e extreme loss which they had
sustained by the death of the great monarch who filled the throne; and
all men hastened with alacrity to take the oath of allegiance to his son
and successor. This prince was in the twenty-third year of his age, was
of an agreeable figure, of a mild and gentle disposition, and having
never discovered a propensity to any dangerous vice, it was natural to
prognosticate tranquillity and happiness from his government. But the
first act of his reign blasted all these hopes, and showed him to be
totally unqualified for that perilous situation in which every
English monarch during those ages had, from the unstable form of the
constitution, and the turbulent dispositions of the people derived from
it, the misfortune to be placed. The indefatigable Robert Bruce, though
his army had been dispersed, and he himself had been obliged to take
shelter in the Western Isles, remained not long inactive; but before
the death of the late king, had sallied from his retreat, had again
collected his followers, had appeared in the field, and had obtained by
surprise an important advantage over Aymer de Valence, who commanded the
English forces.[*]

* Trivet, p. 346.

He was now become so considerable as to have afforded the king of
England sufficient glory in subduing him, without incurring any danger
of seeing all those mighty preparations, made by his father, fail in the
enterprise. But Edward, instead of pursuing his advantages, marched but
a little way into Scotland; and having an utter incapacity, and equal
aversion, for all application or serious business, he immediately
returned upon his footsteps, and disbanded his army. His grandees
perceived, from this conduct, that the authority of the crown, fallen
into such feeble hands, was no longer to be dreaded, and that every
insolence might be practised by them with impunity.

The next measure taken by Edward gave them an inclination to attack
those prerogatives which no longer kept them in awe. There was one Piers
Gavaston, son of a Gascon knight of some distinction, who had honorably
served the late king and who, in reward of his merits, had obtained an
establishment for his son in the family of the prince of Wales. This
young man soon insinuated himself into the affections of his master,
by his agreeable behavior, and by supplying him with all those
innocent though frivolous amusements which suited his capacity and
his inclinations. He was endowed with