Bend as he will, he has only to speak, to show his
superiority over all, and to be sovereign again."
There was a power in the unostentatious virtues of Wallace, which,
declaring themselves rather in their effects than by display, subdued
the princely spirit of Badenoch; and, while the proud chief recollected
how he had contemned the pretensions of Bruce, and could not brook the
elevation of Baliol; how his soul was in arms when, after he had been
persuaded to acknowledge the supremacy of Edward, the throne was given
to one of his rivals; he wondered at himself to find that his very
heart bowed before the gentle and comprehensive wisdom of an untitled
regent.
Athol alone, of the group, seemed insensible to the benefits his
country was deriving from its resistless protector; but he expressed
his dissent from the general sentiment with no more visible sign than a
cold silence.
When the messenger from Wallace arrived on the banks of the Esk with so
large a booty, and the news of his complete victory over the gallant
Percy, the exultation of the Scottish nobles knew no bounds.
On Badenoch opening the regent's dispatches, he found they repeated his
wish for his brave coadjutors to proceed to the execution of the plan
they had sanctioned with their approbation; they were to march directly
for Stirling, and on their way dispense the superabundance of the
plunder amongst the perishing inhabitants of the land.
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