The Scottish Chiefs
Chapter LXXII.
Stirling Castle.
Wallace entered on the Carse of Stirling, that scene of his manyvictories, and beheld its northern horizon white with tents. Officersappointed for the purpose had apprised the thanes of Wallace havingleft Berwick; and knowing by the same means all his movements, an armedcavalcade met him near the Carron, to hold his followers in awe, and toconduct him without opposition to Stirling. In case it should beinsufficient to quail their spirit, or to intimidate him who had neveryet been made to fear by mortal man, the regent had summoned all thevassals of the various seigniories of Cummin, and planted them inbattle array before the walls of Stirling. But whether they werefriends or foes was equally indifferent to Wallace; for, strong inintegrity, he went serenely forward to his trial; and, though inwardlymarveling at such a panoply of war, being called out to induce him tocomply with so simple an act of obedience to the laws, he met theheralds of the regent with as much ease as if they had been coming tocongratulate him on the capitulation of Berwick, the ratification ofwhich he brought in his hand.
By his order his faithful followers (who took a pride in obeying withthe most scrupulous exactness the injunctions of their now deposedcommander) encamped under Sir Alexander Scrymgeour to the northwest ofthe castle, near Ballockgeich. It was then night. In the morning, atan early hour, Wallace was summoned before the council in the citadel.
On his re-entrance into that room which he had left, the dictator ofthe kingdom, when every knee bent and every head bowed to his suprememandate, he found not one who even greeted his appearance with thecommonest ceremony of courtesy. Badenoch, the regent, sat upon thethrone, with evident symptoms of being yet an invalid. The Lords Atholand Buchan, and the numerous chiefs of the clans of Cummin, were seatedon his right: on his left were arranged the Earls of Fife and Lorn,Lord Soulis, and every Scottish baron of power who at any time badshown himself hostile to Wallace. Others, who were of easy faith to atale of malice, sat with them; and the rest of the assembly was filledup with men of better families than personal fame, and whose namesswelled a list without adding any true importance to the side on whichthey appeared. A few, and those a very few, who still respectedWallace, were present; not because they were sent for (great carehaving been taken not to summon his friends), but in consequence of arumor of the charge having reached them: and these were, the LordsLennox and Loch-awe, with Kirkpatrick, and two or three chieftains fromthe western Highlands. None of them had arrived till within a fewminutes of the council being opened, and Wallace was entering atone door as they appeared at the other.
At sight of him a low whisper buzzed through the hail, and a marshaltook the plumed bonnet from his hand, which, out of respect to thenobility of Scotland, he had raised from his head at his entrance. Aherald meanwhile proclaimed, in a loud voice, "Sir William Wallace! youare charged with treason; and, by an ordinance of Fergus the First, youmust stand covered before the representative of the majesty of Scotlanduntil that loyalty be proved, which would again restore you to a seatamongst her faithful barons."
Wallace, with the same equanimity as that with which he would havemounted the regal chair, bowed his head to marshal in token ofacquiescence. But Edwin, whose indignation was reawakened at thisexclusion of his friend from the privilege of his birth, said somethingso warm to the marshal that Wallace, in a low voice, was obliged tocheck his vehemence by a declaration, that, however obsolete thecustom, and revived in his case only, it was his determination tosubmit himself in every respect to whatever was exacted of him by thelaws of his country.
On Loch-awe and Lennox observing him stand thus before the bonneted andseated chiefs (a stretch of magisterial prerogative which had not beenexercised on a Scottish knight for many a century), they took off theircaps and bowing to Wallace, refused to occupy their places on thebenches while the defender of Scotland stood. Kirkpatrick drew eagerlytoward him, and throwing down his casque and sword at his feet, criedin a loud voice, "Lie there till the only true man in all this landcommands me to take ye up in his defense. He alone had courage to lookthe Southrons in the face, and to drive their king over the borders,while his present accusers skulked in their chains!" Wallace regardedthis ebullition from the heart of the honest veteran with a look thatwas eloquent to all. He would have animatedly praised such an instanceof fearless gratitude expressed to another, and when it was directed tohimself, his ingenuous soul showed approbation in every feature of hisbeaming countenance.
"Is it thus, presumptuous Knight of Ellerslie," cried Soulis, "that byyour looks you dare encourage contumely to the lord regent and hispeers?"
