de an obstinate resistance. He was mortally wounded and died in an
exclamation of rage against the soldiers, who asked if they might not
then surrender the castle. Edward wintered at Dunfermline, and began
the next campaign with the siege of Stirling, the only fortress in the
kingdom that still held out. But the courage of the guardians
altogether gave way; they set the example of submission, and such of
them as had been most obstinate in what the English King called
rebellion, were punished by various degrees of fine and banishment.
With respect to Sir William Wallace, it was agreed that he might have
the choice of surrendering himself unconditionally to the King's
pleasure, provided he thought proper to do so; a stipulation which, as
it signified nothing in favor of the person for whom it was apparently
conceived, must be imputed as a pretext on the part of the Scottish
nobles to save themselves from the disgrace of having left Wallace
altogether unthought of. Some attempts were made to ascertain what
sort of accommodation Edward was likely to enter into with the bravest
and most constant of his enemies; but the demands of Wallace were
large, and the generosity of Edward very small. The English King broke
off the treaty, and put a price of three hundred marks on the head of
the patriot.
Meantime Stirling castle continued to be defended by a slender
garrison, and, deprived of all hopes of relief, continued to make a
desperate defence, under its brave governor, Sir William Olifaunt,
until famine and despair compelled him to an unconditional surrender,
when the King imposed the harshest terms on this handful of brave men.
But what Edward prized more than the surrender of the last fortress
which resisted his arms in Scotland was the captivity of her last
patriot. He had found in a Scottish nobleman, Sir John Monteith, a
person willing to become his agent in searching for Wallace among the
wilds where he was driven to find refuge. Wallace was finally betrayed
to the English by his unworthy and apostate countryman, who obtained
an opportunity of seizing him at Robroyston, near Glasgow, by the
treachery of a servant.
Sir William Wallace was instantly transferred to London, where he was
brought to trial in Westminster Hall, with as much apparatus of infamy
as the ingenuity of his enemies could devise. He was crowned with a
garland of oak, to intimate that he had been king of outlaws. The
arraignment charged him with h
|