And bouweld him all hote (15), and brent them in the fire. To hang in four tounes, to mene (19) of his maners, In stede of Gonfaynounes (20) and of his baners. At London is his heved, his quarters ere leved (21), in To wirschip ther isles (22), and lere of his wiles, how well It is not to drede, traytour sall spede (23), als he is worthi, "The day after his arrival at London, he was brought on horseback to Westminster, the mayor, sheriffs and aldermen, and many others, both on foot and horseback, accompanying him; and in the greate hall at Westminster, he being placed upon the south bench, crowned with laurel, for that he had said in times past, that he ought to bear a crowne in that Hall, (as it was commonly reported) and being appeached for a traytor by Sir Peter Mallorie, the king's justice, hee answered, that he never was traytor to the king of England, but for other things whereof he was accused, he confessed them, and was after headed and quartered *." His head was set up at London, his quarters were (15) Embowelled him while warm. (17) Seized there. (16) Such. (18) Destroyed where. In many different places. (19) In memory. (20) Standards. (22) ? (21) Head. Were left (?) (23) It is not to be feared a traitor shall succeed. (24) A lad learn (?) to build in peace. *Stow, Edw. I. sent to Newcastle, Berwick, Perth, and Aberdeen. But Edward reaped no advantage from this act of cruelty and injustice, except the gratification of his implacable temper. If intimidation was his object, it failed, as was to be expected in the case of a high spirited people: and the only effect of raising these ghastly trophies, was to inspire a deeper hatred of the tyrant who commanded them, and of the treacherous minister of his revenge. The latter long continued to be an object of especial hatred to the Scottish nation; and is condemned to shame in its traditional literature under the fitting title of the "false Menteith." Here, it might be supposed, history must end, and the ultimate destiny of the oppressor and oppressed, the tyrant and his victim, remain a mystery until the time when all things shall be brought to light. But the patriotic chronicler before quoted, who probably could not bear that the last scene of his hero should be one of suffering and degradation, undertakes to enlighten our curiosity on this subject. We read in the continuation of Fordun by Bower, that, according to the testimony of many credible Englishmen, “an holy hermit, being rapt in the spirit, saw innumerable souls delivered from purgatory marshalling the way, while the spirit of Wallace was conducted to heaven by angels, in reward of his inflexible patriotism. To whom the proverb may be applied, 'The memory of the just with praise, and the name of the wicked stinketh."" Soon after, he proceeds to illustrate the latter clause of the proverb. When Edward died upon his march to Scotland, an English knight, Bannister by name, upon the night of his decease, saw in a trance his lord the king, surrounded by a multitude of devils, who were mocking him with much laughter, and saying, En rex Edwardus, debacchans ut leopardus ! Olim dum vixit populum Dei maleflixit. Nobis viæ talis comes ibis, care sodalis, Quo condemneris, ut dæmonibus socieris. Te sequimur voto prorsus torpore remoto*. Meanwhile they drove him on with whips and scorpions. "Let us sing, they said, the canticle of death, beseeming this wicked soul; because she is the daughter of death, and food of fire unquenchable; the friend of darkness, and enemy of light." And then they repeated, En rex, &c. While thus tormented by the evil spirits, he turned, said the knight, his trembling and bloodless visage towards me, as if to implore the aid which I was used to minister to him. But when voice and sense both deserted me, he cast upon me such a dreadful look, that while I live and remember it I can never more be cheerful. With that, he was in a moment swallowed up into the infernal pit, exclaiming in a doleful voice, Heu cur peccavi? fallor quia non bene cavi. Cum sudore gravi mihimet tormenta paravi †. Bannister was so terrified by this vision, that he forsook the world and its vanities, and, for the improvement of his life and conversation, spent his latter days in solitude. It is impossible in English to give the odd effect of the leonine rhymes. The meaning of these rude lines may be as rudely given thus: Behold the proud and cruel king, who like a leopard dread, Why did I sin, woe, woe is me? and took no heed or thought. I sowed with toil and sweat, to reap of pains an endless store. Lib. xii. 13. Scotland did not long languish in want of a deliverer. The place of Wallace was quickly filled up by one scarce his inferior in knightly renown, or in the affections of his countrymen. Were it not for the length of this article, we should willingly narrate some of the exploits and hair-breadth escapes which procured for Robert Bruce, even among the English, the reputation of being the third best knight in Europe; but we must hasten to conclude with the panegyric of the affectionate Bower. "There is no living man who is able to narrate the story of those complicated misfortunes, which befell him in the commencement of this war; his frequent perils, his retreats, the care and weariness, the hunger and thirst, the watching and fasting, the cold and nakedness, to which he exposed his person, the exile into which he was driven, the snares and ambushes which he escaped, the seizure, imprisonment, execution, and utter destruction of his dearest friends and relatives. And if, in addition to these almost innumerable and untoward events which he ever bore with a cheerful and unconquered spirit, any man should undertake to describe his individual conflicts and personal successes, those courageous and single-handed combats in which, by the favour of God, and his own great strength and courage, he would often penetrate into the thickest of the enemy, -now becoming the assailant, and cutting down all who opposed him; at another time, acting on the defensive, and evincing equal talents in escaping from what seemed inevitable death;-if any writer shall do this, he will prove, if I am not mistaken, that he had no equal in his own time, either in knightly prowess, or in strength and vigour of body *. * Lib. xii. 9. CHAPTER III. Treatment of Prisoners of War-Croesus-Roman Triumphs-Sapor and Valerian-Imprisonment of Bajazet-His treatment of the Marshal Boucicaut, and his Companions-Changes produced by the advance of Civilization-Effect of Feudal Institutions-Anecdote from FroissartConduct of the Black Prince towards the Constable Du Guesclin, and the King of France. THE wealth of Croesus is proverbial, and the vicissitudes of his fortune have been a favourite subject for moralists in all ages. In Mitford's History of Greece, as well as in that published in the Library of Useful Knowledge, all notice of them is confined to the simple statement, that he was conquered by Cyrus. The circumstances of his treatment, however, as they are related by Herodotus, are curious; and we propose, therefore, to translate them literally from that author, leaving it to the reader's discretion to reject whatever is evidently fabulous. It is well known that he was induced to make war upon Cyrus by an ambiguous response of the Delphic oracle, which predicted to him, "that if he made war upon the Persians, he would destroy a great empire." The oracle was a very safe one. : Crœsus understood it, that the Persian empire would be destroyed but the credit of the god was equally supported by the event which really took place, the defeat of Croesus, and the destruction of his kingdom. Upon his defeat he took refuge in Sardis, which was besieged, and ultimately stormed. "So the Persians captured Sardis, and took Croesus alive, after he had reigned fourteen years; and led him before Cyrus, who caused a mighty funeral pile to be built, upon which he set Croesus, in fetters, and with him fourteen Lydian youths; whether it were in his |