Wallace did not deign him an answer, but turning calmly toward thethrone, "Representative of my king!" said he, "in duty to the powerwhose authority you wear, I have obeyed your summons, and I here awaitthe appearance of the accuser who has had the hardihood to brand thename of William Wallace with disloyalty to prince or people."
The regent was embarrassed. He did not suffer his eyes to meet thoseof Wallace, but looked down in manifest confusion during this address;and then, without reply, turned to Lord Athol, and called on him toopen the charge. Athol required not a second summons; he roseimmediately, and, in a bold and positive manner, accused Wallace ofhaving been won over by Philip of France to sell those rights ofsupremacy to him which, with a feigned patriotism, his sword hadwrested from the grasp of England. For this treachery, Philip was toendow him with the sovereignty of Scotland; and, as a pledge of thecompact, he had invested him with the principality of Gascony inFrance. "This is the groundwork of his treason," continued Athol; "butthe superstructure is to be cemented with our blood. I have seen alist, in his own handwriting, of those chiefs whose lives are to pavehis way to the throne."
At this point of the charge Edwin sprung forward; but Wallace,perceiving the intent of his movement, caught him by the arm, and, by alook, reminded him of his recently repeated engagement to keep silent.
"Produce the list," cried Lord Lennox. "No evidence that does notbring proof to our eyes ought to have any weight with us against theman who had bled in every vein for Scotland."
"It shall be brought to your eyes," returned Athol; "that, and otherdamning proofs, shall convince this credulous country of its abusedconfidence."
"I see these damning proofs now!" cried Kirkpatrick, who had frowninglylistened to Athol; "the abusers of my country's confidence betraythemselves at this moment by their eagerness to impeach her friends;and I pray Heaven, that before they mislead others into so black aconspiracy, the lie in their throats may choke its inventors!"
"We all know," cried Athol, turning on Kirkpatrick, "to whom youbelong. You were brought with this shameless grant to mangle the bodyof the slain Cressingham; a deed which brought a stigma on the Scottishname never to be erased by the disgrace of its perpetrators. For thissavage triumph did you sell yourself to Sir William Wallace; and abloody champion you are, always ready for your secretly murderousmaster!"
"Hear you this, and bear it?" cried Kirkpatrick and Edwin in onebreath, and grasping their daggers, Edwin's flashed in his hand.
"Seize them!" cried Athol; "my life is threatened by his myrmidons."
Marshals instantly approached; but Wallace, who had hitherto stood insilent dignity, turned to them with that tone of justice which had evercommanded from his lips, and bade them forbear:
"Touch these knights at your peril, marshals!" said he; "no man in thischamber is above the laws, and they protect every Scot who resentsunjust aspersions upon his own character, or irrelevant and prejudicingattacks on that of an arraigned friend. It is before the majesty ofthe laws that I now stand; but were injury to usurp its place, not allthe lords in Scotland should detain me a moment in a scene so unworthyof my country."
The marshals retreated, for they had been accustomed to regard withimplicit deference the opinion of Sir William Wallace on the laws; andthough he now stood in the light of their violator, yet memory boretestimony that he had always read them ari
ght, and, to this hour, hadever appeared to make them the guide of his actions.
Athol saw that none in the assembly had courage to enforce this act ofviolence, and blazing with fury, he poured his whole wrath uponWallace. "Imperious, arrogant traitor!" cried he; "this presumptiononly deepens our impression of your guilt! Demean yourself with morereverence to this august court, or expect to be sentenced on the proofwhich such insolence amply gives; we require no other to proclaim yourdomineering spirit, and at once to condemn you as the premeditatedtyrant of land."
"Lord Athol," replied Wallace, "what is just I would say in the face ofall the courts in Christendom. It is not in the power of man to makeme silent when I see the laws of country outraged and my countrymenoppressed. Though I may submit my own cheek to the blow, I will notpermit theirs to share the stroke. I have answered you, earl, to thispoint and am ready to hear you to the end."
