him to Scotland, under the command of Aymer de Valence, who began the threatened infliction by a complete victory over Bruce, near Methven, in Perthshire. 17. Immediately after this dreadful blow, the resentful king appeared in person, entering Scotland with his army divided into two parts, and expecting to find, in the opposition of the people, a pretext for punishing them. But this brave prince who was never cruel but from motives of policy, could not strike the poor submitting natives, who made no resistance. His anger was disappointed in their humiliation; and he was ashamed to extirpate those who only opposed patience to his indignation. 18. His death put an end to the apprehensions of the Scots, and effectually rescued their country from total subjection. He sickened and died at Carlisle, of a dysentery: enjoining his son, with his last breath, to prosecute the enterprise, and never to desist till he had finally subdued the kingdom. He expired July 7, 1307, in the sixty-ninth year of his age, and the thirty-fifth of his reign; after having added more to the solid interests of the kingdom than any of those who went before or succeeded him. ........... Questions for Examination. 1. What circumstances led to the modelling the parliament into its present form? 2. What was the manner observed in framing the parliament ? 3. What was one of their first efforts? 4. Was the king at first favourable to the measure? 5. By whom was an attempt made to rescue Scotland from the English yoke? 6. Who were the first adherents of Wallace? 7. With what number of troops did Edward march towards the north? 8. Did any engagement take place between the forces of Edward and Wallace? What was the issue of this engagement? 9. What was the conduct of Wallace afterwards? 14. What took place after Bruce's escape from London ? 18. Where did the king die? and what enterprise did he enjoin his son to prosecute? ..... .... .. Adrian V. 1288 Kings of Denmark. A.D. Eric VII..... 1259 EMINENT PERSONS. John Peckham, Robert Winchelsea, Walter Reynolds, and John Stratford, archbishops of Canterbury. Richard, earl of Cornwall. Roger Bigod, earl of Norfolk. Humphry Bohun, earl of Hereford. John Plantagenet, earl of Warwick. Roger Bacon. Wickliffe 3. 2 After the death of Frederick II. there was an interregnum in the Western empire until Rodolphus; during which the following princes either reigned, or were elected: Conrad III.; William, earl of Holland; Richard, earl of Cornwall; Edward IV.; and Alphonso, king of Castile. -LOCKMAN. 3 Wickliffe was the first preacher of the reformed doctrines in England; he was the author of a valuable translation of the New Testament, and of several able tracts on the usurpations of the Romish church. "Immers'd in soft effeminacy's down, And stain the sceptre which their vice protects." 2. Pa'geantry, s. pomp, show. tain purpose.. DIBDIN. 6. Impreg'nable, a. unconquerable. Capitula'tion, s. surrender on certain conditions, 1. (A.D. 1307.) EDWARD, surnamed Caernarvon, was in the twenty-third year of his age when he succeeded his father; of an agreeable figure, of a mild harmless disposition, and apparently addicted to few vices. But he soon gave symptoms of his unfitness to succeed so great a monarch as his father; he was rather fond of the enjoyment of his power than of securing it, and lulled by the flattery of his courtiers, he thought he had done enough for glory when he accepted the crown. 2. Instead, therefore, of prosecuting the war against Scotland, according to the injunctions he had received from his dying father, he took no steps to check the progress of Bruce; his march into that country being rather a procession of pageantry than a warlike expedition. 3. Weak monarchs are ever governed by favourites; and the first Edward placed his affections upon was Piers Gavestone, the son of a Gascon knight, who had been employed in the service of the late king. This young man was adorned with every accomplishment of person and mind that was capable of creating affection; but he was utterly destitute of those qualities of heart and understanding that serve to procure esteem. He was beautiful, witty, brave, and active; but then he was vicious, effeminate, debauched, and trifling. These were qualities entirely adapted to the taste of the young monarch, and he seemed to think no rewards equal to his deserts. 4. Gave stone, on the other hand, intoxicated with his power, became haughty and overbearing, and treated the English nobility, from whom it is probable he received marks of contempt, with scorn and derision. A conspiracy, therefore, was soon formed against him, at the head of which queen Isabel and the earl of Lancaster, a nobleman of great power, were associated. 5. It was easy to perceive that a combination of the nobles, while the queen secretly assisted their designs, would be too powerful against the efforts of a weak king and a vain favourite. The king, timid and wavering, banished him (A.D. 1312,) at their solicitation, and recalled him soon after. This was sufficient to spread an alarm over the whole kingdom; all the great barons flew to arms, and the earl of Lancaster put himself at the head of this irresistible confederacy. The unhappy Edward, instead of attempting to make resistance, sought only for safety ever happy in the company of his favourite, he embarked at Teignmouth, and sailed with him to Scarborough, where he left Gavestone as in a place of safety, and then went back to York himself, either to raise an army to oppose his enemies, or by his presence to allay their animosity. 6. In the mean time Gavestone was besieged in Scarborough by the earl of Pembroke; and, had the garrison been sufficiently supplied with provisions, the place would have been impregnable. But Gavestone, sensible of the bad condition of the garrison, took the earliest opportunity to offer terms of capitulation. He stipulated that he should remain in Pembroke's hands as |