THUS quoth Alfred, England's darling:

"Would ye now live and long after your Lord! And He would you [make to] know wise things, How you might world's worship obtain.

And eke your souls unite to Christ!"

Wise were the quotations that said the king Alfred.
Mildly I mind you, my dear friend, poor
And rich, loving, that ye all dread your

Lord Christ, love Him and like, for He is

Lord of life: he is one God over all goodness.

He is one bliss over all blessedness.

He is one man, mild master: He one folk's father [common father],

And darling: He is one right wise and rich King,

That him not shall fail naught of his will

Who Him here in world worship and honour."

THUS quoth Alfred, England's comfort.
"He may no right king be under Christ's self,
But [unless] he be book-learned, and wise of law,
And he his writs well know, and he can

Letters look himself, how he shall his land
Lawfully hold."

THUS quoth Alfred, England's comfort:

"The earl and the atheling too be under the king, The land to lead with lawful deed;

Both the clerk and the knight with evenly right:

For after that the man soweth,

Thereafter he moweth;

And every man's doom to his own door cometh."

THUS quoth Alfred: "The knight behoveth Cunningly to mow for to work the land

Of hunger, and of death,

That the Church have grith [quiet], and the churl be in

frith [freedom],

His seeds to sow, his meads to mow,

His ploughs to drive to our all behoof:

This is the knight's law to look that it well fare.”

So far the translation is equivalent to the original. Of that which follows, Spelman has not given the original.

THUS quoth Alfred: "Without wisdom wealth is worth little. Though a man had an hundred and seventy acres sown with gold, and all grew like corn, yet were all that wealth worth nothing, unless that of an enemy one could make it become his friend. For what differs gold from a stone, but by discrete using of it?"

THUS quoth Alfred: "A young man must never give himself to evil, though good befals him not to his mind, nor though he enjoys not every thing he would: for Christ can when He will give good after evil and wealth after grace. Happy is he that is made for it."

THUS quoth Alfred: "A wise child is the blessing of his father. If thou hast a child, while it is little, teach it the precepts that belong to a man; and when it is grown up it will follow them; then shall thy child become such as shall recompense thee; but if thou lettest him go after his own will, when he cometh to age it will grieve him sore, and he shall curse him that had the tuition of him: then shall thy child transgress thy admonition, and it would be better for thee that thou hadst no child; for a child unborn is better than one unbeaten."

THUS quoth Alfred: "If thou growest into age, hast wealth, and canst take no pleasure, nor hast strength to govern thyself, then thank thy Lord for all that he hath sent thee, for thy own life, and for the day's light, and for all the pleasures he hath made for man; and whatsoever becometh of thee, say thou, come what come will, God's will be welcome."

THUS quoth Alfred: "Worldly wealth at last cometh to the worms and all the glory of it to dust, and our life is soon gone. And though one had the rule of all this middle world,

and of the wealth in it; yet could he keep his life but a short while. All thy happiness would but work thy misery, unless thou couldest purchase thee Christ. Therefore, when we lead our lives as God hath taught us, we then best serve ourselves. For then be assured that He will support us; for so said Salomon, that wise man; Well is he that doeth good in this world, for at last he cometh where he findeth it."

THUS quoth Alfred: " My dear son, set thee now beside me, and I will deliver thee true instructions. My son, I feel that my hour is coming. My countenance is wan. My.... My days are almost done. We must now part. I shall to another world, and thou shalt be left alone in all my wealth. I pray thee (for thou art my dear child) strive to be a father and a lord to thy people, be thou the children's father and the widow's friend, comfort thou the poor and shelter the weak; and with all thy might, right that which is wrong. And, son, govern thyself by law, then shall the Lord love thee, and God above all things shall be thy reward. Call thou upon Him to advise thee in all thy need, and so He shall help thee the better to compass that which thou wouldest."

No. III. DESCRIPTION OF ALFRED'S GEM.

(See Frontispiece.)

