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13 - King Alfred of England by Jacob Abbott · King Alfred of England

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  Speaker 1: Chapter twelve of King Alfred of England. This is a
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  Speaker 1: King Alfred of England by Jacob Abbott, Chapter twelve, The
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  Speaker 1: Close of Life. It was twelve or fifteen years after
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  Speaker 1: Alfred's restoration to his kingdom by means of the victory
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  Speaker 1: at Edin Dune, that the great invasion of Hastings occurred.
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  Speaker 1: That victory took place in the year eight seventy eight.
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  Speaker 1: It was in the years eight ninety three to eight
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  Speaker 1: ninety seven that Hastings and his horde of followers infested
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  Speaker 1: the island, and in nine hundred Alfred died, so that
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  Speaker 1: his reign ended as it had commenced, with protracted and
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  Speaker 1: desperate conflicts with the Danes. Hastings was an old and
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  Speaker 1: successful soldier. Before he came to England. He had led
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  Speaker 1: a wild life for many years as a sea king
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  Speaker 1: on the German Ocean, performing deeds which in our day
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  Speaker 1: entail upon the perpetrator of them the infamy of piracy
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  Speaker 1: and murder, but which then entitled the hero of them
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  Speaker 1: to a very widespread and honorable fame. Afterward, Hastings landed
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  Speaker 1: upon the continent and pursued for a long time a
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  Speaker 1: glorious career of victory and plunder in France. In these enterprises,
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  Speaker 1: the tide indeed sometimes turned against him. On one occasion,
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  Speaker 1: for instance, he found himself obliged to give way before
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  Speaker 1: his enemies, and he retreated to a church, which he
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  Speaker 1: seized and fortified, making his castle, until a more favorable
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  Speaker 1: aspect of his affairs enabled him to issue forth from
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  Speaker 1: his retreat and take the field again. Still, he was
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  Speaker 1: generally very successful in his enterprises. His terrible ferocity and
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  Speaker 1: that of his savage followers were dreaded in every part
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  Speaker 1: of the civilized world. Hastings had made one previous invasion
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  Speaker 1: of England, but Gunthrum, faithful to his covenants with Alfred,
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  Speaker 1: repulsed him. But Gunthram was now dead and Alfred had
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  Speaker 1: to contend against his formidable enemy alone. Hastings selected a
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  Speaker 1: point on the southern coast of England for his landing.
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  Speaker 1: Gunthrim's Danes still continued to occupy the eastern part of England,
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  Speaker 1: and Hastings went round on the southern coast until he
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  Speaker 1: got beyond their boundaries, as if he wished to avoid
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  Speaker 1: doing anything directly to awaken their hostility. Gunthram himself, while
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  Speaker 1: he lived, had evinced a determination to oppose hastings plans
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  Speaker 1: of invasion. Hastings did not know now that Gunthrim was dead,
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  Speaker 1: whether his successors would oppose him or not. He determined
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  Speaker 1: at all events to respect their territory, and he so
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  Speaker 1: passed along on the southern shore of England till he
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  Speaker 1: was beyond their limits, and then prepared to land. He
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  Speaker 1: had assembled a large force of his own, and he
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  Speaker 1: was joined in addition to them by many adventurers who
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  Speaker 1: came out to attach themselves to his expedition. From the
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  Speaker 1: bays and islands and harbors which he passed on his way.
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  Speaker 1: His fleet amounted to at least two hundred and fifty vessels.
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  Speaker 1: They arrived at length at a part of the coast
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  Speaker 1: where there extends a vast tract of low and swampy land,
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  Speaker 1: which was then a wild and dismal morass. This tract,
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  Speaker 1: which is known in modern times by the name of
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  Speaker 1: the Romney Marshes, is of enormous extent, containing as it does,
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  Speaker 1: fifty thousand acres. It is now reclaimed and is defended
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  Speaker 1: by a broad and well constructed dike from the inroads
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  Speaker 1: of the sea. In Hastings time, it was a vast
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  Speaker 1: waste of bogs and mire, utterly impassable except by means
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  Speaker 1: of a river, which, meandering sluggishly through the tangled wilderness
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  Speaker 1: of weeds and bushes in a deep black stream, found
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  Speaker 1: an outlet at last to the sea. Hastings took its
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  Speaker 1: vessels into this river, and, following its turnings for some miles,
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  Speaker 1: he conducted them at last to a place where he
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  Speaker 1: found more solid ground to land upon. But this ground,
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  Speaker 1: though solid, was almost as wild and solidlitary as the morass.
