friend, whom he had made acquainted with the place of his concealment, being surprised by him as he lay asleep, in the neighbourhood of Glasgow. The king, willing to strike the Scots with an example of severity, ordered him to be conducted in chains to London, where he was hanged, drawn, and quartered, with the most brutal ferocity.

Robert Bruce, grandson of the competitor for the crown, after being long kept prisoner in London, at length escaped from his guards, and resolved to strike for his country's freedom. Having murdered one of the king's servants, he left himself no resource, but to confirm, by desperate valour, what he had begun in cruelty; and he soon expelled such of the English forces as had fixed themselves in the kingdom. Soon after, he was solemnly crowned king, by the bishop of St. Andrews, in the abbey of Scone; and numbers flocked to his standard, resolved to confirm his pretensions. Thus, after twice conquering the kingdom, and as often pardoning the delinquents; after having spread his victories in every quarter of the country, and receiving the most humble submissions, the old king saw that his whole work was to begin afresh; and that nothing but the final destruction of the inhabitants could give him assurance of tranquillity. But no difficulties could repress the arduous spirit of this monarch, who, though now verging towards his decline, yet resolved to strike a parting blow, and to make the Scots once more tremble at his appearance. He vowed revenge against the whole nation; and averred, that nothing but reducing them to the completest bondage could satisfy his resentment. He summoned his prelates, nobility, and all who held by knights service, to meet him at Carlisle, which was appointed as the general rendezvous; and in the mean time he detached a body of forces before him to Scotland, under the command of Aymer de Valence, Henry de Percy, and Robert de Clifford, who began the threatened infliction by a complete victory over Bruce, near Methwen, in Perthshire, 4th June, 1306. Immediately after this dreadful blow, the resentful king appeared in person, entering Scotland with his army divided into two parts, and expecting to find, in the opposition of the people, a pretext for punishing them. But this brave prince, who was never cruel but from motives of policy, coula not strike the poor submitting natives who made no resistance. His anger was disappointed in their humiliation; and he was ashamed to extirpate those who only opposed patience to his indignation. His death put an end to the apprehensions of the Scots, and effectually rescued their country from total subjec

tion. He sickened and died at Carlisle, of a dysentery; enjoining his son, with his last breath, to prosecute the enterprise, and never to desist, till he had finally subdued the kingdom. He expired in the sixty-ninth year of his age, and the thirtyfifth of his reign: after having added more to the solid interests of the kingdom, than any of those who went before, or came after him.

EXERCISES.

In what year did the reign of Edward I. commence, and terminate? Why was Edward I. surnamed Long-shanks? How was he employed at his father's death? What event rendered his life so celebrated? What circumstances concurred in making him esteemed by all orders of the state? Describe the character and practices of the Welsh. Whom did Edward order to do homage for his territories? What was the consequence of his refusal? To what did Lewellyn trust for his defence? By what means did the king compel him to submit? What induced the Welsh prince again to take up arms? What was his fate, and that of his brother? What plan did the king adopt with respect to this newly acquired territory? Who now bears the title of Prince of Wales? What advantages resulted from the union of Wales with England? What event induced Edward to hope that Scotland might be added to his kingdom? How many competitors appeared for the Scottish crown? Of whom was David, Earl of Huntingdon, the son? What were the names of his brothers, and to what did they succeed? What were the names of the daughters of the Earl of Huntingdon? To whom was the eldest married?the second?-the third? On what did John Baliol found his claim? On what pretence did Robert Bruce oppose him? What was the name and title of the third competitor? Of whom was he the son? To whom was this dispute referred, and what was the decision ? How did Edward treat Baliol, and what was the result of that treatment? Was Baliol successful in taking up arms against Edward? What did Edward destroy? What stimulated him to that act of barbarism? How had the people acquired property and power? What was the king obliged to sign? Relate the history of the celebrated William Wallace. Where did Edward gain a complete victory over him? Did that defeat crush the spirit of the Scottish nation? Why did Wallace resign the regency of the kingdom? Whom did he recommend to supply his place? Where did the Scots gain a complete victory over the English? Who betrayed Wallace into the hands of Edward? What sentence did the ferocious Edward pronounce on this distinguished patriot? Who now claimed the Scottish crown? What measures did Edward take for the re-conquering of Scotland? What event prevented that invasion? In what did he surpass his predecessors, and successors? In what year of his life, and reign did he die?

SURNAMED OF CAERNARVON.

Proclaimed king in the year 1307, and died in 1327.

EDWARD was in the twenty-third year of his age when he

succeeded his father; of an agreeable figure, of a mild harmless disposition, and apparently addicted to few vices. But he soon gave symptoms of his unfitness to succeed so great a monarch as his father; he was rather fond of the enjoyment of his power than of securing it; and lulled by the flattery of his courtiers, he thought he had done enough for glory, when he had accepted the crown. Instead, therefore, of prosecuting the war against Scotland, according to the injunctions he had ceived from his dying father, he took no steps to check the rogress of Bruce; his march into that country being rather a procession of pageantry than a warlike expedition.

