on the struggle single-handed against the power of the English monarch, and found refuge among the moors and marshes of his native country. But Edward, conscious that his dominion over Scotland was not completely established so long as Wallace lived and was at large, set himself with characteristic perseverance to hunt him down. The English governors in Scotland were enjoined to make a strict search for the hero; spies and traitors were employed to discover his haunts; and large rewards were offered for securing his person dead or alive. These measures were at length successful. According to the unvarying testimony of Scottish history and tradition, Sir John Monteith, a renegade Scottish baron, who then held the castle of Dumbarton for the English, was the person by whom Wallace was betrayed into the hands of the English; and it is certain that for this service he received from the English privy council a grant of land of the annual value of £100. Having discovered the patriot's retreat through the treacherous information of Jack Short, his servant, he seized him under cover of night at Robroyston, a place about three miles from Glasgow, conveyed him instantly to Dumbarton castle, and thence with all speed to London. The studied insult and refined cruelty with which he was treated, have stamped the character of Edward with indelible infamy. The very day after his arrival he was brought to Westminster hall, wearing a crown of laurel in mean and cruel mockery, and impeached by Sir Peter Mallorie, the king's chief-justice, as a traitor, and charged with having burned the villages and abbeys, stormed the castles, and slain the liege subjects of his master the king. Wallace pleaded not guilty to the charge of treason, and showed unanswerably that as he had never been the subject of the king of England, he owed him no allegiance, and consequently could be no traitor. But the other articles of the accusation he did not deny—he had fought against the subjects of Edward merely because they were the oppressors of his country. Although the justice of this plea was unquestionable, Wallace was as a matter of course condemned to death. A copy of the sentence pronounced upon him has lately been discovered among the MSS. in the British museum, and contains an interesting outline of the hero's exploits. It recites that John Baliol having forfeited the kingdom of Scotland, the English king had conquered it, and had publicly received the homage and fealty of its "prelates, earls, barons, and others;" that he proclaimed his peace throughout the realm; that he arranged a system of government for it, "according to the laws and customs of that land;" that the foresaid William Wallace, forgetting his fealty and allegiance, had raised an immense body of followers, had attacked the English officers, had slain William de Haselrigg, sheriff of Lanark, whose dead body he afterwards cut in pieces; that gaining strength and influence he had stormed the English garrisons, caused his writs to run through all Scotland as if he were superior lord of that realm; that he had summoned parliaments; that he had attempted to league himself with the king of France; that he had ravaged Northumberland, Cumberland, and Westmoreland; that he had opposed the king in a pitched battle; and that when defeated he had refused to avail himself of the terms of peace then held out to his acceptance. He was, therefore, condemned to death. On the 23rd of August, 1305, this noble hero, heavily ironed, was dragged at the tails of horses through the streets to the usual place of execution, the Elms in Smithfield, and put to death with the most barbarous and inhuman tortures. He submitted to his atrocious sentence with unflinching courage. On reaching the place of execution, he requested that a psalter which had been taken from his person might be returned. The desire being complied with, he asked a priest to hold it open before him, and continued to gaze on it till consciousness failed. His head was then struck off, and his body divided into four quarters. The head was afterwards placed on London bridge, and the limbs were exposed at Newcastle, Berwick, Perth, and Stirling.
William Wallace was without doubt one of the brightest names that ever adorned the annals of liberty. His extraordinary stature and personal strength combined with his daring courage and great military genius, his political sagacity and natural eloquence, his pure and enthusiastic patriotism and unextinguishable hatred of oppression, together with his superiority to all base and selfish objects, presenting a marked and noble contrast to the selfish and time-serving nobility of his day, entitle this renowned hero to a high place among the Tells and Hoffers, the Vasas and Dorias, and other great patriots who have laboured to free their country from the yoke of the tyrant. The apologists of Edward I., and the supporters of his unjust claims on Scotland, have denounced Wallace as a rebel, and have portrayed him as a mere ferocious leader of a barbarous horde of outlaws; but his memory is imperishably embalmed in the grateful hearts of his countrymen, and his exploits are still commemorated with an enthusiasm which the lapse of five centuries has not been able to impair.—J. T.
WALLACE, William, a Scottish mathematician, was born at Dysart in Fife on the 23rd of September, 1768, and died in Edinburgh on the 28th of April, 1843. He was bred to the business of a bookbinder in Edinburgh; but as he employed his leisure in the diligent study of mathematics, his abilities were observed and cultivated by Robison and Playfair. In 1796 he obtained the appointment of assistant mathematical master at the Perth academy, and in 1803 that of mathematical master at the military college of Great Marlow, afterwards removed to Sandhurst. In 1819 he was appointed professor of mathematics in the university of Edinburgh, which office he held until age and infirmity induced him to retire in 1838. He was a doctor of laws of the university of Edinburgh, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Edinburgh and other scientific bodies. He contributed to the Transactions of that society, of the Astronomical Society, of the Cambridge Mathematical Society, and other scientific publications, various investigations in pure mathematics, analytical mechanics, and astronomy. He was much esteemed for his mild and social disposition.—R.
WALLACE, William Vincent, a musician, was born at Waterford in 1815. His father was master of a military band, and his first impressions were thus of music; by this means his natural faculty was very early developed, so that in 1822 he showed considerable skill as a pianist. In 1827 he played the violin in the orchestra of the Dublin theatre; and in 1830, during the leader's temporary absence, he filled his place. His health failed him, and a sea-voyage was recommended as the only means for its restoration. He sailed therefore for Sydney in 1833; and having derived the advantage that was promised him, he gave a concert there in 1834, in which he displayed his proficiency on the two instruments he had mastered, and was highly successful. For the next eleven years his career was filled with romantic vicissitudes. He visited successively Van Diemen's Land, New Zealand, India, Valparaiso, Santiago, Buenos Ayres, Lima, the West Indies, Mexico (where, in 1841-42, he directed the Italian opera). New Orleans, and the other chief cities of the United States, and finally, passing through London, Germany, and Holland. Tiger-hunts, shipwrecks, earthquakes, prairie fires, and other like perils, intersperse the list of his artistic achievements during this eventful period; but the career upon which his extensive fame is founded may be said to have begun on his return to London in the spring of 1845. He published then some light pianoforte pieces, remarkable for their grace, which drew much attention to him, and he played the pianoforte in public with excellent effect. His particular ambition was to write for the stage. Accordingly, he chose a French drama—"Don Cesar de Bazan," which in various translations was popular at several London theatres—as the groundwork of his opera of "Maritana," set it to music, and brought it out in November at Drury Lane theatre; it was eminently successful, and is still a favourite upon the stage. He produced his next dramatic work, "Matilda of Hungary," at the same establishment, in the spring of 1847; but this, whatever its merit—and it was greatly extolled—was less fortunate than his first opera. He then visited Vienna, where "Maritana" was successfully reproduced, and after that resumed his residence in London. Wallace continued to be active as a composer; but opportunity failing him to bring his works upon the stage, he grew impatient of his negative position here, and went to New York in 1849, where he chiefly resided for the next seven years, in the course of which time he wrote voluminously for the pianoforte, having made an arrangement with a London house for the publication of all he produced, and having secured also his copyright in the states by becoming an American citizen. He came back to England in 1856 as the agent of a pianoforte manufacturer; but from ill health he had been compelled to cease playing in public. His opera of "Lurline" was brought out at the Royal English opera, Covent Garden, 23rd of February, 1860, and its attraction was almost unparalleled. This work had been written for twelve years, and it was the marvel of everybody that a composition containing such powerful elements of success should have so long
