ALFRED AND THE CAKES.
The Saxon chieftains and nobles fled in terror, and Alfred himself, with only one or two trusty friends, retired to the vast forests, which skirted the remote western frontiers of his once proud realm. It was during these homeless wanderings that the incident is said to have occurred, which has ever since been related of this bitter experience of want and misery in the life of Alfred the Great. The story is, that Alfred, weary and hungry, sought shelter in the miserable hut of a cow-herd, who gave him such poor fare as his lowly lot allowed. Alfred, while remaining with these simple folks, was one day engaged in mending his arrows, when the cow-herd’s wife, totally unconscious of the rank and station of her guest, requested him, in no polite terms, to watch her cakes which were baking in the coals, while she employed herself in other labors. King Alfred, absorbed in his sorrowful musings, forgot the injunctions of the ill-natured woman, and so allowed her cakes to burn; which, when she perceived, she gave him a good scolding; saying, “You man! you will not turn the bread you see burning, but you will be very glad to eat it when it is done!” This unlucky woman little thought she was addressing the great King Alfred.
Alfred, though restless and wretched in his apparently hopeless seclusion, bore his privations with patience and fortitude, and did not cease to plan some way by which he might reorganize his forces and rescue his country from the ruin into which it had fallen. Alfred now established himself at a place called Ethelney; and, having gradually collected a few followers, they built a kind of fortress, where Alfred’s family at length joined him, and to which numbers of his old troops began to repair. The following incident is recorded in the old annals concerning this time in King Alfred’s life. It was very difficult to supply his little garrison with food, and sometimes they found themselves in sore want. At one time the provisions in the house were nearly exhausted, and to add to their distress, it was also in the winter. All of Alfred’s little band having gone away with their fishing apparatus and bows and arrows in the hope of securing some food, Alfred was left alone with only one attendant. King Alfred was sitting reading, when a beggar came to the door and asked for food. Alfred, looking up from his book, inquired of his attendant what food there was in the house. It was found that there was only a single loaf of bread remaining, and a little wine in a pitcher. This would not be half enough for their own wants, should the hunting party return unsuccessful. Alfred ordered half of the loaf to be given to the stranger; but when he had been served he was seen no more, and the loaf remained whole, as though none had been taken from it, and the pitcher was now full to the brim. Alfred, meantime, had turned to his reading, over which he fell asleep, and dreamed that St. Cuthbert stood by him and told him it was he who had been his guest; and that God had seen his afflictions and those of his people, which were now about to end, in token whereof his people would return that day from their expedition with a great take of fish. And while Alfred yet mused on this strange dream from which he had awakened, his servants came in, bringing fish enough to have fed an army. The legend also goes on to say, that on the next morning King Alfred went forth in the forests and wound his horn thrice, which drew to him before noon five hundred men. Another story is told of the manner in which King Alfred discovered the number and power of his enemies’ forces. It is said that he assumed the garb of a minstrel, and with one attendant visited the camp of the Dane Guthrum. Here he stayed, amusing the Danish king and nobles with his songs and harp, boldly venturing into their very tents, until he had learned all he desired to know concerning their plans.
Whereupon he returned to Ethelney; and the time having arrived for a great effort, he sent word to his people to meet him at a place called Egbert’s Stone. Here, on the 12th of May, 878, King Alfred met his gathered forces, and losing no time, moved forward toward Guthrum’s camp. Alfred encamped for the night on an eminence from which he could watch the movements of his enemies. That night, as he was sleeping in his tent, he had a remarkable dream. St. Neot appeared to him, and told him to have no fear of the immense army of pagans whom he was about to encounter on the morrow, as God had taken him under his special protection, having accepted his penitence for all his faults; he might now go forward into the battle without fear, as God was about to give him the victory over all his enemies.