Athol resumed. "I am not your only accuser, proudly-confident man; youshall see one whose truth cannot be doubted, and whose first glancewill bow that haughty spirit, and cover that bold front with the liveryof shame! My lord," cried he, turning to the regent, "I shall bring amost illustrious witness before you; one who will prove on oath that itwas the intention of this arch-hypocrite, this angler for women'shearts, this perverter of men's understandings, before another moon tobury deep in blood the very people whom he now insidiously affects toprotect! But to open your and the nation's eyes at once, to overwhelmhim with his fate, I now call forth the evidence."
The marshals opened a door in the side of the hall, and led a ladyforward, habited in regal splendor, and covered from head to foot witha veil of so transparent a texture, that her costly apparel andmajestic contour were distinctly seen through it. She was conducted toa chair on an elevated platform a few paces from where Wallace stood.On her being seated the regent rose, and in a tremulous voice addressedher:
"Joanna, Countess of Strathearn and Mar, Princess of the Orkneys, weadjure thee by thy princely dignity, and in the name of the King ofkings, to bear a just witness to the truth or falsehood, of the chargesof treason and conspiracy now brought against Sir William Wallace."
The name of his accuser made Wallace start; and the sight of herunblushing face, for she threw aside her veil the moment she wasaddressed, overspread his cheek with a tinge of that shame for herwhich she was now too hardened in determined crime to feel herself.Edwin gazed at her in speechless horror; while she, casting a glance atWallace, in which the full purpose of her soul was declared, turnedwith a softened though majestic air, to the regent, and spoke:
"My lord," said she, "you see before you a woman, who never knew whatit was to feel a self-reproachful pang till an evil hour brought her toreceive an obligation from that insidious treacherous man. But as myfirst passion has ever been the love of my country, I will prove it tothis good assembly by making a confession of what was once my heart'sweakness; and by that candor, I trust they will fully honor the rest ofmy narrative."
A Clamor of approbation resounded through the hall. Lennox andLoch-awe looked on each other with amazement. Kirkpatrick,recollecting the scenes at Dumbarton, exclaimed--"Jezebel!"--but theejaculation was lost in the general burst of applause; and the countessopening a folded paper which she held in her hand, in a calm, collectedvoice, but with a flushing cheek, resumed:
"I shall read my further deposition. I have written it, that my memorymight not err, and that my country may be unquestionably satisfied ofthe accuracy of every syllable I utter."
She paused an instant, drew a quick breath, and proceeded reading fromthe paper, thus: (But as occasion occurred for particularly pointingits contents, she turned her tutored eye upon the object, to look asignet on her mischief.)
"I am not to tell you, my lord, that Sir William Wallace twice releasedthe late Earl of Mar and myself from Southron captivity. Our delivererwas what you see him: fraught with attractions, which he toosuccessfully directed against the peace of a young woman married to aman of paternal years. While to all the rest of the world, he seemedto consecrate himself to the memory of his ill-fated wife, to me alonehe unveiled his straying heart. I revered my nuptial vow too sincerelyto listen to him with the complacency he wished; but, I blush to own,that his tears, his agonies of love, his manly graces, and the virtuesI believed he possessed (for well he knows to feign!), cooperating withmy gratitude, at last wrought such a change in my breast that--I becamewretched. No guilty wish was there; but an admiration of him, a pitywhich undermined my health, and left me miserable! I forbade him toapproach me. I tried to wrest him from my memory; and nearly hadsucceeded, when I was informed by my late husband's nephew--(the youthwho now stands beside Sir William Wallace)--that he was returned underan assumed name from France. Then I feared that all my inwardstruggles were to recommence. I had once conquered myself; forabhorring the estrangement of my thoughts from my wedded lord, when hedied I only yearned to appease my conscience; and in penance for myinvoluntary crime, I refused Sir William Wallace my hand. His returnto Scotland filled me with tumults, which only they who would sacrificeall they prize to a sense of duty, can know. Edwin Ruthven left me atHuntingtower; and, that very evening, while walking alone in thegarden, I was surprised by the sudden approach of an armed man. Hethrew a scarf over my head, to prevent my screams, but I fainted withterror. He then took me from the garden by the way he had entered, andplacing me on a horse before him, carried me whither I know not; but onmy recovery I found myself in a chamber, with a woman standing besideme, and the same warrior. His visor was so closed that I could not seehis face. On my expressing alarm at my situation, he addressed me inFrench, telling me he had provided a man to carry an excuse toHuntingtower, to prevent pursuit; and then he put a letter into myhand, which, he said, he brought from Sir William Wallace. Anxious toknow the purpose of this act, and believing that a man who had sworn tome devoted love could not premeditate a more serious outrage, I brokethe seal and, nearly as I can recollect, read to this effect:
"That his passion was so imperious, he had determined to make me his inspite of those sentiments of female delicacy which, while they torturedhim, rendered me dearer in his eyes. He told me, that as he had oftenread in my blushes the sympathy which my too severe virtue made meconceal, he would now wrest me from my cheerless widowhood; and havingnothing in reality to reproach myself with, compel me to be happy. Hisfriend, the only confidant of his love, had brought me to a spot whenceI could not fly; there I should remain, till he, Wallace, could leavethe army for a few days, and throwing himself on my compassion andtenderness, he received as the most faithful of lovers, the fondest ofhusbands.
