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veller entered the hut in which Alfred was alone, saying, "I am starving." Alfred could not resist such an appeal, and shared his last loaf with the unfortunate man; trusting for his future subsistence to that Providence which nourishes the ravens. He fell asleep in his solitude, and tradition says, that in the soft slumber which only attends the virtuous, a superior being appeared to him and spoke thus: "Thy misfortunes are at an end, King of the Saxons, thy throne now awaits thee; be in prosperity what thou hast been in misery.” Alfred heard these words, and after a few hours awoke with the dawn of hope. The shepherd had been fortunate in fishing, and the herdsmen had found one of their strayed sheep. But more important news called him to great undertakings. Odun, Earl of Devon, had fortified himself, and retired to Kinwith Castle, where a great number of dispersed Saxons had assembled under his banner. Hubba and Hinguar had just returned from Wales, with booty captured from the Saxons, whom they had pursued thither; and hoped to force Kinwith with little resistance, there remaining but little provision to the besieged garrison. They accordingly surrounded the castle, and cut off the water, thinking thereby to compel them to surrender.

Alfred's heart burned at the sufferings of his

people. He left Athelney, and repaired, disguised as a minstrel, to the encampment of the Danes. He sang to the lute old war-songs; the Northmen listened to him with eagerness, and led him to the tent of their commander. The king remained two days in the enemys' camp, and acquired a perfect knowledge of the whole situation of their army. He observed their carelessness, and their disdain of the Saxons whom they had so often vanquished. He summoned, by faithful messengers, his dispersed Saxons from the counties of Wilts, Hants, and Somerset, assembled them in the forest of Selwood, and at Egbert's stone united them under his standard.

Alfred presented himself before them arrayed in royal garments, and in all the glitter of a conqueror who would lead them, full of hope, against the enemy. He addressed them in a speech, which excited them to a bold attack:-"You have," said

he,

"the choice of being killed by the barbarians, leaving them your wives as victims, your children as slaves, and your country groaning under the heaviest of yokes; or to free your country, your children, your wives, and yourselves, by the danger of one day. Do not fear the martial courage and experience of your enemies: I have seen them— seen them as closely as possible, and I can assure

you they are not prepared for battle. They expect no enemy, and are perfectly ripe for a defeat; before the careless are awake, your swords will be in their bosoms."

The whole Saxon army clashed their shields, and a general shout rose to the skies: Alfred took care not to let such enthusiasm abate, and employed the whole night in approaching the Danes. At dawn of day, as the fires of the enemy expired, and most of them had sunk fast asleep, Alfred and his army rushed into the unguarded camp.

Just at that time Odun 14 sallied forth from Kinwith Castle with his garrison, whom despair had inflamed with a contempt for death. The warlike Northmen were beaten without resistance, and the embroidered raven, worked by the three sisters of Hubba, the general standard of the Scandinavians, on whose magic power, according to the superstitious notions of the Northmen, depended the victory, fell into the hands of Alfred.15 A few Danes only escaped in their vessels. The greater part of the defeated army found a secure position, which, however, only delayed their destruction for a few days. Alfred surrounded the flying Northmen with his victorious army; and in the second

week hunger and cold forced the disheartened brigands to surrender themselves to the king, in whose pity alone they still hoped for mercy. Alfred, satisfied with the humility of these dreaded warriors, offered them very moderate conditions of peace; Guthrum, the only commander who had escaped death, and thirty of the noblest warriors accepted baptism; Alfred himself gave the northern prince the name of Athelstan, and distributed among his new converts rich presents, Guthrum obtaining for his share the kingdoms of the East Saxons and Northumberland, in feudal possession.

Nations only gradually acquire a perfect knowledge of truth: long do they remain barbarians, and their wishes, like those of animals, are encompassed within the limits of necessity; but at last manners and arts begin to dawn, slowly the light increases, and noon succeeds to night, through twilight and the cooler morning hours,

Alfred forced the Northmen to baptize, and his object in doing so was of the best. By the ties of religion, he hoped to obtain of the wild warriors adherence to their promises, and to open to them the path by which they could escape eternal perdition: but the honest king perceived not, and the mundane priests knew not, that sprinkled water

alone cannot make Christians-that the fear of the sword of a conqueror cannot produce conviction, and that the dignity of baptism, the sign of incorporation in the society of the faithful, is profaned in a punishable manner, when urged upon individuals who do not acknowledge the truth and spirit of the action, and whose will does not obey the duties of religion.

No faithfulness to the king was observed by either Guthrum or his warriors, and it was necessary to attack them anew; for amongst the Saxon priests, none could be found possessed of sufficient ardour or wisdom to convert so great a mass of warriors, hardened by robbery and bloodshed. The solemn baptism of the formidable Northmen attracted the Saxon nobility to Weadmore. Alfred stepped himself to the altar and pronounced the name Guthrum should bear as a Christian, promising, for the converted, faithfulness to the belief which he accepted.

The King of the Saxons never neglected the welfare of his people; he projected the laws which should in future govern the Northmen, who settled themselves in the kingdom of the East-Saxons and Northumberland, which were signed by Guthrum. The latter directed himself to the territory ap

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