The king related this dream to his army the next morning, and the men were inspired with new ardor and enthusiasm as Alfred led them to the camp where their enemies lay; for it was Alfred’s intention to surprise the Danes. The Saxons advanced to the attack; and the Danes, surprised and terror-stricken, soon began to yield. At last the flight among the pagans became general. They were pursued by Alfred’s victorious columns. The retreating army was in a short time reduced to a small force, which, with Guthrum at their head, reached a castle, where they took refuge. Guthrum, shut up in this castle, was now besieged by Alfred’s forces; and when many of his men were raving in the delirium of famine and thirst, or dying in dreadful agony, he could resist no longer, but surrendered to Alfred. Thus King Alfred was once more in possession of his kingdom. The treaty which Alfred now made with the Danes evinces his generous Christian forgiveness; and perhaps even the pagan Guthrum, in accepting the terms proposed, was influenced by emotions of gratitude and admiration for the example of Christian virtue which Alfred exhibited. As the Danes had now become so intermingled with the Saxons by their long residence in England and frequent intermarriages, Alfred determined to expel only the armed forces from his dominions, allowing those peaceably disposed to remain in quiet possession of such lands in other parts of the island as they already occupied. Instead, therefore, of treating Guthrum with harshness and severity as a captive enemy, he told him that he was willing to give him his liberty, and to regard him, on certain conditions, as a friend and an ally, and to allow him to reign as king over that part of England which his countrymen already possessed. The conditions were that Guthrum was to go away with his forces out of Alfred’s kingdom under solemn oaths never to return; that he was to give hostages for the faithful fulfilment of these stipulations; and that Guthrum should become a convert to Christianity, and publicly avow his adhesion to the Saxon faith by being baptized in the presence of the leaders of both armies in the most open and solemn manner. These conditions were accepted, and some weeks after the surrender, the baptism was performed in the presence of many chieftains of both nations. Guthrum’s Christian name which he received at this ceremony was Ethelstan. King Alfred was his god-father. The various ceremonies connected with the baptism were protracted through several days, and were followed by a number of festivities and public rejoicings. The admission of the pagan chieftain into the Christian church did not mark, perhaps, any real change in his personal opinions, but it prepared the way for the reception of the Christian faith by his followers; and Alfred, in leading Guthrum to the baptismal font, was achieving, in the estimation of all England, France, and Rome, a far greater and nobler victory than when he conquered his enemies on the field of battle. A full and formal treaty of peace was now concluded between the two sovereigns; for Guthrum received the title of king, and was to hold a separate kingdom in the dominions assigned to him. Guthrum endeavored to keep this treaty faithfully, and whenever other parties of Danes came upon the coast of England, they found no favor or assistance from him against the Saxons.
The generosity and nobleness of mind displayed in his treatment of Guthrum made a great impression on the world at that time, and has never ceased to throw a halo of glory around the memory of this good and great king. Many stories are told to illustrate the kindness of Alfred the Great. It is said that once, while hunting in the forest with a party, he heard the cries of a child, which seemed to come from the air above their heads. It was found, after much searching, that the sounds proceeded from an eagle’s nest in the top of a lofty tree. On climbing to the nest, it was discovered that a child had been carried by the eagle to its nest, and the infant was screaming with pain and terror. Alfred ordered the boy to be brought to his castle, and not being able to find the parents of the child, he adopted him as his own son, gave him a good education, and provided for him well when he grew to manhood. King Alfred manifested great interest in the arts of peace, notwithstanding the warlike influences and habits of his life. He was the ruler of a race capable of appreciating intelligence, order, justice, and system; and, foreseeing the future power of this people, his chief attention during all the years of his reign was devoted to their advancement in learning, setting them an example in his own case by pressing forward diligently in his own studies, even in the midst of his overwhelming cares. It was not possible in those days to educate the masses, as there were no books; but Alfred made great efforts to promote the intellectual improvement of his people, which was all the more remarkable at that time when all other monarchs were ambitious only of their own