"This letter," continued the countess, "was followed by many others;and suffice it to say, that the latent affection in my heart, and hissubduing love, were too powerful in his cause. How his letters wereconveyed I know not; but they were duly presented to me by the womanwho attended me. At last the knight who had brought me to the place,and who wore green armor, and a green plume, reappeared."
"Prodigious villain!" broke from the lips of Edwin.
The countess turned her eye on him for a moment and then resumed: "Hewas the warrior who had borne me from Huntingtower, and from that houruntil the period I now speak of, I had never seen him. He put anotherpacket into my hand, desiring me to peruse it with attention, andreturn Sir William Wallace a verbal answer by him. Yes! was all herequired. I retired to open it; and what was my horror, when I read aperfect development of the treasons for which he is now brought toaccount! By some mistake of my character, he had conceived me to beambitious; and knowing himself to be the master of my heart, he fanciedhimself lord of my conscience also. He wrote, that until he saw me, hehad no other end in his exertions for Scotland than her rescue from aforeign yoke; 'but,' added he, 'from the moment in which I first beheldmy adored Joanna, I aspired to place a crown on her brow!" Be thentold me, that he did not deem the time of its presentation to him onthe Carse of Stirling a safe juncture for its acceptance; neith
er washe tempted to run the risk of maintaining an unsteady throne when I wasnot free to partake it; but since the death of Lord Mar, every wish,every hope was re-awakened; and then he determined to become a king.Philip of France had made secret articles with him to that end. He wasto hold Scotland of him. While to make the surrender of his country'sindependence sure to Philip, and its scepter to himself and hisposterity, he attempted to persuade me there would be no crime indestroying the chiefs whose names he enrolled in this list. The pope,he added, would absolve me from a transgression dictated by connubialduty; and, on our bridal day, he proposed the deed should be done. Hewould invite all the lords to a feast; and poison, or dagger, shouldlay them at his feet.
"So impious a proposal restored me to myself. My love at once turnedto the most decided abhorrence; and hastening to the Knight of theGreen Plume, I told him to carry my resolution to his master, that Iwould never see him more till I should appear as his accuser before thetribunal of his country. The knight tried to dissuade me from mypurpose, but in vain, and at last, becoming alarmed at the punishmentwhich might overtake himself as the agent of such treason, he confessedto me that the scene of his first appearance at Linlithgow was devisedby Wallace, who, unknown to all others, had brought him from France toassist him in the scheme he durst not confide to Scotland's friends.If I would guarantee his life, he offered to take me from the placewhere I was then confined, and convey me safe to Stirling. All elsethat he asked was, that I would allow him to be the bearer of thecasket which contained Sir William Wallace's letters, and suffer myeyes to be blindfolded during the first part of our journey. This Iconsented to; but the murderous list I had undesignedly put into mybosom. My bead was again wrapped in a thick veil, and we set out. Itwas very dark; and we traveled long and swiftly till we came to a wood.There was neither moon nor stars to point out any habitation. Butbeing overcome with fatigue, my conductor persuaded me to dismount andtake rest. I slept beneath the trees. In the morning, when I awoke, Iin vain looked round for the knight and called him; he was gone; and Isaw him no more. I then explored my way to Stirling, to warn mycountry of its danger--to unmask to the world the direst hypocrite thatever prostituted the name of virtue."
