quiring any kind of knowledge, save perhaps an insight into the avariciousness of Romish priests, of which he afterwards made good use. Pope Leo the Third, perceiving in the boy something of promise more than was usually manifested, went through the playful operation of giving him the royal unction. This consisted, so far as we have been able to discover, in muttering a few prayers, accompanied with some theatrical ceremonies, in return for which the recipient was expected to make liberal grants of money and land—a common sort of exchange in days of bigoted superstition. Ethelwolf, Alfred's father, returned to England to find his kingdom torn to fragments by the ravages of the Danes. The incursions of these desperate marauders continued with unabated fury to the day of his death. If you can imagine a noble steed pursued by a band of remorseless wolves, sometimes giving them battle with success, at others fleeing from them with apprehension, you will have a good idea of the condition of England in the year 800. Ethelwolf died, and was succeeded rather summarily by his sons, Ethelbald, Ethelbert, and Ethelred. It was during the reign of the latter that Alfred gave the first indication of his patriotism. Ethelred had unjustly deprived him of a large patrimony, and beside this, kept him from a throne which had been bequeathed to him by the will of his father, Ethelwolf. Either of these reasons was sufficient, in those days, to attract a band of eager warriors to his standard. The national danger, however, was from the continued irruptions of the Danes. To put a stop to these, Alfred eagerly seconded all the efforts of his brother Ethelred. The nation's welfare, and not the individual's right, was consulted for the first time in that rude age.

Reading and writing in those days were accomplishments of a high order, and were seldom essayed except by members of the priesthood. It is said that Alfred's enthusiasm for learning was first aroused by hearing the Saxon bards repeat their wild lyrics. Himself a poet, as he afterwards abundantly proved, he at once estimated the incomparable advantages of an education. He soon learnt to read, and proceeded then to acquire a knowledge of the Latin language. The

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Roman poets and philosophers fired him with noble emulation, and contributed in no small degree to the formation of a character naturally heroic. In the midst of his studies, he was called to the throne. His first enterprises, like those of his predecessors, were, of course, directed against the common enemy-the Danes. They were prosecuted with varied success. At one time, Alfred had so hemmed them in, that they were glad to come to terms with him. A treaty was entered into, by which the Danes stipulated to depart from the country; but the Danes were not remarkable for keeping their treaties, and in this and other instances behaved perfidiously. Fresh hordes came over to the assistance of their brethren, and Alfred found himself deserted, or surrounded by men who were too broken-spirited to be available against a foe so savage and uncompromising. Under such circumstances, he thought it best to retire for a while from the contest, and await a more propitious moment to free his country from the insatiate locusts who infested it. In the meanest disguise, he sought refuge from the fury of his enemies. He concealed himself under a peasant's habit, and lived some time in the house of a neat-herd who had been intrusted with the care of some of his

COWS.

The Danes, discovering no traces of Alfred's whereabouts, concluded that he had left the country, or was dead. After a time, they gave up the pursuit. It was then that the fugitive king began to collect some of his followers, and to hope seriously for an opportunity to free his country. He ordered his subjects to hold themselves in readiness against the enemy, gave them intelligence of his retreat, and succeeded in gaining information of the strength and position of the Danes. He was determined not to lose this final opportunity by any rashness or false estimate of the power he had to cope with. In order more fully to inform himself of the latter, he entered the camp of the chief Dane, disguised as a harper. He was an admirable musician, and, it is said, possessed much native humor. By the exercise of skill and wit, he succeeded in passing unmolested through every quarter. Shortly afterwards, he led his troops against the

enemy, and was completely successful. The Danes begged for peace. Those who were already in the country he allowed to remain, on condition that they and their king should embrace Christianity. Firmly established on the throne-which he filled for twenty-nine years-he devoted himself to the glory and honor of his country, the propagation of religion, and the dissemination of knowledge. Centuries after his death, he was known and spoken of as "England's darling." The wonderfully balanced intellect of this great man, his holy impartiality in all matters submitted to his judgment, and the manifest love of freedom evidenced in his whole career, entitle him to the fond appellation. Speaking of Alfred, Gibbon says: "Amidst the deepest gloom of barbarism, the virtue of Antoninus, the learning and valor of Cæsar, and the legislative genius of Lycurgus shone forth in that patriot king."

