PREFACE These stories are first biographical, then historical. They are about English men and women whose lives were closely associated with, and whose characters influenced or controlled great events. Their lives mark turning-points in the history of the nation. Alfred the Great held his little kingdom against the Danes; he saved the Saxon people, of which he is the noble representative, from destruction by heathen hosts. William the Conqueror led a stirring life, battling against mutinous barons, jealous overlords, sturdy Saxons, and rebellious sons; he brought to Alfred's land the Norman race, which was to fuse with the Saxon and form a people greater than either, the English. Elizabeth met and overmatched the power of king and emperor; her "golden reign" brings us face to face with the beginning of modern England. Cromwell passed from the farm of St. Ives to the battlefield, thence to the throne-chair before, which all Europe bowed; he exemplified the spirit 3 and power of the English people roused in defense. of liberty and right. Victoria, the girl queen, advanced through serene, well-ordered years, to gracious and venerable old age; during her rule the colonial power of the great British empire was established on the principle of self-government. These lives, widely separated in time and character, show, without set intention, the development of the English nation and the English sovereignty. The little kingdom of Alfred endured a thousand years, and was, in the time of his descendant, Victoria, three united kingdoms with vast and scattered colonies. But his little kingdom Alfred governed absolutely, for the Witan's word was "yea, yea" to the able king. This Witan with its "yea" and "nay" developed into Parliament, which made itself the head of the nation and its ministry the hands, so that Alfred's descendant, Victoria, queen and empress though she was, had little more real power than her crown-was, like it, a symbol-a great and glorious symbol, it is true, of the unity of the British Empire. |