the three colleges at Oxford, which formed the germ of that splendid university.

In 893 while in Northumberland settling the laws and Government of that district, he heard that Hastings, the terrible Sea-King, having brought an army in three hundred and thirty ships, had landed on the Kentish coast. The whole of the Danes in England at once revolted from Alfred's authority, but they were all severally defeated, and in 897 scarcely one of these formidable barbarians remained in the island.

From that time Alfred reigned the sole and undisputed master in England, beloved and respected, educating his subjects, improving their minds by example as well as by precept. He instituted a code of laws, established trial by jury, appointed judges, and was himself careful to see justice done to all classes of his subjects. He died at the comparatively early age of fifty-two, at Faringdon in Berkshire.

RETIREMENT OF ALFRED.-A.D. 878.

At the commencement of his reign, Alfred appears not to have won the affections of his people. We know not what his faults were, but his friend and biographer, Asser, distinctly informs us that the misfortunes of the early part of his rule are to be attributed to his indiscretion.

The Danes had ravaged the land as far as Chippenham, and we have reason to believe that Alfred was either there or in the immediate vicinity when the place was attacked by Guthrum.

After the Danish success, Alfred became a fugitive, not knowing where to hide himself, but at length he found a secure retreat at a marshy spot called the Isle of Ethelingey in Somersetshire, at a point where the small rivers Parrett and Thone join in one stream. Here he met a herdsman named Dinewolf, who not knowing the rank of the wanderer, yet had pity on his forlorn condition and carried him to his but.

Asser says, "He led an unquiet life at this cow-herd's. It happened on a certain day, the wife of this rustic prepared to bake her bread. The King, then sitting near the hearth, was making ready his bow and arrows, and other warlike instruments, when the ill-tempered woman beheld the loaves burning at the fire. She ran hastily and removed them, scolding the King, and exclaiming: 'You, man! you will not

turn the bread you see burning, but you will be very glad to eat it when done!

Alfred munificently rewarded this peasant when fortune smiled upon him. Observing him to be a man of capacity, he recommended him to apply himself to study, to assume the clerical profession, and actually made him Bishop of Winchester.

ALFRED AND THE BEGGAR.

During his residence at Athelney, it was Alfred's custom to employ his leisure hours in the study of the Scriptures, reading hymns, the annals of his country, and the lives of eminent men. Sitting alone, he was interrupted by a feeble knock at the gate, and the lowly cry of poverty imploring relief. He remembered the state of penury in which he reached the same spot, and laying down his book desired his attendant to give the poor claimant some food. There was but one loaf in store, but Alfred thought the necessities of the mendicant greater than his own, and reserving a small portion of the pittance for his own use, presented the beggar with the remainder.

ALFRED IN THE DANISH CAMP.-A.D. 880.

The King was a proficient in the art of music, and previously to attacking the Danes he resolved to visit their camp and satisfy himself of their actual condition. Disguising himself as a wandering minstrel, he made his way to Chippenham, and his musical efforts having gained the applause of the soldiers, they introduced him to the tent of Guthrum,

VAIT

SAXON MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

their King. While at the royal table he heard the chiefs discussing their plans, and he was enabled to examine their position quite unsuspected. After remaining some days he quitted his dangerous quarters, and summoning the men of the west to meet him in Selwood Forest, found himself at the head of so numerous an army that he felt strong enough to attack the Danes in their stronghold.

The result was the total defeat of the invaders, and Guthrum saved his life by consenting to become a Christian. The ceremony of baptism was performed at the royal town of Wedmore, in Somersetshire, and then Alfred assigned East Anglia to the Danes for a residence.

MISSION TO INDIA.

"There is nothing new under the sun," says a trite proverb. The overland route to India would scarcely seem to be a discovery

of the present age, for Asser tells us that the King, hearing of the distresses of the Christians in heathen India, resolved to send assistance to them; for this purpose, a priest, named Sighelm was dispatched, and executed his commission with extraordinary good fortune. He penetrated to India, and on his "return, brought jewels of a new kind, with which that country very much abounds." He went by way of Rome, and there seems little doubt but that journeying through Egypt and sailing down the Red Sea, he reached the Malabar coast.

EDWARD THE ELDER.-A.D. 901.

EDWARD succeeded his father, but his claim to the throne was disputed by Ethelwald, a son of Alfred's elder brother, Elthelbert. Edward, however, marched against his rival, who threw himself into Northumberland, and formed an unnatural alliance with the Danes. He also went to the Continent and raised a band of outlaws, with whom he returned to his native country, plundering and destroying wherever he appeared, until he was killed in a skirmish with the Kentish men, after which his army dispersed. Edward continued to repel the Danish ravages, and was also enabled to conquer a great part of Wales, and the Britons in the district of the Clyde. He died, in the midst of his successes, at Faringdon.