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  Speaker 1: It was a forest of vast extent, which showed no
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  Speaker 1: signs of human occupancy, except that the peasants who lived
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  Speaker 1: in the surrounding regions had to come down to the
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  Speaker 1: lowest point accessible and were building a rude fortification there.
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  Speaker 1: Hastings attacked them and drove them away, then advancing a
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  Speaker 1: little further until he found an advantageous position. He built
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  Speaker 1: a strong fortress himself and established his army within its lines.
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  Speaker 1: His next measure was to land another force near the
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  Speaker 1: mouth of the Thames and bring them into the country
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  Speaker 1: until he found a strong position where he could entrench
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  Speaker 1: and fortify the second division as he had done the first.
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  Speaker 1: These two positions were but a short distance from each other.
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  Speaker 1: He made the combined center of his operations, going from
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  Speaker 1: them in all directions and plundering excursions. Alfred soon raised
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  Speaker 1: an army and advanced to attack him and these operations
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  Speaker 1: with a commencement of a long and tedious war. A
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  Speaker 1: detailed description of the events of this war, the marches
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  Speaker 1: and counter marches, the battles and sieges, the various successes
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  Speaker 1: first of one party and then of the other, given
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  Speaker 1: historically in the order of time, would be as tedious
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  Speaker 1: to read as the war itself was to endure. Alfred
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  Speaker 1: was very cautious in all his operations, preferring rather to
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  Speaker 1: trust the plan of wearing out the enemy by cutting
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  Speaker 1: off their resources and hemming them constantly, in than to
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  Speaker 1: incur the risk of a great decisive battle. In fact, watchfulness, caution,
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  Speaker 1: and delay are generally the policy of the invaded when
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  Speaker 1: a powerful force has succeeded in establishing itself among them,
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  Speaker 1: while on the other hand, the hope of the invaders
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  Speaker 1: lies ordinarily in prompt and decided action. Alfred was well
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  Speaker 1: aware of this, and made all his arrangements with a
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  Speaker 1: view to cutting off hastings supplies, shutting him up into
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  Speaker 1: as narrow a compass as possible, heading him off in
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  Speaker 1: all his predatory excursions, intercepting all detachments, and thus reducing
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  Speaker 1: him at length to the necessity of surrender. At one time.
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  Speaker 1: Soon after the war began, Hastings, true to the character
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  Speaker 1: of his nation for treachery and stratagem, pretended that he
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  Speaker 1: was ready to surrender and open a negotiation. For this purpose.
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  Speaker 1: He agreed to leave the kingdom if Alfred would allow
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  Speaker 1: him to depart peacefully, and also, which was a point
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  Speaker 1: of great importance in Alfred's estimation, to have his two
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  Speaker 1: sons baptized. While, however, these negotiations were going on between
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  Speaker 1: the two camps, Alfred suddenly found that the main body
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  Speaker 1: of Hastings army had stolen away in the rear and
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  Speaker 1: were marching off by stealth to another part of the country.
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  Speaker 1: The negotiations were of course immediately abandoned, and Alfred set
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  Speaker 1: off with all his forces in full pursuit. All hopes
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  Speaker 1: of peace were given up, and the usual series of sieges, maneuverings,
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  Speaker 1: battles and retreats was resumed again. On one occasion, Alfred
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  Speaker 1: succeeded in taking possession of Hastings camp when he had
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  Speaker 1: left it insecurity as he supposed to go off for
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  Speaker 1: a time by sea. On an expedition, Alfred's soldiers found
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  Speaker 1: Hastings wife and children in the camp and took them prisoners.
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  Speaker 1: They sent the terrified captives to Alfred to suffer, as
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  Speaker 1: they supposed, the long and cruel confinement, or the violent
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  Speaker 1: death to which the usages of those days consigned such
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  Speaker 1: unhappy prisoners. Alfred baptized the children and then sent them
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  Speaker 1: with their mother, loaded with presents and proofs of kindness,
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  Speaker 1: back to Hastings. Again. This generosity made no impression upon
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  Speaker 1: the heart of Hastings, or at least it produced no
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  Speaker 1: effect upon his conduct. He continued the war as energetically
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  Speaker 1: as ever. Months passed away and new reinforcements arrived, until
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  Speaker 1: at length he felt strong enough to undertake an excursion
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  Speaker 1: into the very heart of the country. He moved on
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  Speaker 1: for a time with triumphant success. But this very success
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  Speaker 1: was soon the means of turning the current against him again.
