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

18f
LIFE OF
sioned, was greatly increased by the praises
that were every where bestowed upon the gal¬
lantry of the Scots; and the noise which their
triple victory made at the different courts of
Europe, excited a deeper and more determined
inveteracy in his mind. It is probable, that,
but for the discomfiture at Roslin, the resolu¬
tion which he had so long displayed of reducing
Scotland to subjection, might have gradually
given way before the reflections occasioned by
the immense losses which he had sustained in
his two grand expeditions; and he, perhaps,
would have contented himself with retaining
possession of that part of Scotland which bound¬
ed his own kingdom. The defeat, however, of
his lieutenant, and the subsequent proceedings
of the Scots, awakened afresh all the ranco¬
rous hostility of his ambitious and unprincipled
mind, and he resolved by one mighty effort, to
overwhelm the Scots and efface their name from
thenumberofthe nations. In order to accomplish
this project, all the ultramarine vassals of his crown
were summoned to his standard. In his own king¬
dom of England, large levies of men and horses
were raised, and the din of preparation was heard
from one extremity of the land to the other ; a
powerful fleet was also equipped to attend the mo¬
tions of the land army, and prevent the chance