IN 925 his son Athelstan was crowned at Kingston-on-Thames. War with Scotland commenced early in this reign, and in 938 Constantine, king of that country, being joined by Anlaf, a Danish pretender to the kingdom of Northumberland, invaded England. A tremendous battle was fought at a place called in the Saxon chronicle Brunanburgh, in which the English were successful, immense numbers of the invaders being slain. One of Athelstan's great champions was Guy, Earl of Warwick, whose reputed bones are now exhibited at Gloucester. Athelstan compelled the Welsh to pay him tribute. He encouraged commerce, and made a law by which every merchant who had made three voyages to foreign parts could claim the honours of nobility. He died at Gloucester, A.D., 41.

ATHELSTAN AND ANLAF.

Anlaf, the leader of the Danes, meditating an attack on the Saxon camp, imitated the example of Alfred, and went among the tents of his enemies, disguised as a harper, until he arrived at the royal pavillion. His music gratified Athelstan, who dismissed him with presents. The spirit of the Dane disdained the gifts of the Saxon, and he buried them in the sand. As he was passing along he was recognised by a soldier who noted his movements until he was gone, when the tidings were conveyed to Athelstan. To a rebuke for not having seized him the brave soldier replied, "O King! the oath I have lately taken to you I once gave to Anlaf. If I had broken it to him I might have been faithless to you; but deign to hear a servant's counsel and move your tent to another quarter." Athelstan did so, but the Bishop of Sherborne arriving about the time, caused his pavillion to be placed on the vacant spot. As the soldier had predicted, a surprise was effected, and the martial Bishop met the fate which was intended for the King.

SAXON CHARIOT.

EDMUND I.-A.D. 941.

THIS Prince, brother of Athelstan, succeeded to the throne, but was hardly crowned when Anlaf again made his appearance. He was, however, subdued, and compelled to become a Christian. Edmund finding that his northern dominions were in a continual state of rebellion under some discontented chief, gave them over to Malcolm, King of Scotland. Edmund gave promise of being a second Alfred; but this glorious beginning was brought to a sudden termination, for he was stabbed by one Leof, an outlaw, who dared to force his way into the royal presence, while Edmund was feasting at Pucklechurch, in Gloucestershire.

MURDER OF EDMUND.-A.D. 945.

The Saxons were much addicted to boisterous feasts, and the death of this King occurred at Pucklechurch during one of these orgies. There was one Leof, a noted outlaw, who some years previously had been banished on account of his offences. During the feast he had the audacity to enter the hall, and to place himself at the royal table. Edmund's cup-bearer attempted to remove the intruder, who made a strong resistance. The King, feeling himself insulted, went to the assistance of his servant, when Leof drew a dagger and plunged it into the heart of Edmund, who immediately expired, while the robber was hacked to pieces by the outraged guests.

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EDRED.-A.D. 925.

THE brother of Edmund was chosen in preference to his infant children. As usual, at the commencement of a reign, the northern Danes revolted, but before they were prepared the King appeared in the heart of their country, and compelled them to make most humble submission. In 952, to put an end for ever to these ravages, Edred desolated the Northumbrian country with fire and sword, and appointed a governor under the title of Earl. Edred, having fallen into an infirm state of health, rebuilt the Abbey of Glastonbury, where he resided, and resigned the kingdom to the rapacious government of Dunstan, the Abbot. In 955 Edred died.

ST. DUNSTAN AND SATAN.

One of the most remarkable characters in the historical drama of the Anglo-Saxon period was Dunstan, Abbot of Glastonbury. He assumed great state and power over the people,

which he maintained by means of pretended
miracles and asserted supernatural appear-
ances. He was an adept in the working of
metals, and one night the peasants who
dwelt in the neighbourhood of his cell were
alarmed by hearing an unwonted clamour
and the most terrific howlings proceeding
from his abode In the morning they flocked
to Dunstan to hear the cause of the disturb-
ance, and were told that the Prince of
Darkness had intruded his head through
the window to tempt the saint while he
was heating his work at a furnace, but
snatching up his red-hot tongs he had
seized Satan by the nose and held him while
he howled with the pain.

A MONK.
FROM A SAXON MS.

The simple-minded rustics held Dunstan in great veneration after this exploit.

EDWY.-A.D. 955.

THE eldest son of Edmund I. was now called upon to rule the kingdom, and he soon discovered that he had a powerful enemy in the Abbot Dunstan. This person, who had entirely governed the land during the reign of Edred, endeavoured to break the spirit of Edwy, and to reduce him to a similar state of mental imbecility, by objecting to his marriage with his beautiful cousin, Elgiva. The King persisted, and then was acted the romance detailed in the following paragraph. Dunstan endeavoured to dethrone Edwy, and to set his younger brother in his place. This, coupled with the cruel murder of his wife, so preyed on the King's mind, that he died of a broken heart, A.D. 959.