Chapter III - England Under the Good Saxon, Alfred

by Charles Dickens

　　Alfred the Great was a young man, three-and-twenty years of age,when he became king. Twice in his childhood, he had been taken toRome, where the Saxon nobles were in the habit of going on journeyswhich they supposed to be religious; and, once, he had stayed forsome time in Paris. Learning, however, was so little cared for,then, that at twelve years old he had not been taught to read;although, of the sons of King Ethelwulf, he, the youngest, was thefavourite. But he had - as most men who grow up to be great andgood are generally found to have had - an excellent mother; and,one day, this lady, whose name was Osburga, happened, as she wassitting among her sons, to read a book of Saxon poetry. The art ofprinting was not known until long and long after that period, andthe book, which was written, was what is called 'illuminated,' withbeautiful bright letters, richly painted. The brothers admiring itvery much, their mother said, 'I will give it to that one of youfour princes who first learns to read.' Alfred sought out a tutorthat very day, applied himself to learn with great diligence, andsoon won the book. He was proud of it, all his life.

　　This great king, in the first year of his reign, fought ninebattles with the Danes. He made some treaties with them too, bywhich the false Danes swore they would quit the country. Theypretended to consider that they had taken a very solemn oath, inswearing this upon the holy bracelets that they wore, and whichwere always buried with them when they died; but they cared littlefor it, for they thought nothing of breaking oaths and treatiestoo, as soon as it suited their purpose, and coming back again tofight, plunder, and burn, as usual. One fatal winter, in thefourth year of King Alfred's reign, they spread themselves in greatnumbers over the whole of England; and so dispersed and routed theKing's soldiers that the King was left alone, and was obliged todisguise himself as a common peasant, and to take refuge in thecottage of one of his cowherds who did not know his face.

　　Here, King Alfred, while the Danes sought him far and near, wasleft alone one day, by the cowherd's wife, to watch some cakeswhich she put to bake upon the hearth. But, being at work upon hisbow and arrows, with which he hoped to punish the false Danes whena brighter time should come, and thinking deeply of his poorunhappy subjects whom the Danes chased through the land, his noblemind forgot the cakes, and they were burnt. 'What!' said thecowherd's wife, who scolded him well when she came back, and littlethought she was scolding the King, 'you will be ready enough to eatthem by-and-by, and yet you cannot watch them, idle dog?'

　　At length, the Devonshire men made head against a new host of Daneswho landed on their coast; killed their chief, and captured theirflag; on which was represented the likeness of a Raven - a very fitbird for a thievish army like that, I think. The loss of theirstandard troubled the Danes greatly, for they believed it to beenchanted - woven by the three daughters of one father in a singleafternoon - and they had a story among themselves that when theywere victorious in battle, the Raven stretched his wings and seemedto fly; and that when they were defeated, he would droop. He hadgood reason to droop, now, if he could have done anything half sosensible; for, King Alfred joined the Devonshire men; made a campwith them on a piece of firm ground in the midst of a bog inSomersetshire; and prepared for a great attempt for vengeance onthe Danes, and the deliverance of his oppressed people.

　　But, first, as it was important to know how numerous thosepestilent Danes were, and how they were fortified, King Alfred,being a good musician, disguised himself as a glee-man or minstrel,and went, with his harp, to the Danish camp. He played and sang inthe very tent of Guthrum the Danish leader, and entertained theDanes as they caroused. While he seemed to think of nothing buthis music, he was watchful of their tents, their arms, theirdiscipline, everything that he desired to know. And right soon didthis great king entertain them to a different tune; for, summoningall his true followers to meet him at an appointed place, wherethey received him with joyful shouts and tears, as the monarch whommany of them had given up for lost or dead, he put himself at theirhead, marched on the Danish camp, defeated the Danes with greatslaughter, and besieged them for fourteen days to prevent theirescape. But, being as merciful as he was good and brave, he then,instead of killing them, proposed peace: on condition that theyshould altogether depart from that Western part of England, andsettle in the East; and that Guthrum should become a Christian, inremembrance of the Divine religion which now taught his conqueror,the noble Alfred, to forgive the enemy who had so often injuredhim. This, Guthrum did. At his baptism, King Alfred was hisgodfather. And Guthrum was an honourable chief who well deservedthat clemency; for, ever afterwards he was loyal and faithful tothe king. The Danes under him were faithful too. They plunderedand burned no more, but worked like honest men. They ploughed, andsowed, and reaped, and led good honest English lives. And I hopethe children of those Danes played, many a time, with Saxonchildren in the sunny fields; and that Danish young men fell inlove with Saxon girls, and married them; and that Englishtravellers, benighted at the doors of Danish cottages, often wentin for shelter until morning; and that Danes and Saxons sat by thered fire, friends, talking of King Alfred the Great.

　　All the Danes were not like these under Guthrum; for, after someyears, more of them came over, in the old plundering and burningway - among them a fierce pirate of the name of Hastings, who hadthe boldness to sail up the Thames to Gravesend, with eighty ships.For three years, there was a war with these Danes; and there was afamine in the country, too, and a plague, both upon human creaturesand beasts. But King Alfred, whose mighty heart never failed him,built large ships nevertheless, with which to pursue the pirates onthe sea; and he encouraged his soldiers, by his brave example, tofight valiantly against them on the shore. At last, he drove themall away; and then there was repose in England.