The countess ceased; and a hundred voices broke out at once, pouringinvectives on the traitorous ambition of Sir William Wallace, andinvoking the regent to pass some signal condemnation on so monstrous acrime. In vain Kirkpatrick thundered forth his indignant soul; he wasunheard in the tumult; but going up to the countess, he accused her toher face of falsehood, and charged her with a design from some reallytreasonable motive to destroy the only sure hope of her country.
"And will you not speak?" cried Edwin in agony of spirit graspingWallace's arm; "will you not speak before these ungrateful men shalldare to brand your ever-honored name with infamy! Make yourself beheard, my noblest friend! Confute that wicked woman, who too surelyhas proved what I suspected--that this self-concealing knight came tobe a traitor."
"I will speak, my Edwin," returned Wallace, "at the proper moment; butnot in this tumult of my enemies. Rely on it, your friend will submitto no unjust decree."
"Where is this Knight of the Green Plume?" cried Lennox, almoststartled in his opinion of Wallace by the consistency of the countess'narrative. "No mark of dishonor shall be passed on Sir William Wallacewithout the strictest scrutiny. Let the mysterious stranger be found,and confronted with Lady Strathearn."
Notwithstanding the earl's insisting on impartial justice, sheperceived the doubt in his countenance, and eager to maintain heradvantage, replied--"The knight, I fear, has fled beyond our search;but that I may not want a witness to corroborate the love I once borethis arch-hypocrite, and, consequently, the sacrifice I make to loyaltyin thus unveiling him to the world, I call upon you, Lord Lennox, tosay whether you did not observe at Dumbarton Castle the state of my toograteful heart?"
Lennox, who well remembered her conduct in the citadel of thatfortress, hesitated to answer, aware that his reply might substantiatea guilt which he now feared would be but too strongly manifest. Everyear hung on his answer. Wallace saw what was passing in his mind; anddetermined to all men to show what was in their hearts toward the earland said, "Do not hesitate, my lord; speak all that you know or thinkof me. Could the deeds of my life be written on yon blue vault," addedhe, pointing to the heavens, "and my breast be laid open for men toscan. I should be content; for then Scotland would know me as myCreator knows me; and the evidence which now makes even friendshipdoubt, would meet the reception due to calumny."
Lord Lennox felt the last remark, and stung with remorse for having fora moment credited anything against the frank spirit which gave him thispermission, he replied, "To Lady Strathearn's questions I must answer,that at Dumbarton I did perceive her preference to Sir William Wallace;but I never saw anything in him to warrant the idea that it wasreciprocal. And yet, were it even so, that bears nothing to the pointof the countess' accusation; and, notwithstanding her princely rank,and the deference all would pay to the widow of Lord Mar, as trueScots, we cannot relinquish to a single witness our faith in a man whohas so eminently served his country."
"No," cried Loch-awe; "if the Knight of the Green Plume be aboveground, he shall be brought before this tribunal. He alone can be thetraitor; and to destroy us by exciting suspicions against our bestdefender, he has wrought with his own false pen this device to deceivethe patriotic widow of the Earl of Mar."
"No, no," interrupted she; "I read the whole in his own--to me too wellknown--handwriting; and this list of the chiefs, condemned by you,indeed, traitor! to die, shall fully evince his guilt. Even your name,too generous earl, is in the horrid catalogue." While she spoke, sherose eagerly, to hand to him the scroll.
"Let me now speak, or stab me to the heart!" hastily whispered Edwin tohis friend. Wallace did not withhold him, for he guessed what would bethe remark of his ardent soul. "Hear that woman!" cried the vehementyouth to the regent, "and say whether she now speaks the language ofone who had ever loved the virtues of Sir William Wallace? Were sheinnocent of malice toward the deliverer of Scotland, would she not haverejoiced in Loch-awe's suggestion, that the Green Knight is thetraitor? Or, if that scroll she has now given into the regent's handbe too nicely forged for her to detect its not being indeed thehandwriting of the noblest of men, would she not have shown some sorrowat the guilt of one she professes once to have loved?--of one who savedherself, her husband, and her child from perishing! But here hermalice has overstepped her art; and after having promoted the successof her tale by so mingling insignificant truths with falsehoods ofcapital import--that in acknowledging the one we seem to grant theother--she falls into her own snare! Even a beardless boy can nowdiscern that, however vile the Green Knight may be, she shares hiswickedness!"
