Hasting's army, and in 893 we shall again follow them to England, where this redoubtable chieftain once more landed to measure his fortune or his skill with that of Alfred, but failed more signally than his predecessors to make an impression on his enemy, who was not only the greatest monarch, but also the greatest warrior, of the age.

CHAP. XIX.

PRECAUTIONS OF ALFRED AGAINST FUTURE INVASIONS OF THE DANESSECOND TREATY WITH GUTHRUM SKIRMISHES WITH THE DANES STILL CONTINUE-ALFRED TAKES FOUR DANISH SHIPS-DANES BESIEGE ROCHESTER, WHICH IS RELIEVED BY THE KING-THE KING ATTACKS THE EAST-ANGLIAN DANES BY SEA-DEFEATS THEIR FLEET HIS OWN FLEET IS DEFEATED ON THE COAST OF ESSEX.

THE Conversion of Guthrum to Christianity could have been but nominal at the best: the defeat at Eddington, and the fortnight's siege which he endured within the lines of Bratton castle, were no doubt able instruments in compelling him to own allegiance to an earthly superior, who could claim no more than the homage of the lip; but they are altogether inefficient to produce that obedience of the heart, which is alone admitted in the service of the King of Heaven. Yet the thought of uniting the vanquished foe with his own people, not only under the same code of human laws, but as members of the same Church and professors of the same Faith, emanated from no other source than the capacious mind of Alfred.

We have already noticed the first outline of a treaty between the two kings. There exists, however, a second document, of similar character but of greater extent than the former, of which it is a sort of confirmation. Its object is principally to give laws to the Danes, who, being new converts, could not be very

well informed concerning the observances, principally religious, or at least intimately connected with religion, which formed the greater part of the code in a country where Christianity was established. But, for manifest reasons, these new statutes were addressed to Saxons as well as Danes, and for the most part the penalty for the breach of them was higher. It is therein enacted, that, forsaking Heathenism, they should worship One God and Him alone: that the peace of the Church should be inviolate, and the peace of the king unbroken: that if any one should renounce Christianity or promote heathenism, he should be punished, according to his offence, with a fine or the confiscation of his property. Then follow ordinances against misdemeanours in religious men, against incest, against the withholding of tithes, against buying, selling, or working on Sundays, against the neglect or desecration of the fasts which the Church enjoined, against trials of men on holidays and solemn fasts, against executing men on Sundays, against witches, against those who fors wear themselves, or are guilty of many other similar crimes.

These ordinances bear the names not only of Alfred and Guthrum, but of Alfred's son, who reigned after him, under the name of Edward the Elder. This circumstance has caused some embarrassment to critics and historians; for, as Alfred was married in 868, his eldest son Edward could have been scarcely ten years old in 878, when Alfred defeated the Danes at Ethandune. Guthrum also died in 890, which was ten years before Edward the Elder succeeded to the throne, on the death of his father Alfred. To explain this discrepancy it has been supposed, that the laws which form the second treaty between Alfred and Guthrum, were ⚫ See page 98.

enacted a few years later, when Prince Edward was growing into a young man, and was in some way or other associated with his father in the sovereignty, according to the ancient custom of the kings of Wessex.

Whilst legislation was thus employing a portion of the leisure which the king enjoyed, he was not ignorant that peace is best secured by a constant preparation for war. The great army of Danes which had so long over-run the island was now broken in battle, and had submitted to become a part and parcel of his subjects. His triumph was so complete, that the army of the formidable Hasting was fearful of encountering him in the flush of his victory, and after a short stay at Fulham, they carried their enmity and their devastations to foreign lands. That all the Danes in England were now at least nominally under the superior dominion of Alfred, is evident from the fact, that his name is connected in all such legal instruments as have come down to us, with the name of the local prince by whom the particular territory was governed. The peace, which Alfred's success against the Danes procured him, lasted fifteen years, a long period, contrasted with the brief breathing-time which they had formerly allowed him, between their attacks, and every observation which the contemporary writers have left behind them, seems to indicate that this precious time was improved by the king to the best advantage. For the Danes, though broken and baffled of their principal object, which was conquest or plunder on a large scale, yet continued in small bodies to harass the English coasts, and to make descents in particular places. There were also numerous bodies of freebooters, who had occupied different forts and strong places on the coast, from which they

issued in their small fleets, and plundered English and Danes alike; such piratical squadrons have always sprung out of the contests which are carried on between two states, in a half-barbaric age, and more especially in a war between naval states, and in seas abounding in islands which present superior facilities for the growth and maintenance of a piratical navy".

The course of military and naval events in England between the years 878 and 893 presents little of much importance: no battles are recorded which could endanger the safety of the kingdom, or interfere with the plans of domestic utility which engaged the attention of the king. The warlike enterprise which the Danes undertook for the purpose of annoying the English, or which the latter made in their own defence, were few in number and of little magnitude, compared with the struggle for national existence from which they had escaped.

It may be convenient to follow the same mode in relating these minor campaigns, which has been adopted in describing the adventures of their old enemies in France, and to throw them all into one continuous narrative.

The first of these skirmishes took place by sea in 882; for Alfred, intent upon creating a navy, had

b Witness the buccaneers of the West Indian islands, who grew out of the wars between the English and the Spaniards.

"About this time," says Turner, [p. 575, note 10.]“kings seem to have thought of navies. In 888, Mahomet, the Saracen king in Corduba, ordered ships to be built at Corduba, Hispali, and in other places where wood abounded. Of this king it is said, that as he was walking in his garden, a soldier exclaimed, 'What a beautiful place! what a delightful day! How charming would life be if death never came!'-'You are wrong,' answered Mahomet; if death never had