"Let Randolph," he said, "redeem his own fault; I cannot break the order of battle for his sake." Still the danger appeared greater, and the English horse seemed entirely to encompass the small handful of Scottish infantry. "So please you," said Douglas to the king, "my heart will not suffer me to stand idle and see Randolph perish. I must go to his assistance." He rode off accordingly; but long before they had reached the place of combat, he saw the English horses galloping off, many with empty saddles.

"Halt!" said Douglas to his men. Randolph has gained the day; since we were not soon enough to help him in the battle, do not let us lessen his glory by approaching the field." Now that was nobly done, especially as Douglas and Randolph were always contending which should rise highest in the good opinion of the king and the nation.

The van of the English army now came in sight, and a number of their bravest knights drew near to see what the Scots were doing. They saw King Robert dressed in his armor, and distinguished by a gold crown, which he wore over his helmet. He was not mounted on his great war-horse, because he did not expect to fight that evening. But he rode on a little pony up and down the ranks of his army, putting his men in order, and carried in his hand a sort of battle-axe made of steel. When the king saw the English horsemen draw near, he advanced a little before his own men, that he might look at them more nearly.

There was a knight among the English called Sir Henry de Bohun, who thought this would be a good opportunity to gain great fame to himself, and put an end to the war, by killing King Robert. The king being poorly mounted, and having no lance, Bohun galloped on him suddenly and furiously, thinking, with his long spear and his tall powerful horse, easily to bear him down to the ground. King Robert saw him, and permitted. him to come very near, then suddenly turned his pony a little to one side, so that Sir Henry missed him with the lance-point, and was in the act of being carried past him by the career of his

horse. But as he passed, King Robert rose up in his stirrups, and struck Sir Henry on the head with his battle-axe so terrible a blow that it broke to pieces his iron helmet as if it had been a nutshell and hurled him from his saddle. He was dead before he reached the ground. This gallant action was blamed by the Scottish leaders, who thought Bruce ought not to have exposed himself to so much danger when the safety of the whole army depended on him. The king only kept looking at his weapon, which was injured by the force of the blow, and said, "I have broken my good battle-axe."

The next morning, being the 24th of June, at break of day, the battle began in terrible earnest. The English, as they advanced saw the Scots getting into line. The Abbot of Inchaffray walked through their ranks barefooted, and exhorted them to fight for their freedom. They kneeled down as he passed, and prayed to Heaven for victory. King Edward, who saw this, called out, They kneel down, they are asking forgiveness!" "Yes," said a celebrated English baron, called Ingelram de Umphraville, "but they ask it from God, not from us. These men will conquer or die upon the field.”

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The English king ordered his men to begin the battle. The archers then bent their bows, and began to shoot so closely together that the arrows fell like flakes of snow on a Christmas day. They killed many of the Scots, and might, as at Falkirk and other places, have decided the victory; but Bruce, as I told you before, was prepared for them. He had in readiness a body of men-at-arms, well-mounted, who rode at full gallop among the archers, and as they had no weapons save their bows and arrows, which they could not use when they were attacked hand to hand, they were cut down in great numbers by the Scottish horsemen, and thrown into total confusion.

The fine English cavalry then advanced to support their archers and to attack the Scottish line. But coming over the ground which was dug full of pits, the horses fell into these holes, and the riders lay tumbling about, without any means of defence, and

unable to rise from the weight of their armor. The Englishmen began to fall into general disorder; and the Scottish king, bringing up more of his forces, attacked and pressed them still more closely.

On a sudden, while the battle was obstinately maintained on both sides, an event happened which decided the victory. The servants and attendants on the Scottish camp had, as I told you, been sent behind the army to a place afterwards called the Gillies' Hill. But when they saw that their masters were likely to gain the day, they rushed from their place of concealment with such weapons as they could get, that they might have their share in the victory and in the spoil. The English, seeing them come suddenly over the hill, mistook this disorderly rabble for a new army coming up to sustain the Scots, and, losing all heart, began to shift every man for himself. Edward himself left the field as fast as he could ride. A valiant knight, Sir Giles de Argentine, much renowned in the wars of Palestine, attended the king till he got him out of the press of the combat. But he would retreat no farther. "It is not my custom," he said, "to fly." With that he took leave of the king, set spurs to his horse, and calling out his war-cry of "Argentine! Argentine!" he rushed into the thickest of the Scottish ranks, and was killed.

The English never before or afterwards, whether in France or Scotland, lost so dreadful a battle as that of Bannockburn, nor did the Scots ever gain one of the same importance. Many of the best and bravest of the English nobility and gentry lay dead on the field; a great many more were made prisoners; and the whole of King Edward's immense army was dispersed or destroyed.

The English, after this great defeat, were no longer in a condition to support their pretensions to be masters of Scotland, or to continue, as they had done for nearly twenty years, to send armies into that country to overcome it. On the contrary, they became for a time scarce able to defend their own frontiers against King Robert and his soldiers.

SECTION 6.

THE SUBJECT OF A COMPOSITION.

If we think of composition, in its simplest form, as the expression of our own thoughts and feelings, we shall readily discern the fact that we speak, or write, because we have something to say, and wish or are impelled to say it. Perhaps you have not yet realized that the same motive underlies every book that is written, every address that is made, every sermon that is preached, body (the author) has something to say, and says it. We may be interested, or instructed, or amused, both by the thing that is said and by the manner in which it is

said.

some

Here we have at once the two main elements or factors of composition: first, the subject; second, the treatment of the subject. We shall have much to say of the second of these elements, but the first is, after all, the more important. To have something worth communicating is the essential point; it is not until this essential is secured that the fashion of our speech or writing becomes of particular consequence.

Just here the student ordinarily finds some difficulty. He knows that he himself is intensely interested in Stanley's accounts of his adventures in Africa, or in Peary's description of his life at the frozen North; but it does not occur to him that his own experiences are worth transcribing with pen and ink. Yet they are. Every life has its own history. Everybody has thoughts, feelings, and experiences of his own, which, however trivial they may seem, have a genuine human interest.

Franklin tells us about the everyday occurrences in his life, and we find them of absorbing interest. Mr. Riis saw John Binns's noble deed and admired it; and he makes us, too, see and admire it. Scott steeped his mind in the history and traditions of Scotland, and has left us a record of what he learned and thought. So you, when you speak or write, have your own thought or experience for your theme. Express it freely and honestly.

SECTION 7.1

1. Write a list of fifty things about which you know something.

2. Choose one subject out of the fifty, and tell what you can

about it.

3. Cross out such of your subjects as other members of the class have named. How many are left?

These, then, express your personal knowledge and interests. We may infer that you know more about them than the other pupils do. Already you have individual subjects concerning which you may enlighten others.

4. Write or talk, under the teacher's direction, about the remaining subjects on your list.

5. With what subjects was it necessary that Sir Walter Scott should be acquainted before he could write "The Battle of Bannockburn"? Make a list of these subjects.

6. Study a list of the writings of Longfellow, Whittier, Burroughs, Audubon, Parkman, Thoreau, Scott, Lowell, Dickens, Holmes, Tennyson, Wordsworth, Kipling, or Stevenson.2

What did each author know about?

7. Write or talk about some subject suggested by Exercise 6.

1 This section will furnish material for several lessons.

2 The teacher will, of course, make a selection among these authors, or will distribute them among the class.