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  Speaker 1: It aroused the whole country through which he was passing.
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  Speaker 1: The inhabitants flocked to arms. They assembled at every rallying point,
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  Speaker 1: and drawing up on all sides, near and nearer to
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  Speaker 1: Hastings's army, they finally stopped his march and forced him
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  Speaker 1: to call all his forces in and intrench himself in
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  Speaker 1: the first place of retreat that he could find. Thus,
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  Speaker 1: his very success was the means of turning his good
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  Speaker 1: fortune into disaster. And then, in the same way, the
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  Speaker 1: success of Alfred and the Saxons soon brought disaster upon
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  Speaker 1: them too in their turn. For after succeeding and shutting
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  Speaker 1: Hastens closely in and cutting off his supplies of food,
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  Speaker 1: they maintained their watch and ward over their imprisoned enemies
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  Speaker 1: so closely as to reduce them to extreme distress, a
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  Speaker 1: distress and suffering which they thought would end in their
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  Speaker 1: complete and absolute submission. Instead of ending thus, however, it
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  Speaker 1: aroused them to desperation. Under the influence of the frenzy
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  Speaker 1: which such hopeless sufferings produce in characters like theirs, they
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  Speaker 1: burst out one day from their place of confinement, and,
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  Speaker 1: after a terrible conflict, was choked up a river which
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  Speaker 1: they had to pass with dead bodies and dyed its
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  Speaker 1: waters with blood. The great body of the starving desperadoes
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  Speaker 1: made their escape, and in a wild and furious excitement,
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  Speaker 1: half a triumph and half a retreat, they went back
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  Speaker 1: to the eastern coast of the island, where they found
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  Speaker 1: secure places of refuge to receive them. In the course
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  Speaker 1: of the subsequent campaigns, a party of the Danes came
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  Speaker 1: up the River Thames with a fleet of their vessels,
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  Speaker 1: and an account is given by some of the ancient
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  Speaker 1: historians of a measure which Alfred restored to entrap them.
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  Speaker 1: In the course of the subsequent campaigns, a party of
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  Speaker 1: the Danes came up the River Thames with a fleet
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  Speaker 1: of their vessels, and an account is given by some
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  Speaker 1: of the ancient historians of a measure which Alfred resorted
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  Speaker 1: to entrap them, which would seem to be scarcely credible.
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  Speaker 1: The account is that he altered the course of the
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  Speaker 1: river by digging new channels for it, so as to
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  Speaker 1: leave the vessels all aground, when, of course they became
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  Speaker 1: helpless and fell as easy prey to the attackers of
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  Speaker 1: their enemies. That is at least a very improbable statement
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  Speaker 1: for a river like the Thames, occupies always the lowest
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  Speaker 1: channel of the land through which it passes to the sea. Besides,
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  Speaker 1: such a river, in order that it should be possible
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  Speaker 1: for vessels to ascend it from the ocean, must have
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  Speaker 1: the surface of its water very near to the level
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  Speaker 1: of the surface of the ocean. There can therefore be
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  Speaker 1: no place to which such waters could be drawn off,
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  Speaker 1: unless into a valley below the level of the sea.
