Negotiations For Peace

At length, on the 1st of March, 1327-8, the English parliament assembled at York; and this important preliminary, which had cost so great an expense of blood and treasure to both kingdoms, during a terrible war of twenty years, was finally and satisfactorily adjusted. Robert was acknowledged as King of Scotland, and Scotland itself recognised for ever as a free and independent kingdom, It was declared by Edward, in the solemn words of the instrument of renunciation, "that whereas we, and others of our predecessors, Kings of England, have endeavoured to obtain a right of dominion and superiority over the kingdom of Scotland, and have thereby been the cause of long and grievous wars between the two kingdoms; we, therefore, considering the numerous slaughters, sins, and bloodshed, the destruction of churches, and other evils brought upon the inhabitants of both kingdoms by such wars, and the many advantages which would accrue to the subjects of both realms, if, by the establishment of a firm and perpetual peace, they were secured against all rebellious designs, have, by the assent of the prelates, barons, and commons of our kingdom, in parliament assembled, granted, and hereby do grant, for us, and our heirs and successors whatsoever, that the kingdom of Scotland shall remain for ever to the magnificent Prince and Lord, Robert, by the grace of God, the illustrious King of Scots, our ally and dear friend, and to his heirs and successors, free, entire, and unmolested, separated from the kingdom of England by its respective marohes, as in the time of Alexander, King of Scotland, of good memory, lately deceased, without any subjection, servitude, claim, or demand whatsoever.

And we hereby renounce and convey to the said King of Sootland, his heirs and successors, whatever right we, or our ancestors in times past, have laid claim to in any way over the kingdom of Scotland. And by these same presents, we renounce and declare void, for ourselves, and our heirs and successors, all obligations, agreements, or treaties whatsoever, touching the subjection of the kingdom of Scotland, and the inhabitants thereof, entered into between our predecessors and any of the kings thereof, or their subjects, whether clergy or laity. And if there shall anywhere be found any letters, charters, muniments, or public instruments, which shall have been framed touching the said obligations, agreements, or compacts, we declare that they shall be null and void, and of no effect whatsoever. And in order to the fulfilment of these premises, and to the faithful observation thereof, in all time coming, we have given full power and special authority to our faithful and well-beloved cousin, Henry de Percy, and to William le Zouche of Ashby, to take oath upon our soul, for the performance of the same. In testimony whereof, we have given these our letters-patent, at York, on the 1st of March, and in the second year of our reign. By the king himself, and his council in Parliament.

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Peace of Northampton

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Particulars of the treaty

All writings, obligations, instruments, or other muniments, relative to the subjection which the kings of England had attempted to establish over the people and land of Scotland, and which are annulled by the letterspatent of the King of England, as well as all other instruments and charters respecting the freedom of Scotland, as soon as they are found, were to be delivered up to the King of Scots; and the King of England expressly engaged to give his assistance, in order that the processes of excommunication against Robert and his subjects, which had been carried through at the Court of Rome, and elsewhere, should be recalled and annulled.

It was besides agreed on the part of the king, the prelates, and the nobles of Scotland, that the sum of twenty thousand pounds sterling should, within three years, be paid, at three separate terms; and in the event of failure, the parties were to submit themselves to the jurisdiction of the papal chamber. It was finally covenanted, that the laws and regulations of the marches were to be punctually adhered to by both monarchs; and although omitted in the treaty, it was stipulated in a separate instrument, that the stone upon which the Kings of Scotland were wont to sit at their coronation, and which had been carried away by Edward the First, should be restored to the Scots.

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Reflections

There can be no doubt that this treaty was highly unpopular in England. The peace was termed ignominious, and the marriage a base alliance; the treaty itself, in the framing of which the queen and Mortimer had a principal share,* although undoubtedly ratified in parliament, was not generally promulgated, and does not appear amongst the national records and muniments of the time; and when the renunciation of the superiority over Scotland, and the restoration of the fatal stone, came to be publicly known, the populace in London rose in a riotous manner, and would not suffer that venerable emblem of the conquest of Edward the First to be removed.f Yet although it wounded the national pride, the peace, considering the exhausted state of England, the extreme youth of the king, the impoverishment of the exchequer by a long war, and the great superiority of such military leaders as Bruce, Randolph, and Douglas, to any English commanders who could be opposed to them, was a necessary and prudent measure, imperiously dictated by the circumstances of the times.

To Bruce, on the other hand, the peace was in every respect a glorious one; but it was wise and seasonable as well as glorious. Robert anxiously desired to settle his kingdom in tranquillity. Although not to be called an old man, the hardships of war had broken a constitution naturally of great strength, and had brought on a premature old age, attended with a deep-seated and incurable disease, thought to be of the nature of leprosy.

Upon his single life hung the prosperity of his kingdom, and the interests of his family. His daughter, the only child of his first marriage, was dead. During the negotiations for the treaty of Northampton, Elizabeth, his second wife, had followed her to the grave; his gallant brothers, partly on the scaffold, and partly on the .field, had died without issue; his only son was an infant, and his grandson a boy of ten years old, who had lost both his parents. In these circumstances, peace was a signal blessing to the nation, and a joyful relief to himself. The complete independence of Scotland, for which the people of that land had obstinately sustained a war of thirty-two years' duration, was at last amply acknowledged, and established on the firmest basis; and England, with her powerful fleets, and superb armies, her proud nobility, and her wealthy exchequer, was, by superior courage and military talent, compelled to renounce for ever her schemes of unjust aggression, In the conduct of this war, and in its glorious termination, Bruce stood alone, and shared the glory with no one. He had raised the" spirit of his people to an ascendency over their enemies, which is acknowledged by the English historians themselves; and in all the great military transactions of the war, we can discern the presence of his inventive and presiding genius. He was indeed nobly assisted by Douglas and Randolph; but it was he that had first marked their military talents, and it was under his eye that they had grown up into that maturity of excellence, which found nothing that could cope with them in the martial nobility of England. Having thus accomplished the great object of his life, and warned, by intimations which could not be mistaken, that a mortal disease had fixed upon him, the king retired to his palace at Cardross, on the eastern shore of the Clyde. His amusements, in the intervals of disease, were kingly, and his charities extensive. He built ships, and recreated himself by sailing; he devoted himself to architecture and gardening, improving his palace and orchard; he kept a lion for his diversion, and, when his health permitted, delighted in hawking; he entertained his nobility in a style of rude and abundant hospitality, and the poor received regular supplier by the king's order.

