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Show I THE WORLD'S GREAT EVENTS I ALBERT PAYSON TERHUNE ". ...... ' - 1V) 1 UoOd. Mend i Compall-.) Robert Bruce ROBERT BRUCE, of Scotland a man without a home, a king without with-out a throne, a ruler without subjects lay hidden in a tumble-down hut one day early in the Fourteenth century, cen-tury, while the soldiers of King Edward Ed-ward I of England scoured the surrounding sur-rounding country under orders to capture cap-ture the fugitive monarch dead or alive. As the luckless Bruce .gazed idly about him he noticed a spider swinging from a strand of web that It was trying to affix to the opposite wall. Six times the spider swung and failed. The king grew interested. He had been half minded to give up his own useless struggle against England's mighty power. But, noting the insect's in-sect's perseverance, he took heart. He resolved that if the spider should win In its task of firing the web to the opposite op-posite wall, he himself would ones more attempt to resist England's invasion. in-vasion. On the seventh trial the spider succeeded ; and Bruce, true to his pledge, set forth to renew his own hopeless warfare. North Britain, the country later known as Scotland, had never wholly been conquered in the Roman invasion. inva-sion. Its inhabitants, savages known as Picts and Scots, had for centuries resisted all attempts to crush them as other savage tribes had been crushed. But at last Scotland had fallen under ! English influence and had fjecome a I mere Anglo-Norman feudal monarchy. A question arose in 1292 as to suc-I suc-I cession to the throne. Edward I, king of England, was asked to decide the matter; and, through his influence, a puppet of his own, John Baliol, was chosen. This strengthened England's power In Scotland, and the unhappy northern kingdom was almost passive under the English yoke. Baliol, urged on by malcontents, sought alliance with France and took up arms against. England, but Edward speedily captured cap-tured him, routed his armies and took Edinburgh and other Scotch strongholds. strong-holds. Then, in the hour of Scotland's sorest need, when all her nobles were cringing at Edward's feet, a hero arose a man of the people, William Wallace. Wallace raised a rabble of peasants and townsfolk, molded them into a well-trained, organized band, and in 1297 captured town after town from the English. The nobles held aloof from him, but the common people peo-ple followed him devotedly. Edward sent a strong army to put Wallace down, deeming the revolt too petty for his own personal attention. Wallace, with a force many thousands inferior to the invaders, met this English army near Stirling. Wallace's men were light-armed and ill-equipped and had less than 200 horses in all. The well-mounted English, Eng-lish, in their heavy armor, looked for an easy victory. But, after a fierce battle, Wallace's peasants put them to flight. It was the first time in history 1 that a disciplined feudal army was routed by a force recruited from the plain people. It was the beginning of the end. . Having repulsed the English, Wallace Wal-lace set to work reorganizing Scotland and reviving her shattered commerce. Pressing his conquests he even invaded in-vaded the north of England, thus carrying car-rying the war into the enemy's country. coun-try. But, alarmed at the extent of the revolution, Edward sent a new army of 90,000 men against him. The nobles refused to help Wallace and his resources re-sources were only such as he himself could. muster. Yet he won two battles bat-tles against the stronger invader before be-fore the superior force overwhelmed and crushed his little army. Wallace was captured, sent to London and there, after a mock trial, the gallant patriot was hanged as a traitor. I Edward, as an example to future revolutionists, devastated Scotland, inflicting in-flicting terrible penalty for England's former defeats. But the result was exactly opposite to what he had planned. A nobleman, Lord Robert de Bruce (or Robert Bruce) revolted, drawing about him the Scottish nobility. no-bility. He was crowned King of Scotland Scot-land in 1300. Edward at once attacked at-tacked him, driving him from the throne, and again ravaging the stricken strick-en country. It was during this period that Bruce took his life lesson from the spider in the hut whither he had fled for refuge. Almost at once, upon Bruce's re- I solve to try once move to sm-o si- land, the turn of fortune came. Ed-j Ed-j ward I died and was succeeded by his t weak, dissolute son, Edward II. Taking Tak-ing advantage of the hitter's indolence, j Bruce raised a strong army, and by 1313 had won back nearly all of Scot- ' land. The next year the last and most decisive battle of the war was fought at Bannockbum (Bannock Creek). Bruce, by better knowledge of the marshy, uneven ground and by superior su-perior generalship, won the day. Ills Scottish spearmen fought on foot In a circular formation somewhat like the modern military "square," and through this circle of steel the English knights ; could not break. Again It was proven that the flower of chivalry could make no headway against well-goneraled private soldiers. The English were utterly routed. Never again, though many other conflicts con-flicts arose, did England wholly subdue sub-due Scotland. At last, in 1003, tho two nations bo-came bo-came one, under James I of England, who chanced to be naturul heir to both! thrones. |