power and personal glory. King Alfred wrote and translated many books, which were copied and, so far as it was possible, circulated amongst those who could read them. These writings of King Alfred exerted a wide influence. They remained in manuscript until the art of printing was invented, when many of them were printed. Some of the original manuscripts may still be seen in various English museums. One of the greatest of King Alfred’s measures was the founding of the great university of Oxford. He also repaired the castles, which had become dilapidated in the wars. He rebuilt the ruined cities, organized governments for them, restored the monasteries, and took pains to put men of learning and piety in charge of them. He revised the laws of his kingdom. Through all his reign, his desire was to lay lasting foundations for the permanent prosperity of his realm. His own life was governed by fixed principles of justice and of duty; and his calm, patient, unselfish character gave him a wide influence over his people, and made him a shining example of the truths he endeavored to impress upon them. King Alfred invented a plan for marking the different hours of the day by the burning of wax candles, so exactly made as to size that they would each burn a certain fixed time. The candles were each a foot long, and would burn four hours. They were divided into inches by marks upon them, and each inch would last twenty minutes. A large number of these candles were prepared, and a person was appointed to keep a succession of them burning in a chapel, and to ring bells to designate the successive periods of time denoted by their burning. There was one difficulty, however, which interfered somewhat with their exactness, which was that the blowing of any slight breeze or draught would make the burning uncertain. To obviate this trouble, King Alfred contrived a kind of lantern made of sheets of horn so thin that they were almost transparent. A plate of horn was set in each of the four sides of a box, which was fastened over the candle, thus forming a sort of rude lantern. This was the first lantern in England, and King Alfred is generally credited with being their first inventor; but as Diogenes, the Greek philosopher, was said to have carried a lantern in the old story, the English lantern of King Alfred may not have been the earliest ever invented. Alfred the Great was very systematic about the employment of his own time. He was accustomed to give one-third of the twenty-four hours to sleep and refreshment, one-third to business, and one-third to religious duties. Under this last head was probably included study, writing, and the management of ecclesiastical affairs. At length, however, at the close of King Alfred’s life, a famous Northman leader, named Hastings, landed in England, at the head of a large force, so that Alfred’s reign ended as it had begun,—in desperate and protracted conflicts with the Danes. Hastings had made one previous invasion into England, but Guthrum, faithful to his promise to Alfred, repulsed him. But Guthrum was now dead, and so King Alfred was forced to meet this tireless and implacable foe again. Year after year passed, during which a succession of battles were fought between the two nations, now the Danes gaining an advantage, now the Saxons. Hastings was finally expelled from England in 897, and once more Alfred’s kingdom was at peace. But King Alfred’s life was now drawing very near its close. His children had now grown to manhood, and repaid his love and care by endeavoring to imitate their illustrious father’s example. His eldest son Edward was to succeed King Alfred on the English throne. A daughter named Ethelfleda, who was married to a prince of Mercia, was famed all over England for the superiority of her mind, her many accomplishments, and her devoted piety. Alfred the Great was fifty-two years of age when he died. His body was interred in the great cathedral at Winchester, and the kingdom passed peacefully to his son. His own dying farewell to his son Edward is the best memorial encomium which can be passed upon his life, and he most truly earned the title of Alfred the Great,—great in wisdom, great in power, and, best of all, great in goodness; and his purified spirit passed from earth with these truly great words upon his dying lips:—
“Thou, my dear son, sit thee now beside me, and I will deliver thee true instructions. I feel that my hour is coming. My strength is gone; my countenance is wasted and pale; my days are almost ended. We must now part. I go to another world, and thou art left alone in the possession of all that I have thus far held. I pray thee, my dear child, to be a father to thy people. Be the children’s father and the widow’s friend. Comfort the poor, protect and shelter the weak, and, with all thy might, right that which is wrong. And, my son, govern thyself by law. Then shall the Lord love thee, and God himself shall be thy reward. Call thou upon Him to advise thee in all thy need, and He shall help thee to compass all thy desires.”