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Marriage of the Princess Joanna of England, to the Prince Royal of Scotland

Meanwhile the Princess Joanna of England, then in her seventh year, accompanied by the Queen Dowager, the Earl of Mortimer, the Bishop of Lincoln, High Chancellor of England, and attended by a splendid retinue, began her journey to Scotland. At Berwick she was received by David, her young bridegroom, then only five years of age. Randolph and Sir James Douglas, whom King Robert, detained by his increasing illness, had sent as his representatives, accompanied the prince; and the marriage was celebrated at Berwick with great joy and magnificence.The attendants of the princess brought along with them, to be delivered in terms of the treaty of Northampton, the Ragman Roll containing the names of all those Scotsmen who had been compelled to pay homage to Edward the First, as well as other important records and muniments,J which that monarch had carried with him from Scotland. Bruce was able to receive his son and his youthful consort with a warm and affectionate welcome at Edinburgh; but, finding his disease increasing upon him, he returned immediately to his rural seclusion at Cardross, where he died on the 7th June, 1329, at the age of fifty-five. Some time before his death, an interesting scene took place, which I shall give in the beautiful and affecting narrative ofFroissart.

"In the meantime," says that historian, "it happened that King Robert of Scotland was right sore aged and feeble, for he was grievously oppressed with the great sickness, so that there was no way with him but death; and when he felt that his end drew near, he sent for such barons and lords of his realm as he most trusted, and very affectionately entreated and commanded them, on their fealty, that they should faithfully keep his kingdom for David his son, and when this prince came of age, that they should obey him, and place the crown on his head. After which, he called to him the brave and gentle knight Sir James Douglas, and said, before the rest of the courtiers,—' Sir James, my dear friend, none knows better than you how great labour and suffering I have undergone in my day, for the maintenance of the rights of this kingdom; and when I was hardest beset, I made a vow, which it now grieves me deeply that I have not accomplished: I vowed to God, that if I should live to see an end of my wars, and be enabled to govern this realm in peace and security, I would then set out in person, and carry on war against the enemies of my Lord and Saviour, to the best of my power. Never has my heart ceased to bend to this point; but our Lord has not consented thereto; for I have had my hands full in my days, and now, at the last, I am seized with this grievous sickness, so that, as you all see, I have nothing to do but to die.

And since my body cannot go thither, and accomplish that which my heart hath so much desired, I have resolved to send my heart there, in place of my body, to fulfil my vow; and now, since in all my realm I know not any knight more hardy than yourself, or more thoroughly furnished with all knightly qualities for the accomplishment of the vow: in place of myself, therefore, I entreat thee, my dear and tried friend, that for the love you bear to me, you will undertake this voyage, and acquit my soul of its debt to my Saviour 5 for I hold this opinion of your truth and nobleness, that, whatever you undertake, I am persuaded you will successfully accomplish; and thus shall I die in peace, provided that you do all that I shall tell you. t will, then, that as soon as I am dead, you take the heart out of my body, and cause it to be embalmed, and take as much of my treasure as seems to you sufficient for the expenses of your journey, both for you and your companions; and that you carry my heart along with you, and deposit it in the Holy Sepulchre of our Lord, since this poor body cannot go thither. And it is my command, that you do use that royal state and maintenance in your journey, both for yourself and your companions, that into whatever lands or cities you may come, all may know that you have in charge, to bear beyond seas, the heart of King Robert of Scotland.

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Death of Robert Bruce

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His last advice and counsel

At this, or some other interview, shortly before his death, Bruce delivered to the Scottish barons his last advice regarding the best mode of conducting the war against England. They concentrate, in a small compass, the wisdom and experience which he had gained during the whole course of his protracted but glorious war ; and it is perhaps not too much to say, that there is no instance in their subsequent history, in which the Scots have sustained any signal defeat, where it cannot be traced to a departure from some of the directions of what is affectionately called the "Good King Robert's Testament." His injunctions were, that the Scots in their wars ought always to fight on fopt; that, instead of walls and garrisons, they should use the mountains, the morasses, and the woods; having for arms the bow, the spear, and the battleaxe; driving their herds into the narrow glens, and fortifying them there, whilst they laid waste the plain country by fire, and compelled the enemy to evacuate it.

"Let your scouts and watches," he concluded, "be. vociferating through the night, keeping the enemy in perpetual alarm; and, worn out with famine, fatigue, and apprehension, they will retreat as certainly as if routed in battle." Bruce did not require to add, that then was the time for the Scots to commence their attacks, and to put in practice that species of warfare which he had taught them to use with such fatal effect. Indeed, these are the principles of war which will in every age be adopted by mountaineers in defence of their country; and nearly five hundred years after this, when a regular Russian army invaded Persia, we find Aga Mohammed Khan speaking to his prime-ministeralmost in the very words of Bruce. "Their shot shall never reach me, but they shall possess no country beyond its range ; they shall not know sleep; and let them march where they choose, I will surround them with a desert.,

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Reflections of his character

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