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WAL made their submission (9th July, 1297), while Wallace and Sir Andrew Moray, who alone had resolutely opposed this disgraceful transaction, retired to the north, accompanied by their own personal adherents. In a short time the patriot was joined by a number of the tenants of the crown and church lands, and even by many of the vassals of the barons who had made their peace with Edward; and while the English commanders remained inactive at Irvine, apparently under the impression that the insurrection was at an end, Wallace captured in rapid succession the castles of Dunnotar, Forfar, Brechin, and Montrose, and the city of Aberdeen. He was engaged in besieging the castle of Dundee when tidings reached him that a powerful army of the English, under the earl of Surrey, and Cressingham the treasurer of Scotland, was on its march to Stirling. Wallace immediately hurried to that town in order to guard the passage of the Forth, and took up a strong position on a rising ground near the Abbey Craig, which commanded the bridge of Stirling. The veteran Surrey saw at a glance the danger of defiling his troops along a narrow wooden bridge, with a powerful and vigilant enemy in front, but yielding to the urgent representations of the rash and presumptuous Cressingham, who insisted that they should not protract the war and waste the king's treasures, the earl gave orders for an immediate attack. The van under Cressingham and Sir Marmaduke Twenge crossed the river without opposition and impetuously charged up hill, for the purpose of dislodging the enemy from their strong position; but while the main body of the Scots repelled this attack, and drove the assailants headlong before them with their long spears, a portion of the army made a detour to the left, and interposing between the English and the bridge cut off their retreat. The invaders were thus thrown into inextricable confusion. Many thousands of them were slain or drowned in the river, and the country for miles around was covered with the bodies of the English soldiers. Twenty thousand men, including the treasurer, Cressingham, are believed to have fallen in the battle and the flight.

This brilliant and decisive victory was followed by the surrender of Dundee, and the other chief strongholds in the kingdom. But the miseries of the devoted country continued to increase, and, in addition to the horrors of war, a grievous famine, followed by a pestilence, cut off great numbers of the people. Wallace, on whom the government of the kingdom had tacitly devolved, sought by various judicious regulations to mitigate the sufferings of the nation, and besides other measures resolved to invade the northern counties of England, both to make reprisals on the enemy, and to feed his famishing countrymen at home with the plunder which he might obtain. He accordingly crossed the border at the head of a small but resolute force, wasted with fire and sword the counties of Northumberland and Cumberland, which he rendered little better than a wilderness, and led back his forces unmolested to his own country laden with booty. Soon after his return from this successful expedition (1297), Wallace, in an assembly of the principal nobility held at the Forest-kirk in Selkirkshire, was chosen guardian of the kingdom in the name of King John, and with consent of the community of Scotland. Armed with this authority, he took prompt measures to revive the foreign trade of the country, entered into communication with the free towns of Hamburg and Lubeck, set himself vigorously to rectify the abuses and disorders of the kingdom, caused a muster-roll to be made out containing the names of all who were capable of bearing arms, and made judicious arrangements for disciplining his new levies, so that a sufficient number of recruits might be in readiness to take the field whenever the exigencies of the state required their services. About midsummer of 1297 Wallace attacked a considerable body of English, under the earl of Pembroke who had landed in Fife, and defeated them, with the loss of fifteen hundred men. Meanwhile the English king, who was absent in Flanders, sent urgent injunctions to his barons to assemble their retainers, and to repress and punish the audacious rebellion of the Scots. A considerable force was accordingly collected by the earl of Surrey, but nothing was done with it until the return of Edward from the continent. In the summer of 1298 the English monarch in person invaded Scotland, at the head of seven thousand calvary and eighty thousand infantry. The efforts of Wallace to resist this formidable invasion were greatly hindered by the mean and selfish jealousy of the Scottish barons, who were envious of his military renown and influence. A few of the nobles, however, such as Comyn of Badenoch, Stewart of Bonkill, Graham of Abercorn, and Macduff the granduncle of the earl of Fife, repaired to the national standard, and consented to act with the guardian of the kingdom.

The plan which Wallace had formed for the defence of the country was marked by great sagacity, and often in subsequent times proved successful against far superior numbers. He resolved to avoid a general engagement with the invaders, but to hang upon their line of march, to drive off all the supplies, waste the country through which they were to advance, and when they should be compelled to retreat by privation and the failure of provisions, to harass them by incessant attacks. This scheme was for a time attended with complete success. Edward advanced through Berwickshire and Midlothian to the neighbourhood of Linlithgow, without being able to discover or to obtain any information respecting the invisible foe. His army began to suffer severely from the want of provisions; an alarming mutiny broke out in his camp, and he was compelled to issue orders for a retreat. At this critical juncture, two treacherous nobles, the earls of Dunbar and Angus, gave secret information to Edward respecting the plans of Wallace, and the position of the Scottish army; and on the following day (22nd July) he attacked them in the neighbourhood of Falkirk with overwhelming numbers, and after a desperate conflict, completely defeated them with the loss of fifteen thousand men. Wallace with the remnant of his army succeeded in gaining the shelter of the neighbouring wood, and afterwards made good his retreat beyond the Forth. Edward followed him as far as Stirling; but after laying waste the country on all sides with fire and sword, he was compelled by the scarcity of provisions to return to his own land, leaving the greater part of Scotland still unsubdued.

Wallace now resigned the office of guardian of the kingdom, finding that his measures for its defence were hindered or defeated by the jealous and factious spirit of the great nobles. He did not, however, retire from the contest in disgust, or despair of his country's cause. But seeing no immediate prospect of doing any good at home, he repaired to France for the purpose of soliciting aid from the French king. On his voyage he was attacked by a famous piratical rover named De Longueville, whom, however, he vanquished and took prisoner, and carrying him to the court of France, succeeded in obtaining his pardon from the king. On the return of Wallace to his own country, the Red Rover, as De Longueville was called, accompanied his generous victor, and fought by his side in many a bloody contest. The mission of the Scottish patriot was unfortunately timed, as Philip had just concluded a treaty with the English king, and was about to give his sister in marriage to Edward, and his daughter to the prince of Wales. On the arrival of Wallace at Amiens, he was thrown into prison, and a letter was written by Philip to Edward, offering to send the obnoxious Scotchman to London. This step seems, however, to have been taken merely to save appearances, for Wallace was secretly released from prison, and furnished with letters (dated November, 1298) to the French agents at the court of Rome, directing them to entreat the pontiff to give the Scottish patriot a favourable hearing. It cannot now be ascertained whether he ever reached the papal court; but this much is certain, that the pope, Boniface VIII., at this time issued a bull against the pretensions of the English king to the sovereignty of Scotland, and that Edward affirmed that the pontiff had been deceived by certain "enemies of peace and sons of rebellion," then resident at his court, among whom in all probability Wallace was included. Meanwhile, Edward repeatedly invaded Scotland at the head of powerful armies, and though the gallant Sir Simon Eraser and other patriotic leaders carried on a desperate contest against the overwhelming numbers and resources of the invaders, the country was gradually reduced to exhaustion and submission. The pope deserted the cause of the Scotch; so did the king of France, who concluded a treaty with Edward in 1303, from which they were expressly excluded; and at length in 1304 their hopes appeared to be extinguished, and the Regent Comyn and his associates made their submission (9th February, 1304) on certain stipulated conditions. To other seven patriotic leaders who had distinguished themselves by their obstinate resistance to the pretensions of the English king, terms more or less severe were offered; but from Wallace, who had recently returned from France, an unconditional surrender was required, and there can be little doubt that if he had delivered himself up to the tender mercies of Edward, he would have been immediately sent to execution. The patriot hero continued for some time to carry