A war with England

Nothing could be more favourable for Edward than the miserably disunited state of Scotland. He knew that three powerful factions divided the country, and hindered that firm political union, without which, against such an enemy, no successful opposition could be made. Bruce, and his numerous and powerful followers, adhered to England. The friends of Baliol, and that part of the nation which recognised him for their sovereign, beheld him a captive in one of his own fortresses, and refused to join the rebels who had imprisoned him; and the party of Comyn, which had invaded England, were either so destitute of military talent, or so divided amongst themselves, that a handful of the citizens of Carlisle compelled them to retreat with loss into their own country. These advantages, the result of his own able and artful policy, were easily perceived by the King of England. It was now his time for action, and for inflicting that vengeance upon his enemies, which, with this monarch, the longer it was delayed, was generally the more sure and terrible.