　　As great and good in peace, as he was great and good in war, KingAlfred never rested from his labours to improve his people. Heloved to talk with clever men, and with travellers from foreigncountries, and to write down what they told him, for his people toread. He had studied Latin after learning to read English, and nowanother of his labours was, to translate Latin books into theEnglish-Saxon tongue, that his people might be interested, andimproved by their contents. He made just laws, that they mightlive more happily and freely; he turned away all partial judges,that no wrong might be done them; he was so careful of theirproperty, and punished robbers so severely, that it was a commonthing to say that under the great King Alfred, garlands of goldenchains and jewels might have hung across the streets, and no manwould have touched one. He founded schools; he patiently heardcauses himself in his Court of Justice; the great desires of hisheart were, to do right to all his subjects, and to leave Englandbetter, wiser, happier in all ways, than he found it. His industryin these efforts was quite astonishing. Every day he divided intocertain portions, and in each portion devoted himself to a certainpursuit. That he might divide his time exactly, he had wax torchesor candles made, which were all of the same size, were notchedacross at regular distances, and were always kept burning. Thus,as the candles burnt down, he divided the day into notches, almostas accurately as we now divide it into hours upon the clock. Butwhen the candles were first invented, it was found that the windand draughts of air, blowing into the palace through the doors andwindows, and through the chinks in the walls, caused them to gutterand burn unequally. To prevent this, the King had them put intocases formed of wood and white horn. And these were the firstlanthorns ever made in England.

　　All this time, he was afflicted with a terrible unknown disease,which caused him violent and frequent pain that nothing couldrelieve. He bore it, as he had borne all the troubles of his life,like a brave good man, until he was fifty-three years old; andthen, having reigned thirty years, he died. He died in the yearnine hundred and one; but, long ago as that is, his fame, and thelove and gratitude with which his subjects regarded him, arefreshly remembered to the present hour.

　　In the next reign, which was the reign of Edward, surnamed TheElder, who was chosen in council to succeed, a nephew of KingAlfred troubled the country by trying to obtain the throne. TheDanes in the East of England took part with this usurper (perhapsbecause they had honoured his uncle so much, and honoured him forhis uncle's sake), and there was hard fighting; but, the King, withthe assistance of his sister, gained the day, and reigned in peacefor four and twenty years. He gradually extended his power overthe whole of England, and so the Seven Kingdoms were united intoone.

　　When England thus became one kingdom, ruled over by one Saxon king,the Saxons had been settled in the country more than four hundredand fifty years. Great changes had taken place in its customsduring that time. The Saxons were still greedy eaters and greatdrinkers, and their feasts were often of a noisy and drunken kind;but many new comforts and even elegances had become known, and werefast increasing. Hangings for the walls of rooms, where, in thesemodern days, we paste up paper, are known to have been sometimesmade of silk, ornamented with birds and flowers in needlework.Tables and chairs were curiously carved in different woods; weresometimes decorated with gold or silver; sometimes even made ofthose precious metals. Knives and spoons were used at table;golden ornaments were worn - with silk and cloth, and goldentissues and embroideries; dishes were made of gold and silver,brass and bone. There were varieties of drinking-horns, bedsteads,musical instruments. A harp was passed round, at a feast, like thedrinking-bowl, from guest to guest; and each one usually sang orplayed when his turn came. The weapons of the Saxons were stoutlymade, and among them was a terrible iron hammer that gave deadlyblows, and was long remembered. The Saxons themselves were ahandsome people. The men were proud of their long fair hair,parted on the forehead; their ample beards, their freshcomplexions, and clear eyes. The beauty of the Saxon women filledall England with a new delight and grace.

　　I have more to tell of the Saxons yet, but I stop to say this now,because under the Great Alfred, all the best points of the English-Saxon character were first encouraged, and in him first shown. Ithas been the greatest character among the nations of the earth.Wherever the descendants of the Saxon race have gone, have sailed,or otherwise made their way, even to the remotest regions of theworld, they have been patient, persevering, never to be broken inspirit, never to be turned aside from enterprises on which theyhave resolved. In Europe, Asia, Africa, America, the whole worldover; in the desert, in the forest, on the sea; scorched by aburning sun, or frozen by ice that never melts; the Saxon bloodremains unchanged. Wheresoever that race goes, there, law, andindustry, and safety for life and property, and all the greatresults of steady perseverance, are certain to arise.

　　I pause to think with admiration, of the noble king who, in hissingle person, possessed all the Saxon virtues. Whom misfortunecould not subdue, whom prosperity could not spoil, whoseperseverance nothing could shake. Who was hopeful in defeat, andgenerous in success. Who loved justice, freedom, truth, andknowledge. Who, in his care to instruct his people, probably didmore to preserve the beautiful old Saxon language, than I canimagine. Without whom, the English tongue in which I tell thisstory might have wanted half its meaning. As it is said that hisspirit still inspires some of our best English laws, so, let youand I pray that it may animate our English hearts, at least to this- to resolve, when we see any of our fellow-creatures left inignorance, that we will do our best, while life is in us, to havethem taught; and to tell those rulers whose duty it is to teachthem, and who neglect their duty, that they have profited verylittle by all the years that have rolled away since the year ninehundred and one, and that they are far behind the bright example ofKing Alfred the Great.