THE author of this work has been kindly permitted to insert, by way of frontispiece, an Engraving of a beautiful Gem, formerly worn by King Alfred, and now preserved in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. The Engraving was made by order of the Rev. Dr. Silver, to embellish a small volume which that Gentleman published several years ago on the "Coronation Service, or Consecration of the AngloSaxon Kings, as it illustrates the Origin of the Constitution, by the Rev. Thomas Silver, D.C.L. of St. John's College, Oxford; formerly Anglo-Saxon Professor. Oxford, printed by W. Baxter, for J. Parker; and J. Murray, London. 1831."

The same author, in a "Letter to the Duke of Marlborough and the Right Hon. Baron Churchill, Lay-Rectors of the manor and parish of Charlbury, on the sacrilege and impolicy of the forced Commutation of Tithes, &c. Oxford 1842," has made some further observations on the subject, modifying the explanation which he had given of the Gem in the former work. The Gem is also engraved in the Marmora Oxoniensia, and in Gough's Camden, vol. i. p. 97; but both these representations are infinitely inferior to the exact delineation of it which forms our frontispiece. The main substance or setting of the Gem is of pure gold, containing coloured stones, cased in a remarkably thick crystal, and, though manufactured nearly a thousand years ago, it is in perfect preservation, and only looks a little dull and dingy for the great length of time that has passed over it. The length of the Gem is about two inches, and it is about half an inch thick. Round the edge are engraved the words ALFRED MEC HEHT GEWYRCAN, Alfred had me worked, in pierced gold letters. The narrow end of the Gem, at which the first and last words of this inscription meet, is formed into the head of a griffin, the national emblem of the Saxons, having in its mouth a strong gold rivet, to which a chain was doubtlessly attached; and its flat form indicates that it must have been worn on the breast dependent from the chain that passed round the neck, in a way similar to ornaments which are still worn by kings and queens on state occasions.

The back of the Gem is quite flat, and ornamented with a flower, wrought in gold, without stones.

The front or principal face of the relic is smaller than the back, in consequence of the edge sloping inwards a little all round, so that the words engraved on it do not stand upright, a contrivance probably adopted, for the purpose of giving more effect to the front of the jewel, and making it stand out in stronger relief. The back-ground is composed of a blue stone, on which appears a human figure clothed in the green Saxon military vest or tunic, and girt with a belt, from which a strap

for a sword depends towards the left side. The figure is seated on the throne, with a cyne-helm or crown on its head, and on either hand he holds a sceptre, branching out, over the shoulders, into fleurs de lis. Dr. Hickes, in his Thesaurus, [vol. i. p. 144.]a expresses his doubt whether the figure may have been intended to represent Jesus Christ, or St. Cuthbert, who was a patron of King Alfred, and is said in an old legend to have assisted him in his distress. On this subject Dr. Silver observes, "I thought formerly, that the figure in the Gem was a type of Alfred's office as king; but I am now convinced, that the figure itself is that of Jesus Christ, notwithstanding that it is clothed in the military vest of the Saxons; for it was the custom of those times to draw characters in their own dresses. The position of the image is founded on a passage in the 45th Psalm, verse 3, and which is still retained in the present Coronation Service; where the Bishop says, ' Remember of whom it is said, Gird thyself with thy sword upon thy thigh, O thou most Mighty.' "This is therefore our Saviour, the belt of the sword being seen surmounted with fleur de lis. Our Saviour, as the Melchizedec, carries the double Sceptre, one on each shoulder, the long Sceptre representing the invisible Church in heaven, the shorter that on earth; both are surmounted with fleur de lis, or lilies, and both Sceptres meet at a given point. Alfred was the first sovereign who was crowned with the Tithe inherent in it, as attached to the order of Melchizedec. As the Anglo-Saxon Kings and also the Normans considered themselves as the Gespelia or messengers of Christ, or the Vicarii Christi in terra, Alfred, under these impressions of his state, ordered this image of our Saviour to be made, and He wore it round his neck, from which probably it dropped.

"Connecting this picture of Christ as the Melchizedec,

a See also Musgrave, Phil. Trans. p. 247. Geta Brit. 1716, and Wise's Asser, Vita Alf. p. 171.

b See page 227 of the present work.