Before closing this chapter, it may not be amiss to take a retrospect view of this most interesting campaign. At the commencement of it, Scotland, by the wisdom and energy of her intrepid Guardian, had again taken her place among the independent nations of Europe. His noble achievements had not only become a theme for the Troubadours of France, but also the subject of conversation and applause at all the courts on the Continent. To Edward, who had not only distinguished himself by his warlike exploits in Syria, but had also, in a tournament held at Calais, baffled and disgraced the most renowned of the chivalry of France, the plaudits bestowed upon a rival so far beneath him in rank, was peculiarly mortifying, and excited in him the most inveterate hostility toward the nation thus rescued from his thraldom. Wallace, though making every effort for the safety of his country, found no abatement of that feeling of jealous animosity which existed in the minds of a great majority of the aristocracy. It was in vain he endeavoured to ensure their confidence, by refusing all participation in the fruits of their victories,--thus shewing that _self-aggrandisement_ formed none of the objects of his ambition. Still they yielded with reluctance that obedience which his rank as Guardian entitled him to expect; and their language in private continued to be, “We will not have this man to reign over us.” Cumyn, whose conduct had hitherto been suspicious, had strengthened his interest at the English court, by means of a marriage which he contracted with the sister of Adomer de Vallance,[32] a cousin, and one of the principal favourites of Edward; and the Steward, brother to the knight of Bonkill, had made his peace with the invader, and taken the oath of allegiance. In consequence of which, according to the policy of the English monarch, though the tenantry of the Steward were arrayed against him, yet the banners of the family floated among those of the other vassals of the English crown, while the knight of Bonkill himself (who had but recently joined the standard of his country’s independence) had as yet given no proof of the sincerity of his attachment to the cause. Under these circumstances, it became Wallace to be particularly circumspect in his movements, having to guard against the chance of treachery on the one hand, and a powerful adversary on the other; while his country’s safety, and his own well-earned laurels, depended alike on the prudence of his conduct. We have already hinted at the great improbability of his appearing before so formidable an enemy, without having formed a regular plan of operation, and made provision for the contingencies that might occur. That he had arranged such a plan, and was prevented, by the jealousy of his colleagues, from putting it into execution, appears sufficiently obvious, even from the meagre details of which we are possessed. What this plan was, cannot now be fully ascertained; but if