Scotland/Scots > Life of Sir William Wallace, Knight of Ellerslie, and Guardian of Scotland

SIR WILLIAM WALLACE.
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and, from the reflection on the sky, could tell
•where the men whom his soul longed to be with,
had kindled their evening fire, to dress their
homely meal, and bivouac for the night. The
“ gallant gray ” was then conveyed by stealth
across the drawbridge, and, with his “ sword
long and sharp ” by his side, and the bugle
dangling from his neck, he hastened with joyous
alacrity to join his associates.
Wallace had observed, that the reverses
which the Scots had met with in the field, were
more owing to a want of subordination among
themselves, than any superior valour on the part
of their enemies. He had seen, and lamented,
the jealousy that existed among the nobility,
and how they would stoop to the most servile
compliances to the invaders of their country, if
by so doing they could obtain even a temporary
exaltation for their party; and he justly con¬
ceived, that, by banding together a few faithful
and resolute followers, allied to no faction, but,
like himself, attached to the public good, that
more could be done towards the emancipation
of their country, than by all the tumultuary
hordes, which the treacherous and ambitious
chieftains could bring together. Fully im¬
pressed with this conviction, his nights, un¬
known to his uncle, were spent in organizing