completely disabled from making any further resistance, ha left the command of the army to the earl of Pembroke, and returned to London, in order to concert his future plans. Robert no sooner heard of his absence, than sallying from his retreat, he assembled the scattered remains of his army, reinforced it with fresh supplies, which the Scotch barons brought from all quarters, and attacked the English general, whom he totally defeated and took prisoner. He then marched against the Earl of Gloucester, whom he obliged to retreat to the castle of Ayre, and afterwards took and dismantled several towns, that he might not be under the necessity of leaving garrisons, as well as in order to preven them from affording any shelter to the English.

5. Edward, surprised and exasperated at this unexpected revolution, summoned all the barons of his realm to meet him at Carlisle, in the summer, A. D. 1307, under the penalty of forfeiting their fees, resolving to draw out the whole military force of his kingdom, and to render Scotland, from one extremity to the other, an entire scene of desolation. But divine Providence, having ordained that the union of the two kingdoms should at last be effected by more peaceable, as well as more equitable means, disappointed his sanguinary design. Being arrived at Carlisle, and ready to carry fire and sword into every corner of the devoted kingdom, he fell sick of a dysentery, and soon after died at Burgh on the sands, leaving the execution of his projects to his son and successor, to whom he gave strict charge never to grant peace or truce, till the final subjugation of Scotland should be accomplished.

6. Robert Bruce immediately prepared to take advantage of the consternation of the English, occasioned by the death of their king; but a violent fit of sickness prevented him from carrying his measures into effect. The new king of England, advancing as far as Dumfries, struck the whole kingdom with terror. Nothing could exceed the perplexity of the Scots on this occasion; their king being dangerously ill, and their forces, both in numbers and discipline, far infe rior to those of the enemy. Edward's return into England, after leaving the command of the army to John Comyn, a

To whom did Edward II. commit the command of the English army?

Scotch baron, was a matter of surprise to both kingdoms; and re-animated the hopes of the Scots, not less than it excited the murmurs of the English. Nothing, indeed, could be more strange than the conduct of Edward II., in thus relinquishing the conquest of Scotland, when the number and ardor of his troops, and king Robert's sickness, promised him almost certain success.

7. But the new king of England had not the warlike inclinations of his predecessor; and the blandishments of a court were, to him, more alluring than the hardships and hazards of a campaign. His appointment of Comyn to the command, was also a subject of offence to the army. This general, although the determined enemy of king Robert, was a Scot; and the English thought themselves dishonored by the preference given to a foreigner. Disaster was the consequence of these discontents. Comyn, willing to take advantage of Robert's sickness, whom he supposed incapable of heading his army, advanced, in order to attack the Scots. The latter, though he found himself extremely weak, thought, that in so critical a juncture, flight or retreat might dishearten his troops, and eventually occasion the loss of his kingdom.

8. Having, therefore, mounted his horse, supported by two esquires, he drew up his army, and, with a composure that produced a wonderful effect, waited the approach of the enemy. Victory soon declared in his favor; and the defeat of the English was the more astonishing, as, besides being superior in numbers, they were the very same troops who had vanquished the Scots in so many engagements. But Edward I. was no more. After this retreat, Comyn retired into England, and Robert ravaged the whole county of Argyle, which still belonged to the English. Edward Bruce, his brother, also defeated another English army, in the county of Galoway; and from that time, the Scots no longer dreaded the army of England.

9. The troubles of England, on account of Gaviston, prevented that court from paying any great attention to the affairs of Scotland. It is, however, said that Edward II., in 1307, the second year of his reign, led an army in person into Scotland; but not having provided for its subsistence, and finding the country laid waste before him, returned, without effecting any thing of importance. In two succes

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sive years, 1310 and 1311, Bruce h expeditions into England, and carried the year following, he recovered Perth and Roxburgh. The Isle of Man volu his dominion; and the castle of Edinburgh assault, he became master of all the fortifred Stirling castle, which was then the strongest in next year, 1313, he sent his brother to lay sieg portant fortress, which was vigorously assaulted, an Îy defended. But Philip Mowbray, the governor, finding no methods taken for his relief, concluded an agreement with the Scots, by which he engaged to deliver up the place at the end of a year, if not sooner relieved by reinforcements from England.