Weak monarchs are ever governed by favourites; and the first Edward placed his affections upon was Piers Gavestone the son of a Gascon knight, whom the late king had banished, and whom he had bound his son by the most solemn oath not to recall. This young man was adorned with every accomplishment of person and mind which were capable of creating affection; but he was utterly destitute of those qualities of heart and understanding which serve to procure esteem. 'He was beautiful, witty, brave and active; but then he was

vicious, effeminate, debauched, and trifling. These were qualities entirely adapted to the taste of the young monarch, and he seemed to think no rewards equal to his deserts. Gavestone, on the other hand, intoxicated with his power, became haughty and overbearing, and treated the English nobility, from which it is probable he received marks of contempt, with scorn and derision. A conspiracy, therefore, was soon formed against him, at the head of which queen Isabel, and the earl of Lancaster, a nobleman of great power, were associated.

It was easy to perceive, that a combination of the nobles, while the queen secretly assisted their designs, would be too powerful against the efforts of a weak king and a vain favourite. The king, timid and wavering, banished him at their solicitation, and recalled him soon after. This was

sufficient to spread an alarm over the whole kingdom; all the great barons flew to arms, and the earl of Lancaster put himself at the head of this irresistible confederacy in the year 1312. The unhappy Edward, instead of attempting to make resistance, sought only for safety: ever happy in the company of his favourite, he embarked at Tinmouth, and sailed with him to Scarborough, where he left Gavestone as in a place of safety, and then went back to York himself, either to raise an army to oppose his enemies, or, by his presence, to allay their animosity. In the mean time, Gavestone was besieged in Scarborough by the earls of Pembroke and Surry; and had the garrison been sufficiently supplied with provisions, the place would have been impregnable. But Gavestone, sensible of the bad condition of the garrison, took the earliest opportunity to offer terms of capitulation. He stipulated, that he should remain in Pembroke's hands as a prisoner for two months; and that endeavours should be used, in the mean time, for a general accommodation. But Pembroke had no intention that he should escape so easily; he ordered him to be conducted to the castle of Deddington, near Banbury, where, on pretence of other business, he left him with a feeble guard, which the earl of Warwick having information of, he attacked the castle in which the unfortunate Gavestone was confined, and quickly made himself master of his person. The earls of Lancaster, Hereford, and Arundel, were soon apprised of Warwick's success, and informed that their common enemy was now in custody in Warwick castle. Thither, therefore, they hasted with the utmost expedition, to hold a consultation upon the fate of ther prisoner. This was of no long continuance; they unanimously resolved to put him to death, as an enemy to the kingdom,

D

and gave him no time to prepare for his execution. They instantly had him conveyed to a place called Blacklow-hill, where a Welsh executioner, provided for that purpose, severed his head from his body.

To add to Edward's misfortunes, he soon after suffered from the Scottish army, under Bruce near Bannockburn, one of the most signal defeats recorded in history, which established the independence of Scotland, and confirmed the victorious monarch on the throne of his ancestors. This drove him once

more to seek for relief in some favourite's company. The name of his new favourite was Hugh de Spenser, a young man of a noble English family, of some merit, and very engaging accomplishments. His father was a person of a much more estimable character than the son; he was venerable for his years, and respected through life for his wisdom, his valour, and his integrity. But these excellent qualities were all diminished and vilified, from the moment he and his son began to share the king's favour, who even dispossessed some lords unjustly of their estates, in order to accumulate them upon his favourite. This was a pretext for which the king's enemies had been long seeking; the earls of Lancaster and Hereford flew to arms; sentee was procured from parliament of perpetual exile against the wo Spensers, and a forfeiture of their fortune and estates. The king, however, at last rousing from his lethargy, took the

in the defence of his beloved Spenser, and at the head of rty thousand men pressed the earl of Lancaster so closely, at he had not time to collect his forces together; and flying m one place to another, he was at last stopt in his way wards Scotland by Sir Andrew Harcla, and made prisoner. she had formerly shown little mercy to Gavestone, there as very little extended to him upon this occasion. He was condemned by a court-martial; and led, mounted on a lean horse, to an eminence near Pontefract, or Pomfret, in circumstances of the greatest indignity, where he was beheaded by a Londoner.

A rebellion, thus crushed, served only to increase the pride and rapacity of young Spenser: most of the forfeitures were seized for his use; and in his promptitude to punish the delinquents, he was found guilty of many acts of rapine and injustice.

But he was now to oppose a more formidable enemy in queen Isabella, a cruel, haughty woman, who fled over to France, and refused to appear in England till Spenser was removed from the royal presence, and banished the kingdom.