While Edwin spoke, Lady Stathearn's countenance underwent a thousandchanges. Twice she attempted to rise and interrupt him, but Sir RogerKirkpatrick having fixed his eyes on her with a menacing determinationto prevent her, she found herself obliged to remain quiescent. Full ofa newly-excited fear that Wallace had confided to her nephew the lastscene in his tent, she started up as he seemed to pause, and withassumed mildness, again addressing the regent, said--that before thisapparently ingenuous defense could mislead impartial minds, she thoughtit just to inform the council of the infatuated attachment of EdwinRuthven to the accused; for she had ample cause to assert that the boywas so bewitched by his commander--who had flattered his youthfulvanity by loading him with distinctions only due to approved valor inmanhood--that he was ready at any time to sacrifice every considerationof truth, reason, and duty, to please Sir William Wallace.
"Such may be in a boy," observed Lord Loch-awe, interrupting her "butas I know no occasion in which it is possible for Sir William Wallaceto falsify the truth, I call upon him, in justice to himself and to hiscountry, to reply to three questions!" Wallace bowed to the venerableearl, and he proceeded: "Sir William Wallace, are you guilty of thecharge brought ag
ainst you, of a design to mount the throne of Scotlandby means of the King of France?"
Wallace replied, "I never designed to mount the throne of Scotland,either by my own means or by any other man's."
Loch-awe proceeded: "Was this scroll, containing the names of certainScottish chiefs noted down for assassination, written by you, or underyour connivance?"
"I never saw the scroll, nor heard of the scroll, until this hour. Andharder than death is the pang at my heart when a Scottish chief findsit necessary to ask me such a question regarding a people, to save eventhe least of whom he has often seen me risk my life!"
"Another question," replied Loch-awe, "and then, bravest of men, ifyour country acquits you not in thought and deed, Campbell of Loch-awesits no more amongst its judges! What is your knowledge of the Knightof the Green Plume, that, in preference to any Scottish friend, youshould intrust him with your wishes respecting the Countess ofStrathearn?"
Wallace's answer was brief: "I never had any wishes respecting the wifeor the widow of my friend the Earl of Mar that I did not impart toevery chief in the camp, and those wishes went no further than for hersafety. As to love, that is a passion I shall know no more; and LadyStrathearn alone can say what is the end she aims at, by attributingfeelings to me with regard to her which I never conceived, and wordswhich I never uttered. Like this passion, with which she says sheinspired me," added he, turning his eyes steadfastly on her face, "wasthe Knight of the Green Plume! You are all acquainted with the mannerof his introduction to me at Linlithgow. By the account that he thengave of himself, you all know as much of him as I did, till on thenight that he left me at Berwick and then I found him, like this storyof Lady Strathearn, all a fable."
"What is his proper title? Name him, on your knighthood!" exclaimedBuchan; "for he shall yet be dragged forth to support the veracity ofmy illustrious kinswoman, and to fully unmask his insidious accomplice!"
"Your kinswoman, Earl Buchan," replied Wallace, "can best answer yourquestion."
Lord Athol approached the regent, and whispered something in his ear.This unworthy representative of the generous Bruce, immediate rose fromhis seat. "Sir William Wallace," said he, "you have replied to thequestions of Lord Loch-awe, but where are your witnesses to prove thatwhat you have spoken is the truth?"
Wallace was struck with surprise at this address from a man who,whatever might be demanded of him in the fulfillment of his office, hebelieved could not be otherwise than his friend because, from theconfidence reposed in him both by Bruce and himself, he must be fullyaware of the impossibility of these allegations being true. ButWallace's astonishment was only for a moment; he now saw with an eyethat pierced through the souls of the whole assembly, and, withcollected firmness, he replied; "My witnesses are in the bosom of everyScotsman."
"I cannot find them in mine," interrupted Athol.
"Nor in mine!" was echoed from various parts of the hall.
"Invalidate the facts brought against you by legal evidence, not a mererhetorical appeal, Sir William Wallace," added the regent, "else thesentence of the law must be passed on so tacit an acknowledgment ofguilt."
