Though the active and restless mind of Wallace may now seem to have had full employment in the various duties of his office,--yet, amidst the multiplicity of objects of internal policy which occupied his time, the resuscitation of the foreign trade of the kingdom appears to have had its proper share of his attention. The advantage which Scotland derived from her foreign commercial intercourse, as has been already stated, was too important to be soon forgotten; and the heroic and faithful conduct of the Flemings at the siege of Berwick, was too recent not to be dwelt on with grateful remembrance. In order, therefore, to renew the connection with those useful strangers, accredited persons appear to have been despatched with letters to the free towns of Hamburg and Lubeck.[3] Having provided for the necessary supplies of men, the Guardian determined on retaliating the injuries Scotland had sustained at the hands of her late oppressors. Meanwhile a famine,--the natural consequence of the neglect of agriculture during the unsettled state of the country, had begun to make its appearance; and was soon followed by a pestilence,--occasioned, doubtless, by the multitude of putrid carcasses which remained, partially at least, if not altogether, exposed after the recent carnage. To alleviate, as far as possible, the misery consequent on those dreaded calamities, he commanded all the standing crops to be carefully gathered in, and stored up in barns and yards under proper regulations, to meet the exigencies of the country during winter. In order, at the same time, to concentrate the strength and resources of the country, and establish that unanimity so necessary for its defence, he summoned all the vassals of the Scottish crown to meet him at Perth. From this parliament, which was pretty numerously attended, Patrick, Earl of Dunbar, thought proper to absent himself. The great power and military experience of this baron, joined to the circumstance of his occupying a fortress which was considered as the key of the _eastern_ part of the kingdom, made it an object of some importance that his allegiance should be unquestionable. An early partisan of Edward, he had as yet shown no disposition to relinquish his unnatural connection with the enemy. When the subject of his absence came, therefore, to be discussed before the Scottish Nobles, they unanimously resolved on proceeding against him without delay. Wallace, however, proposed the more gentle expedient of remonstrance, before having recourse to extremities; and a deputation was accordingly sent, to request his attendance as a Scottish Peer, in order to take part in the government of the country, and to aid, with his counsel and his arms, in the establishment of the national independence. Possessed of large dominions in England, as well as an extensive inheritance in Scotland, this Earl felt little inclination to incur the displeasure of his Lord Paramount in the South, by a too ready