Scotland -- History -- War of Independence, 1285-1371 -- Fiction
These were the seasons when the suppressed feelings of Wallace would by
fits break from his lips, and at last pour themselves out,
unrestrainedly, to the ear of sympathy. As the young narrator
described all the endearing qualities of his friend, the cheerful
heroism with which he quelled every tender remembrance to do his duty
in the day-"for it is only in the night," said Edwin, "that my general
remembers Ellerslie"--Helen's tears again stole silently down her
cheeks. Edwin perceived them, and throwing his arms gently around her.
"Weep not, my sweet cousin," said he; "for, with all his sorrow, I
never saw true happiness till I beheld it in the eyes and heard it in
the voice of Sir William Wallace. He has talked to me of the joy he
should experience in giving liberty to Scotland, and establishing her
peace, till his enthusiastic soul, grasping hope, as if it were
possession, he has looked on me with a consciousness of enjoyment which
seemed to say that all bliss was summed up in a patriot's breast.
"And at other times, when, after a conversation on his beloved Marion,
a few natural regrets would pass his lips, and my tears tell how deep
was my sympathy, then he would turn to comfort me; then he would show
me the world beyond this--that world which is the aim of all his deeds,
the end of all his travails--and, lost in the rapturous idea of meeting
his Marion there, a foretaste of all would seem to seize his soul: and
were I then called upon to point out the most enviable felicity on
earth, I should say it is that of Sir William Wallace. It is this
enthusiasm in all he believes and feels that makes him what he is. It
is this eternal spirit of hope, infused into him by Heaven itself, that
makes him rise from sorrow, like the sun from a cloud, brighter, and
with more ardent beams. It is this that bathes his lips in the smiles
of Paradise, that throws a divine luster over his eyes, and makes all
dream of love and happiness that look upon him."
Edwin paused. "Is it not so, my cousin?"
Helen raised her thoughtful face. "He is not a being of this earth,
Edwin. We must learn to imitate him, as well as to-" She hesitated,
then added, "As well as to revere him, I do before the altars of the
saints. But not to worship," said she, interrupting herself; "that
would be a crime. To look on him as a glorious example of patient
suffering--of invincible courage in the behalf of truth and mercy! This
is the end of my reverence for him, and this sentiment, my dear Edwin,
you partake."
"It possesses me wholly," cried the energetic youth; "I have no
thought, no wish, nor ever move or speak, but with the intent to be
like him. He calls me his brother! and I will be so in soul, though I
cannot in blood; and then, my dear Helen, you shall have two Sir
William Wallaces to love!"
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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