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432 WALLACE WALLACHIA titled deserters from the Scottish army, who were with Surrey, were deputed to persuade Wallace to capitulate, a free pardon being of- fered unconditionally in the name of the Eng- lish king. The terms were rejected, and a large portion of Surrey's force crossed the riv- er and fought the great battle of Cambusken- neth or Stirling bridge, Sept. 10, 1297. From their advantageous position Wallace's men 'drove them back and pursued them to the border town of Berwick. King Edward's forces were almost completely cut to pieces, and Wallace, by general consent, in the ab- sence of the lawful monarch (John, then in the tower of London), was declared guardian of the kingdom of Scotland. A severe famine following suggested the invasion of the north- ern counties of England. Wallace laid waste the country from the borders to Newcastle, and returned with his spoils, to attempt an organization of Scotland. Meanwhile Edward had raised an army of 80,000 infantry and 7,000 horse. A portion of this force landed by sea on the N. E. coast, and suffered a par- tial reverse ; but the main body advanced northward from the border, and on July 22, 1298, came up with the Scottish forces near Falkirk, where a decisive engagement was fought, in which the army of Wallace was de- feated with a loss, according to various histo- rians, of 15,000. For several years after this Wallace carried on a guerilla warfare, and he also went to Paris to secure French interven- tion. In February, 1304, ho was declared an outlaw. Large rewards were offered by Ed- ward for his arrest, and he was ultimately be- trayed by Sir John Menteith. The day after his arrival in London the form of a trial was gone through in Westminster hall; the pris- oner, in derision of his pretensions to the throne of Scotland, being decorated with a crown of laurel. lie was condemned to death, and the same day dragged at the tails of horses to West Smithfield, and there hung, drawn, and quartered. His head was set upon London bridge, and his limbs were exposed at New- castle, Berwick, Perth, and Stirling. WALLACE, William Ylnrtnt, an Irish composer, born in Waterford in 1815, died at the chateau do Bayen, Haute-Garonne, France, Oct. 12, 1865. He received his earliest musical instruc- tion from his father, a military band master, and at the age of 15 could play on every instru- ment of the orchestra, and had written numer- ous compositions for military bands. As a per- former on the pianoforte and violin he showed great excellence. At the age of 18, on account of failing health, he went to New South Wales, and was long engaged in agricultural pursuits. He gave his first concert at Sydney with great success, and thenceforth travelled extensively over the southern hemisphere, deriving large emoluments in the Spanish American cities from his performances on the violin and the pianoforte. After a professional tour in the United States he returned in 1845 to England, where his first opera, "Maritana," was pro- duced with great success. He then produced in rapid succession "Matilda of Hungary," u The Maid of ZQrich," "Gulnare," and "Ol- ga," several of which were performed in Ger- many and elsewhere in continental Europe. In 1849 he was commissioned to write an opera for the grand opera of Paris, but had scarcely begun the work when he became blind. For the purpose of recovering his eyesight he made a voyage to Rio do Janeiro, whence in 1850 he came to the United States. Several years later he returned to England, where in 1854 his "Lurline" and in 1861 his "Amber Witch" were brought out. In 1862 he pro- duced "Love's Triumph," and in 1863 "The Desert Flower." WALLACHIA (Ger. Walachel; Wallach. Teare Pomanesca; Turk. Ak-Iflak), a country of S. E. Europe, constituting with Moldavia the princi- pality of Roumania, of which it is the larger part, tributary to Turkey. It is situated be- tween lat. 43 38' and 45 48' N., and Ion. 22 20' and 28 12' E., and is bounded N. by Tran- sylvania and Moldavia, E. and S. by Bulgaria, and W. by Servia and Hungary; area, 28,873 sq. m. ; pop. about 3,000,000, of whom about four fifths are Wallachs or Roumans, and the remainder include Greeks (chiefly at Braila), Germans (chiefly at Bucharest), Armenians, Hungarians, Serbs, Russians, gypsies, and Jews. The Carpathian mountains separate it from Hungary and Transylvania, aud the Danube from Bulgaria and Servia. It is divided into Great and Little Wallachia, which are subdi- vided into 17 districts. The capital is Bucha- rest, which is also the capital of Roumania. Braila is the chief port, and among other larger towns are Ployeshti, Giurgevo, and Krayova. The Danube forms five eighths of the frontier, and the whole country is drained by its tribu- taries, of which the principal are the Sereth, Buseo, Yalomitza, Arjish, Vede, Aluta, which divides Little (or western) from Great Walla- chia, and Shyl, all navigable. In the lower portion of the country are marshy lakes, formed by branches of the Danube. Spurs of the Car- pathian mountains stretch toward the Danube with wide valleys between. On approaching that river the country becomes flat and is sub- ject to inundation. The mountains are paleo- zoic; the country lying in the basin of the Danube belongs to the tertiary series. The soil, except on the mountains, is of extraordi- nary fertility and well adapted to grain. The mountainous districts afford excellent pastur- age for sheep, good timber abounds in the forests, and the level lands yield a rich grass. The temperature is subject to great and sud- den changes. There are properly but two sea- sons, a winter of five months, during which the ground is almost constantly covered with snow, and a summer of seven months, intensely hot. The cold of winter is sometimes as low as 20 F., and the heat of summer nearly as high as 100. The vegetable productions in-