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10. This train of events, so favorable to the Scots, and so disastrous to their enemies, now threatened the complete expulsion of the English, and roused their king to decisive exertion. He therefore summoned all his vassals to meet him, with their troops. The general rendezvous was fixed at Newcastle upon Tyne; and so great was the alacrity of all, that Edward saw himself at the head of 100,000 men, Eng-. lish, Welsh, Gascons, and Irish. To this numerous army the king of Scotland could oppose no more than 30,000 men; but these were inured to war, and had frequently been victorious. Edward, entering the country without opposition, advanced towards Stirling, while Robert made every preparation to give him a vigorous reception. Considering the superiority of numbers with which he had to contend, he judiciously drew up his army on an advantageous ground, where craggy rocks on one of the flanks, and a deep morass on the other, prevented it from being surrounded. The Scots, being resolved to conquer or die, received the English with such steady and determined resolution, that they soon threw their numerous army into confusion, and routed them with a most dreadful slaughter.

11. This decisive battle was fought near a small river, called Bannockburn, on the 25th of July, A. D. 1314; and, since the memorable day of Hastings, England had never received so terrible a defeat. The different historians, as is

What was the respective number of the English and Scotch army at the time of the battle near the river Bannockburn ?-When was this battle fought?

ever the case, perplex us with the discordant accounts of this battle, and the loss there sustained. The earl of Gloucester, nephew of the king of England, with many other great lords of distinction, and, according to some, 700 knights, were left dead on the field; while others assert, that the whole number of English earls, barons, and knights, killed and taken prisoners, amounted to no more than 154. The Scotch historians make the whole loss of the English amount to 50,000, and say that the number of prisoners taken was greater than that of the victorious army. The English, on the contrary, reduce the number of their slain to 10,000. Amidst the discordances of historical details, we might be eternally bewildered, if consequences did not elucidate those facts which contradictory evidence labors to obscure. In military history, especially, we have here a rule, which is almost infallible.

12. Reasoning on this principle, it is evident, that the victory of the Scots was decisive, and the loss of the English exceedingly great, as the latter made a precipitate retreat, not thinking themselves in safety until they reached York, and never more ventured to face the king of Scotland in the field. The Scots, on the contrary, acquired an evident superiority; and were, so long as the war continued, invariably successful. Robert at last besieged and took the strong frontier town of Berwick, and himself and his generals ravaged most of the northern borders of England. Not contented with his successes in Britain, he attempted the conquest of Ireland. Having sent his brother Edward thither, for that purpose, he afterwards followed in person; but finding, on his arrival, that his brother was defeated and slain in battle, by the archbishop of Dublin, general of the English army, or, as some say, taken prisoner, and hanged at Dundalk, he thought it best to desist from the enterprise, in order to improve the advantages gained by his armies in Britain.

13. Since the conquering days of Edward I., when the English were always victorious, the scales had surprisingly turned; and they found themselves utterly unable to check the progress of the Scottish king. In this disastrous state of affairs, Edward II. found himself obliged to have recourse to the pope, as the Scots had done in the days of his father,

What was the English loss at the battle of Bannockburn ?—To what did Edward II. have recourse for the support of his cause, besides. fighting?

and with nearly the same success. He earnestly entreated his holiness to procure him a peace, or at least a truce with Scotland. John XXII., who then filled the papal chair, immediately complied with his request, and undertook to make peace between the kings of England and Scotland, not as a mediator, but in the character of sovereign arbitrator. For this purpose, he sent into England two legates, with a commission to conclude a peace between the two contending princes, and to compel both parties to accept it, under pain of excommunication and interdict.

14. The Scottish monarch, however, perceiving the condition of the treaty to be decidedly partial to England, rejected the papal arbitration. The legates, in consequence, pronounced sentence of excommunication against him, and laid an interdict on his kingdom. Robert, in the meanwhile, regardless of a censure which he considered as unjust, continued the war, and committed great ravages. He plundered and burnt Northallerton, Boroughbridge, Scarborough, and many other places, and almost desolated the northern parts of England. The English were every where beaten; and had, at the same time, the mortification to find the spiritual arms of Rome unsuccessful. After much solicitation, however, they obtained a truce for two years. This short period was no sooner elapsed, than Edward, who had just reduced the associated barons of his kingdom to submission, flattered himself with an expectation of equal success against his foreign enemies.

15. Having, therefore, made great preparations for the invasion of Scotland, in hopes of repairing his former losses by one grand effort, he entered that kingdom, in the month of July, 1323; but, from his improvidence, and the precaution of his enemies, this, like his former expeditions, was only a series of disasters.. Having neglected the proper means of furnishing his army with provisions, an imprudence which his former experience might have corrected, while the Scots, by removing or destroying every article of subsistence, had effectually deprived him of any supplies in their country, his ill-conducted measures rendered a retreat indispensably necessary. This, however, was only the beginning of his dis

asters.

The English no sooner began their retreat, than the king of Scotland, appearing at the head of his army, pursued and overtook them at a place called Blackmore. Here they