"Wallace," cried he,
"these brave hearts deserve a more cheerful home! My scepter must turn
this Scotia desrta into Scotia felix; and so shall I reward the service
they this day bring me."
"They are happy in these wilds," returned Wallace, "their flocks browse
the hills, their herds the valleys. The soil yields sufficient to
support its sons; and their luxuries are, a minstrel's song and the lip
of their brides. Their ambition is satisfied with following their
chief to the field; and their honor lies in serving their God and
maintaining the freedom of their country. Beware, then, my dear
prince, of changing the simple habits of those virtuous mountaineers.
Introduce the luxurious cultivation of France into these tracts, you
will infect them with artificial wants; and, with every want, you put a
link to a chain which will fasten them to bondage whenever a tyrant
chooses to grasp it. Leave them then their rocks as you find them, and
you will ever have a hardy race, ready to perish in their defense, or
to meet death for the royal guardian of their liberties."
Lord Ruthven no sooner reached the banks of Loch Earn, than he espied
the prince and Wallace.
Pages:
983
984
985
986
987
988
989
990
991
992
993
994
995
996
997
998
999
1000
1001
1002
1003
1004
1005
1006
1007