Alfred was a pious, God-fearing man. He loved learning and those who possessed it. Necessarily, the clergy or bishops were the receptacles in which it lay. But, with singular clearness of vision, Alfred hesitated to increase the power and influence of the bishops. During his reign, they enjoyed fewer privileges and far less political power than they had possessed in other reigns. Alfred preferred making concessions to the people, rather than to the priests. The truth is, that Alfred, whilst he venerated religion and its ministers, had none of that superstitious awe which usually accompanies inferior minds. The liberality of Alfred's views, and his constant distrust of the temporal power of the Pope, lead us to agree with Dr. Pauli, that he felt and thought more as a German than a Roman Catholic, and that in his character were already to be traced the rudiments of those opinions which afterwards showed themselves in the independence of Protestantism.

During the reign of Alfred, and for the first time in England, the work of practical and political reform was commenced. The admirable institution of trial by jury was put into execution on a thorough basis. There were courts of appeal also established, at which twelve freeholders swore to administer impartial justice. Lest corruption

should reach even the presiding magistrate, there was an annual meeting appointed for the inspection of police, for the inquiry into crimes, the correction of abuses in magistrates, and the obliging of every person to show the district in which he was registered. There was still another appeal in default of justice in these courts, namely, to the king himself. He was overwhelmed with petitions from all parts of England, for the people rightly estimated the privilege of appealing to a man of such strict impartiality. He was indefatigable in the dispatch of these causes, but finding that his time would be entirely consumed by their adjudication, he conceived the happy idea of obviating the difficulty by correcting the ignorance or corruption of the inferior magistrates. He took care to have his nobility instructed in letters and the laws; he chose the earls and sheriffs from among the men most celebrated for probity and knowledge; he punished severely all malversation in office,† and he removed all the earls whom he found unequal to the trust. The better to guide the magistrates in the administration of justice, he collected a body of laws for their study, which long served for the basis of English jurisprudence, and was the origin of what is now denominated the common law.‡ The re

*

sult of these admirable precautions was perfect security to the individual, and a greater amount of freedom than had ever before been enjoyed. So exact was the character of the inhabitants, and so unfailing the arm of justice, that it is said that Alfred, by way of bravado, hung up golden bracelets by the wayside, confident that no man would touch them. Under his beneficent rule, learning and literature took firm hold of the minds of the people. He was himself an ardent student, and contributed in no small degree to the enlightenment of the age in which he lived. That he might have time to attend to his multifarious duties, he divided the day into three equal portions: one was employed in sleep, and the refection of his body by diet and exercise; another, in the dispatch of business; a third, in study and devotion. Thus, although he often labored under great bodily in

* Asser.

William of Malmsbury.

Le Miroir de Justice.
Hume.

Hume.

*

firmity, this martial hero, who fought in person fifty-six battles by sea and land, was able during a life of no extraordinary length to acquire more knowledge, and even to compose more books, than most studious men. He died in the vigor of his age, and the full strength of his faculties, A. D. 901, after a reign of twenty-nine years and a half. In presenting to our readers this sketch of the life of one of the most interesting heroes of history, we do so in the belief that it is instructive and gratifying to trace to such a noble Saxon fountain-head, the first indications of a political liberty which has since culminated so practicably and sublimely in the American descendants of this same Anglo-Saxon stock. It is contrary to our intention to take the history of England as our only key to political freedom. Other nations have furnished their quota to the general aggregate. But it cannot be too often impressed, or too tenaciously remembered, that all the solid practical fundamental principles of freedom which prevail among us, have been transplanted from the mother country. What ever may be the political jealousies which irritate the two nationsAmerica and England-and they are aggravated enough, there can be no justification of national hatred. The English trace all their political freedom to the Germanic element. We must do the same. The life of Alfred furnishes us with an illustration of the necessity for this justice. To that illustrious hero we are indebted for the restitution of trial by jury, and the condensation of a legal practice, now familiarized to us by the title of Common Law.

The necessity for reasonable brevity prohibits our dwelling on the successive acquisitions of political freedom by the people. Only the prominent triumphs can be glanced at.

The Saxon rule in England terminated with the death of Harold— the last of the Saxon kings. Feudal or Norman rule succeeded. The Normans, a tribe of Northern Germans, after they had subdued the provinces of the Roman Empire, established the feudal as the best system of government. Great change of circumstances rendered it necessary for them to deviate from many of the established customs + William of Malmsbury.

* Asser.