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

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LIFE OF
majesty. To the first of these counts, he an¬
swered, that he had never been a subject of the
kii% of England—he owed him no allegiance,
and, consequently, could be no traitor; as to the
other offences, he frankly admitted that, in the
discharge of his duty to his king and country,
he had done all that was stated against him.
On this admission, he was found guilty, and
sentenced to be taken to the elms in Smithfield,
and there hanged, drawn, and quartered; and
the dissevered parts of his body to be placed
over the gates of the four principal cities of his
native land.
To the everlasting infamy of Edward, this
sentence was more than carried into effect.
Over the disgusting particulars, however, of the
shocking scene, from a regard to decency, and
the feelings of our readers, we drop the veil.
Thus fell this great and exemplary patriot,
a martyr to the rights and independence of his
country, than whom, if we consider his extraor¬
dinary personal and mental endowments, joined
to his unextinguishable and disinterested love
of liberty, a greater hero is not to be found in
the annals of any people. Born to a slender in¬
heritance, and unconnected by birth with the
opulent families of the country, he derived no