BRUCE, ROBERT, King of Scotland, was born on the 1 1 th of July 1274. He was the son of Bruce, Lord of Annandale, and Martha, Countess of Carrick, and the grandson of Robert Bruce, the competitor with Baliol for the Scottish throne. Exiled from his native country by the ambition of his father, he passed his youth at the court of England. In expectation of obtaining a crown, the elder Bruce had enlisted under the banners of Edward, and carried arms against his countrymen. After the battle of Falkirk, he agreed to a conference with Sir William Wallace.• On the banks of the Car ron, that undaunted warrior vented the indignant feel ings of his generous spirit. He upbraided Bruce as the mean hireling of a foreign master, who, to gratify his ambition, had sacrificed the welfare and indepen dence of his native land ; and who, instead of courting the glorious distinction of delivering his country, or of falling in asserting her liberties, had cowardly deserted that post which his birth and fortune had entitled him to assume. These reproaches sunk deep into the heart of Bruce. They opened his eyes to the of his conduct, and it is said that he died soon after of grief, occasioned by reflecting on his past meanness. He, however, bequeathed to his son the legacy of atone ment, and exhorted him, with his dying breath, to revenge the injuries of his suffering country. Young Bruce was eminently qualified for becoming the cham pion of independence. Educated at the court of a war like monarch, few could equal him in the exercise of arms ; and with a mind intrepid and enterprizing, he possessed a constitution capable of bearing the depriva tions and hardships of a military life. The injunctions of his dying father were engraven on his heart ; and the death of Wallace, leaving the Scottish patriots without a leader, opened the way for Bruce's exaltation to that arduous station. From that hour he thought only of delivering his country from oppression, and his whole soul was absorbed by the mighty attempt. Cumming, Lord of Badenoch, who had been Regent of Scotland in the name of Iloilo!, and who had often fought by the side of Wallace in resisting the tyranny of the English, was his only rival for the throne, and the chief bar to the success of his design ; and he could not but perceive, that openly to assert his right to the crown in the face of such a powerful adversary, was only to involve his country in deeper misery, and to expose his cause to certain destruction. It was necessary, therefore, to secure the co-operation of Cumming in this great undertaking, and accordingly he entered into a com promise with that nobleman, by which he agreed to resign to him all his family estates, on condition that he would give him his utmost assistance and support in the execution of his design." But the treachery of
Cumming relieved him from his engagement ; and, by exposing him to the suspicions of the King of England, hastened the accomplishment of his determined purpose. Bruce, being secretly informed of the hostile intentions of Edward, who had attempted to draw his brothers into his power, and had determined to free himself from future uneasiness, by extirpating the whole family, found means to elude his vigilance, and hastening to Scotland, assembled his friends in the castle of Loch maben, and avowed to them his intention of assuming the crown. They all swore to live and die in his service —they acknowledged him as their sovereign, and im mediately proceeded to take measures for restoring liberty to their country. Their safety and success im periously demarided the death of Cumming. Ills trea chery and his power rendered him obnoxious to their cause, and they could not expect that he would abandon the interests of Edward to support the pretensions of a rival. Though the circumstances attending his death have been disputed by historians, yet it is allowed by all that he fell by the hand of Bruce. This deed sealed the revolt of the patriots. The honour and the interest of Edward called loudly for vengeance ; and the open violence with which it was executed, deprived them of all possibility of reconciliation. Bruce had now no alternative left but death or a crown ; and he deter mined to persist, at every hazard, in his design, rather than expose himself to the ignominy of submission. He was crowned at Scone, on the 27th of March 1306. But such a series of disasters succeeded, as had almost crushed his exertions and his hopes. his wife and (laughter fell into the hands of the English, and he him self and a few followers, after having endured all the extremities of hunger and fatigue, were at last com pelled to take refuge from the fury of their enemies in the island of Rachrin.t Here he and his party were hospitably received, and provided with every necessary; and here he so effectually concealed himself, that he was generally believed to be dead. Fearing, however, that such a report might discourage his adherents in Scotland, and induce them to submit to Edward, he resolved to make another effort for the recovery of his rights. Passing secretly over into Arran, he dispatched a faithful domestic into Carrick to discover how his ancient vassals stood affected to his cause. Ile himself, with his friends, soon after followed. Upon their land ing, they immediately learnt that the whole country was in the possession of the English, and that there ap peared no hope of assistance. Surrounded with dangers, Bruce hesitated for a moment upon what to resolve ; but his valour and despair soon dispelled every consideration of danger.