King Alfred of England

King Alfred of England

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Title: King Alfred of England Makers of History
Author: Jacob Abbott
Release Date: August 18, 2005 [EBook #16545]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
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[Illustration: ALFRED THE GREAT]
MAKERS of HISTORY
KING ALFRED OF ENGLAND

BY JACOB ABBOTT
ILLUSTRATED
NEW YORK AND LONDON
HARPER & BROTHERS PUBLISHERS

Entered, according to Act of Congress, in the year one thousand eight
hundred and forty-nine, by
HARPER & BROTHERS,
In the Clerk's Office of the District Court of the Southern District of
New York.

PREFACE.
It is the object of this series of histories to present a clear, distinct, and
connected narrative of the lives of those great personages who have in
various ages of the world made themselves celebrated as leaders among
mankind, and, by the part they have taken in the public affairs of great
nations, have exerted the widest influence on the history of the human
race. The end which the author has had in view is twofold: first, to
communicate such information in respect to the subjects of his
narratives as is important for the general reader to possess; and,
secondly, to draw such moral lessons from the events described and the
characters delineated as they may legitimately teach to the people of the
present age. Though written in a direct and simple style, they are
intended for, and addressed to, minds possessed of some considerable
degree of maturity, for such minds only can fully appreciate the
character and action which exhibits itself, as nearly all that is described
in these volumes does, in close combination with the conduct and
policy of governments, and the great events of international history.

CONTENTS
CHAPTER
I.
THE BRITONS II. THE ANGLO-SAXONS III. THE DANES IV.
ALFRED'S EARLY YEARS V. THE STATE OF ENGLAND VI.
ALFRED'S ACCESSION TO THE THRONE VII. REVERSES VIII.
THE SECLUSION IX. REASSEMBLING OF THE ARMY X. THE
VICTORY OVER THE DANES XI. THE REIGN XII. THE CLOSE
OF LIFE

ILLUSTRATIONS
WALL OF SEVERUS SAXON MILITARY CHIEF THE SEA KINGS
LOTHBROC AND HIS FALCON ANCIENT CORONATION CHAIR
THE FIRST BRITISH FLEET ALFRED WATCHING THE CAKES
PORTRAIT OF ALFRED HASTINGS BESIEGED IN THE CHURCH

ALFRED THE GREAT
CHAPTER I.
THE BRITONS.
Alfred the Great figures in history as the founder, in some sense, of the
British monarchy. Of that long succession of sovereigns who have held
the scepter of that monarchy, and whose government has exerted so
vast an influence on the condition and welfare of mankind, he was not,
indeed, actually the first. There were several lines of insignificant
princes before him, who governed such portions of the kingdom as they
individually possessed, more like semi-savage chieftains than English

kings. Alfred followed these by the principle of hereditary right, and
spent his life in laying broad and deep the foundations on which the
enormous superstructure of the British empire has since been reared. If
the tales respecting his character and deeds which have come down to
us are at all worthy of belief, he was an honest, conscientious,
disinterested, and far-seeing statesman. If the system of hereditary
succession would always furnish such sovereigns for mankind, the
principle of loyalty would have held its place much longer in the world
than it is now likely to do, and great nations, now republican, would
have been saved a vast deal of trouble and toil expended in the election
of their rulers.
Although the period of King Alfred's reign seems a very remote one as
we look back toward it from the present day, it was still eight hundred
years after the Christian era that he ascended his throne. Tolerable
authentic history of the British realm mounts up through these eight
hundred years to the time of Julius Cæsar. Beyond this the ground is
covered by a series of romantic and fabulous tales, pretending to be
history, which extend back eight hundred years further to the days of
Solomon; so that a much longer portion of the story of that
extraordinary island comes before than since the days of Alfred. In
respect, however to all that pertains to the interest and importance of
the narrative, the exploits and the arrangements of Alfred are the
beginning.
The histories, in fact, of all nations, ancient and modern, run back
always into misty regions of