89. Alfred’s Handbook.[226]—When that first quotation had been copied, he was eager at once to read, and to translate into Saxon, and then to teach many others—even as we are assured concerning that happy thief who recognized the Lord Jesus Christ, his Lord, aye, the Lord of all men, as he was hanging on the venerable gallows of the holy cross, and, with trustful petition, casting down of his body no more than his eyes, since he was so entirely fastened with nails that he could do nothing else, cried with humble voice, ‘O Christ, remember me when thou comest into thy kingdom!‘[227]—since it was only on the cross that he began to learn the elements of the Christian faith.[228] Inspired by God, he began the rudiments of Holy Scripture on the sacred feast of St. Martin.[229] Then he went on, as far as he was able, to learn the flowers[230] collected from various quarters by any and all of his teachers, and to reduce them into the form of one book, although jumbled together, until it became almost as large as a psalter. This book he called his Enchiridion[231] or Handbook,[232] because he carefully kept it at hand day and night, and found, as he then used to say, no small consolation therein.
90. Illustration from the Penitent Thief.[233]—But, as it was written by a wise man,[234]
Of watchful minds are they whose pious care
It is to govern well,
I see that I must be especially watchful, in that I just now drew a kind of comparison, though in dissimilar manner,[235] between the happy thief and the king; for the cross is hateful to every one in distress.[236] But what can he do, if he cannot dislodge himself or escape thence? or in what way can he improve his condition by remaining there? He must, therefore, whether he will or no, endure with pain and sorrow that which he is suffering.
91. Alfred’s Troubles.[237]—Now the king was pierced with many nails of tribulation, though established in the royal sway; for from the twentieth year of his age to the present year, which is his forty-fifth,[238] he has been constantly afflicted with most severe attacks of an unknown disease, so that there is not a single hour in which he is not either suffering from that malady, or nigh to despair by reason of the gloom which is occasioned by his fear of it. Moreover the constant invasions of foreign nations, by which he was continually harassed by land and sea, without any interval of quiet, constituted a sufficient cause of disturbance.
What shall I say of his repeated expeditions against the heathen, his wars, and the incessant occupations of government? Of the daily ... of the[239] nations which dwell on[240] the Tyrrhene[241] Sea to the farthest end of Ireland? For we have seen and read letters, accompanied with presents, which were sent to him from Jerusalem by the patriarch Elias.[242] What shall I say of his restoration of cities and towns, and of others which he built where none had been before? of golden and silver buildings,[243] built in incomparable style under his direction? of the royal halls and chambers, wonderfully erected of stone and wood at his command? of the royal vills constructed of stones removed from their old site, and finely rebuilt by the king’s command in more fitting places?
Not to speak of the disease above mentioned, he was disturbed by the quarrels of his subjects,[244] who would of their own choice endure little or no toil for the common need of the kingdom. He alone, sustained by the divine aid, once he had assumed the helm of government, strove in every way, like a skilful pilot, to steer[245] his ship, laden with much wealth, into the safe and longed-for harbor of his country, though almost all his crew were weary, suffering them not to faint or hesitate, even amid the waves and manifold whirlpools of this present life. Thus his bishops, earls, nobles, favorite thanes, and prefects, who, next to God and the king, had the whole government of the kingdom, as was fitting, continually received from him instruction, compliment, exhortation, and command; nay, at last, if they were disobedient, and his long patience was exhausted, he would reprove them severely, and censure in every way their vulgar folly and obstinacy; and thus he wisely gained and bound them to his own wishes and the common interests of the whole kingdom. But if, owing to the sluggishness of the people, these admonitions of the king were either not fulfilled, or were begun late at the moment of necessity, and so, because they were not carried through, did not redound to the advantage of those who put them in execution—take as an example the fortresses which he ordered, but which are not yet begun or, begun late, have not yet been completely finished—when hostile forces have made invasions by sea, or land, or both, then those who had set themselves against the imperial orders have been put to shame and overwhelmed with vain repentance. I speak of vain repentance on the authority of Scripture, whereby numberless persons have had cause for sorrow when they have been smitten by great harm through the perpetration of deceit. But though by this means, sad to say, they may be bitterly afflicted, and roused to grief by the loss of fathers, wives, children, thanes, man servants, maid servants, products, and all their household stuff, what is the use of hateful repentance when their kinsmen are dead, and they cannot aid them, or redeem from dire captivity those who are captive? for they cannot even help themselves when they have escaped, since they have not wherewithal to sustain their own lives. Sorely exhausted by a tardy repentance, they grieve over their carelessness in despising the king’s commands; they unite in praising his wisdom, promising to fulfil with all their might what before they had declined to do, namely, in the construction of fortresses, and other things useful to the whole kingdom.
92. Alfred builds two Monasteries.[246]—Concerning his desire and intent of excellent meditation, which, in the midst both of prosperity and adversity, he never in any way neglected, I cannot in this place with advantage forbear to speak. For, when he was reflecting, according to his wont, upon the need of his soul,[247] he ordered, among the other good deeds to which his thoughts were by night and day[248] especially turned, that two monasteries should be built, one of them being for monks at Athelney.[249] This is a place surrounded by impassable fens and waters on every hand, where no one can enter but by boats, or by a bridge laboriously constructed between two fortresses, at the western end of which bridge was erected a strong citadel, of beautiful work, by command of the aforesaid king. In this monastery he collected monks of all kinds from every quarter, and there settled them.
93. Monasticism was decayed.[250]—At first he had no one of his own nation, noble and free by birth, who was willing to enter the monastic life, except children, who as yet could neither choose good nor reject evil by reason of their tender years. This was the case because for many years previous the love of a monastic life had utterly decayed in that as well as in many other nations; for, though many monasteries still remain in that country, yet no one kept the rule of that kind of life in an orderly way, whether because of the invasions of foreigners, which took place so frequently both by sea and land, or because that people abounded in riches of every kind, and so looked with contempt on the monastic life. On this account it was that King Alfred sought to gather monks of different kinds in the same monastery.