who surrounded him; others, by some spite of the devil, who is ever jealous of the good; others, from an unusual kind of fever. He had this sort of severe disease from his childhood: but once, Divine Providence so ordered it, that when he was on a visit to Cornwall for the sake of hunting, and had turned out of the road to pray in a certain chapel, in which rests the body of St. Guerir, and now also St. Neot rests there for King Alfred was always, from his infancy, a frequent visitor of holy places for the sake of prayer and almsgiving—he prostrated himself for private devotion, and, after some time spent therein, he entreated of God's mercy that, in His boundless clemency, He would exchange the torments of the malady which then afflicted him for some other lighter disease; but with this condition, that such disease should not show itself outwardly in his body, lest he should be an object of contempt, and less able to benefit mankind: for he had great dread of leprosy or blindness, or any such complaint, as makes men useless or contemptible when it afflicts them. When he had finished his prayers, he proceeded on his journey, and not long after he felt within him that, by the hand of the Almighty, he was healed, according to his request, of his disorder, and that it was entirely eradicated, although he had first had even this complaint in the flower of his youth, by his devout and pious prayers and supplications to Almighty God. For, if I may be allowed to speak briefly, but in a somewhat preposterous order, of his zealous piety to God, in the flower of his youth, before he entered the marriage state, he wished to strengthen his mind in the observance of God's commandments, for he perceived that he could with difficulty abstain from gratifying his carnal desires; and, because he feared the anger of God if he should do anything contrary to His will, he used often to rise in the morning at the cock-crow, and go to pray in the churches and at the relics of the saints. There he prostrated himself on the ground, and prayed that God, in His mercy, would strengthen his mind still more in His service by some infirmity such as he might bear, but not such as would render him imbecile and contemptible in his worldly duties; and when he had often prayed with

much devotion to this effect, after an interval of some time, Providence vouchsafed to afflict him with the abovenamed disease, which he bore long and painfully for many years, and even despaired of life, until he entirely got rid of it by his prayers. But, sad to say! it was replaced, as we have said, at his marriage, by another which incessantly tormented him, night and day, from the twentieth to the forty-fourth year of his life. But if ever, by God's mercy, he was relieved from this infirmity for a single day or night, yet the fear and dread of that dreadful malady never left him, but rendered him almost useless, as he thought, for every duty, whether human or divine."

The story is told in the ecclesiastical manner. Those very persons, however, who deride the statement of the biographer and the faith of the sufferer, acknowledge, whenever they attend divine service, the efficacy of prayer and the working of miracles. Day after day-all day long and all night—from cathedral and from church; whenever the family meet for devotion; whenever the mother prays for her children, the wife for her husband, the maiden for her betrothed;— all together pray for miracles. They ask that the laws of nature may be suspended; that the rain may cease; that dry weather may be granted to a saturated land; that the storm that sweeps the ocean may be turned aside from one ship; that the bullets of the enemy may be diverted from one breast. All is miracle for which we pray. The granting of prayer is a miracle. How, then, shall we make objection to Asser because he relates a miracle, or to Alfred because he saw in the change of his sufferings a miraculous answer to his prayer? Let us deny that prayers are answered, and then we may deny that miracles take place.

What was this mysterious disease? It has

been suggested that it was epilepsy. I have no theory to offer. But the conditions, whatever the disease, are clear and simple. It was a malady which was incurable by the medical science of the time. Certainly this condition leaves the door open to a long train of diseases. In addition, it was a disease which subjected the king to continual pain. Yet it was not a disease which destroyed his strength or sapped his energies. In spite of his suffering, he could still swing that terrible battle-axe of his in the front of the battle; he could still spend laborious days with his counsellors; he could read, listen, translate; he could still, and to the very end, take, order, and design steps for the good of his people. Whatever the suffering, he triumphed over it; perhaps he made a ladder of it for climbing higher. He endured in patience, and until it killed him he would not give way to it. What disease is there of all the multitudinous catalogue of the ills which plague humanity which satisfies these conditions: tortures, but not exhausts; is constant in its pain, but does not destroy the strength; leaves the patient but little respite, but does not weaken his will or darken his mind? I know not.

CHAPTER III.

ALFRED'S WARS.

THE whole of the ninth century was one longcontinued time of war. The kings fought against each other; nation was divided against nation; they fought the Welsh of Cumberland, Wales, and

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Cornwall; they fought the raiders from Norway; they fought the invaders from Denmark. When Alfred succeeded, the land, as he said, was spoiled by the heathen folk." In the appendix to "dethis chapter I have drawn up a list from the Chronicle of the battles which were fought upon the soil of England during this century.

Briefly, Egbert died in 836, and the 'supremacy of Wessex practically died with him. Ethelwulf, his son, who succeeded him, was already in middle life, and the father of at least one son arrived at manhood. This son, Athelstan, he made under-king of Kent and of the South Saxons, keeping himself free from Wessex and the British enemies of Cornwall. Of Athelstan we hear, in 851, when with Elcherc the ealdorman, he met and fought the enemy in ships off Sandwich, taking some of their vessels, but not able to prevent them wintering in Thanet-the first of many winterings on English ground.

This is the last we hear of a Saxon fleet until Alfred once more created a naval force. It was in this year that Ethelwulf, with his son Ethelbald, fought the northernmen at Ockley in Surrey, and "there made the greatest slaughter of the heathen that we have heard reported to the present day." Nothing more is said about Athelstan; but five years later we find the third son, Ethelbert, taking his place as under-king of Kent and Sussex.

In 860 Ethelbald died, after a short reign of five years, and was succeeded by his brother Ethelbert. In his reign the heathen landed on the coast of Hampshire-probably at Southamp ton-and stormed Winchester, but were defeated and put to flight by the

In 865 the Danes made peace with the Kentish men from their winter quarters in Thanet, taking money in return for the promise of peace. They broke their pledge, however, and overran Kent, ravaging the whole country.

In 866 Ethelbert died, and was succeeded by his fourth brother, Ethelred. In that year another great army of Danes came over and made their winter quarters in East Anglia, where the people provided them with horses, and bought peace of them at a price.

In 867 they left East Anglia, and went into Northumbria; at York, where they were settled in the autumn for their winter quarters, the Northumbrians attacked them, broke into the town, and killed a great many, but were themselves driven out with the loss of both their kings. They then, we hear, "made peace," i.e. bought peace, "with the army." Observe that we have here the third example of a weakness which was a direct encouragement to the enemy; the people bought peace in Kent, bought peace in East Anglia, bought peace in Northumbria. What kind of respect would the Danes hold towards a people which bought peace instead of winning peace at the sword-point? Therefore we are in no way surprised when we find them going into Mercia the following year, and taking up their winter quarters at Nottingham. Then the King of Mercia, Burhred, who was married to Ethelwulf's daughter, asked the assistance of King Ethelred, his brother-in-law. Observe that the assistance is no longer claimed as it would have been if the supremacy of Wessex had been maintained. Wessex is now only another and a sister kingdom. Ethelred marched to his brother-in