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

SIR WILLIAM WALLACE.
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take up her residence in Lanark. For this
protection, considerable sums were, from time
to time, levied upon her property. The cu¬
pidity of Hasilrig, not satisfied with these ex¬
actions, intended her as match either for himself
or his son; and the helpless girl had no means
of averting this hateful connection, but by plead¬
ing for delay, till her grief for her slaughtered
kindred had abated. Every indulgence of this
kind was attended by a fresh exaction on her
property, till the victim of his avarice became an
object of commiseration even to those who were
themselves suffering under the hand of the op¬
pressor. Henry draws a most fascinating pic¬
ture of this lovely orphan; and we have no rea¬
son to doubt the assemblage of virtues and graces
in which he has arrayed her person and charac¬
ter, particularly as he is borne out in what he
says by die Prior of St. Serfs, and other respec¬
table authorities.
While attending her religious duties at a
church near Lanark, Wallace first saw this inte¬
resting female. The beauty of her person, the
grace and propriety of her demeanour, added to
her forlorn situation, tended to excite the ten-
derest sensations in the bosom of our hero. His
companions observed the disquietude of their
chief, and from the frequency of his visits to