"Acknowledgment of guilt!" cried Wallace, with a flush of god-likeindignation suffusing his noble brow. "If any one of the chiefs who havejust spoken knew the beat of an honest heart, they would not havedeclared that they heard no voice proclaim the integrity of WilliamWallace. Let them look out on yon carse, where they saw me refuse thatcrown, offered by themselves, which my accuser alleges I would yetobtain by their blood. Let them remember the banks of the Clyde, where Irejected the Scottish throne offered me by Edward! Let these facts bearwitness for me; and, if they be insufficient, look on Scotland, now, forthe third time, rescued by my arm from the grasp of a usurper!--Thatscroll locks the door of the kingdom upon her enemies." As he spoke hethrew the capitulation of Berwick on the table. It struck a pause intothe minds of the lords; they gazed with pallid countenances, and withouta word, on the parchment where it lay, while he proceeded: "If myactions that you see, do not convince you of my integrity, then believethe unsupported evidence of words, the tale of a woman, whose mystery,were it not for the memory of the honorable man whose name she oncebore, I would publicly unravel--believe her! and leave Wallace naught ofhis country to remember, but that he has served it, and that it isunjust!"
"Noblest of Scots!" cried Loch-awe, coming toward him, "did youraccuser come in the shape of an angel of light, still we believe yourlife in preference to her testimony, for God himself speaks on yourside. 'My servants,' he declares, 'shall be known by their fruits!'And have not yours been peace to Scotland and good-will to men?"
"They are the serpent-folds of his hypocrisy!" cried Athol, alarmed atthe awe-struck looks of the assembly.
"They are the baits by which he cheats fools!" re-echoed Soulis.
"They are snares, which shall catch us no more!" was now the generalacclamation; and in proportion to the transitory respect which had madethem bow, but for a moment, to virtue, they now vociferated theircenter both of Wallace and this his last achievement. Inflamed withrage at the manifest determination to misjudge his commander, andmaddened at the contumely with which their envy affected to treat him,Kirkpatrick threw off all restraint, and with the bitterness of hisreproaches still more incensed the jealousy of the nobles and augmentedthe tumult. Lennox, vainly attempting to make himself heard, drewtoward Wallace, hoping, by that movement to at least show on whose sidehe thought justice lay. At this moment, while the uproar raged withredoubled clamor--the one party denouncing the Cummins as the source ofthis conspiracy against the life of Wallace; the other demanding thatsentence should instantly be passed upon him as a traitor--the doorburst open and Bothwell, covered with dust, and followed by a throng ofarmed knights, rushed into the center of the hall.
"Who is it ye arraign?" cried the young chief, looking indignantlyaround him. "Is it not your deliverer you would destroy? The Romanscould not accuse the guilty Manlius in sight of the capitol he hadpreserved, but you, worse thanheathens, bring your benefactor to the scene of his victories, andthere condemn him for serving you too well! Has he not plucked youthis third time out of the furnace that would have consumed you? Andyet in this hour, you would sacrifice him to the disappointed passionsof a woman! Falsest of thy sex!" cried he, turning to the countess,who shrunk before the penetrating eyes of Andrew Murray; "do I not knowthee? Have I not read thine unfeminine, thy vindictive heart? Youwould destroy the man you could not seduce! Wallace!" cried he,"speak. Would not this woman have persuaded you to disgrace the nameof Mar? When my uncle died, did she not urge you to intrigue for thatcrown which she knew you had so loyally declined?"
"My errand here," answered Wallace, "is to defend myself, not to accuseothers. I have shown that I am innocent, and my judges will not lookon the proofs. They obey not the laws in their judgment, and whatevermay be the decree, I shall not acknowledge its authority."
As he spoke he turned away, and walked with a firm step out of the hall.
His disappearance gave the signal for a tumult more threatening to thewelfare of the state, than if the armies of Edward had been in themidst of them. It was brother against brother, friend against friend.The Lords Lennox, Bothwell, and Loch-awe, were vehement against theunfairness with which Sir William Wallace bad been treated; Kirkpatrickdeclared that no arguments could be used with men so devoid of reason,and words of reproach and reviling passing on all sides, swords werefiercely drawn. The Countess of Strathearn seeing herself neglected byeven her friends in the strife, and fearful that the party of Wallacemight at last gain the ascendancy, and that herself, then without hertraitor corslet on her breast, might meet their hasty vengeance, roseabruptly, and giving her hand to a herald, hurried out of the assembly.