You shall come to me as the
angel of peace, and in one hour we will receive the nuptial benediction
and the vows of our people!"
The purport of the prince's letter to Ruthven was well adapted to the
strain of the foregoing. He then announced his intention of proceeding
immediately to the plain of Stirling; and there, putting himself at the
head of his loyal Scots, declare himself their lawful sovereign, and
proclaim to the world that he acknowledged no legal superior but the
Great Being whose vicegerent he was. From that center of his kingdom
he would make excursions to its furthest extremities, and, with God's
will, either drive his enemies from the country, or perish with the
sword in his hand, as became the descendant of William the Lion, as
became the friend of William Wallace!
Ruthven lay encamped on the Carse of Gowrie when this letter was
delivered to him. He read it aloud to his assembled chieftains, and,
with waving bonnets, they hailed the approach of their valiant prince.
Bothwell alone, whose soul-devoted attachment to Wallace could not be
superseded by any other affection allowed his bonnet to remain inactive
in his hand; but with the ferver of true loyalty he thanked God for
thus bringing the sovereign whom his friend loved to bind in one the
contending interests of his country--to wrest from the hand of that
friend's assassin the scepter for which he had dyed them so deep in
blood.
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