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  Speaker 1: All such valleys, whenever they exist in the interior of
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  Speaker 1: a country, necessarily get filled with water from brooks and rains,
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  Speaker 1: and so become lakes or inland seas. It is probable, therefore,
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  Speaker 1: that it was some other operation which Alfred performed to
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  Speaker 1: imprison the hostile vessels in the river, more possible in
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  Speaker 1: its own nature than the drawing off of the waters
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  Speaker 1: of the Thames from their ancient bed. Year after year
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  Speaker 1: passed on, and though neither the Saxons nor the Danes
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  Speaker 1: gained any very permanent, decisive victories, the invaders were gradually
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  Speaker 1: losing ground, being driven from one entrenchment and one stronghold
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  Speaker 1: to another, until at last their only places of refuge
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  Speaker 1: were their ships and the harbors along the margin of
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  Speaker 1: the sea. Alfred followed on and occupied the country as
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  Speaker 1: fast as the enemy was driven away, And when at
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  Speaker 1: last they began to seek refuge in their ships, he
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  Speaker 1: advanced to the shore and began to form plans for
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  Speaker 1: building ships, and manning and equipping a fleet to pursue
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  Speaker 1: his retiring enemies upon their own element. In this undertaking
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  Speaker 1: he proceeded in the same calm, deliver and effectual manner
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  Speaker 1: as in all his preceding measures. He built his vessels
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  Speaker 1: with great care. He made them twice as long as
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  Speaker 1: those of the Danes. He placed themselves to make them
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  Speaker 1: more steady, more safe, and capable of carrying a crew
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  Speaker 1: of rowers, so numerous as to be more active and
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  Speaker 1: swift than the vessels of the enemy. When these naval
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  Speaker 1: preparations were made, Alfred began to look out for an
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  Speaker 1: object of attack on which he could put their efficiency
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  Speaker 1: to the test. He soon heard of a fleet of
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  Speaker 1: the Northman's vessels on the coast of the Isle of Wight,
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  Speaker 1: and he sent to fleet of his own ships to
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  Speaker 1: attack them. He charged the commander of this fleet to
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  Speaker 1: be sparing of life, but to capture the ships and
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  Speaker 1: take the men, bringing as many as possible to him unharmed.
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  Speaker 1: There were nine of the English vessels, and when they
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  Speaker 1: reached the Isle of Wight, they found six vessels of
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  Speaker 1: the Danes in a harbor there. Three of these Danish
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  Speaker 1: vessels were afloat and came out boldly to attack Alfred's armament.
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  Speaker 1: The other three were upon the shore where they had
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  Speaker 1: been left by the tide, and were of course disabled
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  Speaker 1: and defenseless until the water should rise and float them again.
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  Speaker 1: Under these circumstances, it would seem that the victory for
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  Speaker 1: Albert's fleet would have been easy and sure, and at
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  Speaker 1: first the result was in fact in Alfred's favor. Of
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  Speaker 1: the three ships that came out to meet him, two
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  Speaker 1: were captured and one escaped, with only five men left
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  Speaker 1: on board of it alive. The Saxon ships, after thus
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  Speaker 1: disposing of the three living and moving enemies, pushed boldly
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  Speaker 1: into the harbor to attack those which were lying lifeless
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  Speaker 1: on the sands. They found, however, that though successful in
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  Speaker 1: the encounter with the active and the powerful, they were
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  Speaker 1: destined to disaster and defeat in approaching the defenseless. In
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  Speaker 1: the week they got aground themselves in approaching the shoals,
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  Speaker 1: on which the vessels of their enemies were lying. The
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  Speaker 1: tide receded and left three of the vessels on the sands,
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  Speaker 1: and kept the rest so separated and so embarrassed by
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  Speaker 1: the difficulties and dangers of their situation as to expose
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  Speaker 1: the whole force to the most imminent danger. There was
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  Speaker 1: a fierce contest in boats and on the shore. Both
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  Speaker 1: parties suffered very severely, and finally the Danes, getting first released,
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  Speaker 1: made their escape and put to sea. Notwithstanding this partial discomfiture,
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  Speaker 1: Alfred soon succeeded in driving the ships of the Danes
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  Speaker 1: office coast, and in thus completing the deliverance of his country.
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  Speaker 1: Hastings himself went to France, where he spent the remainder
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  Speaker 1: of his days in some territories which he had previously conquered,
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  Speaker 1: enjoying while he continued to live and for many ages
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  Speaker 1: afterward a very extended and honorable fame. Such exploits as
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  Speaker 1: those which he had performed, conferred in those days upon
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  Speaker 1: the hero who performed them a very high distinction, the
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  Speaker 1: luster of which seems not to have been at all
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  Speaker 1: tarnished in the opinions of mankind by any ideas of
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  Speaker 1: the violence and wrong which the commissions of such deeds involved.
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  Speaker 1: Alfred's dominions were now left once more in peace, and
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  Speaker 1: he himself resumed again his former avocations. But a very
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  Speaker 1: short period of his life, however, now remained. Hastings was
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  Speaker 1: finally expelled from England about eight ninety seven. In nine
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  Speaker 1: hundred or nine oh one, Alfred died. The interval was
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  Speaker 1: spent in the same earnest and devoted efforts to promote
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  Speaker 1: the welfare and prosperity of his kingdom that his life
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  Speaker 1: had exhibited before the war. He was engaged diligently and
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  Speaker 1: industriously in repairing injuries, addressing grievances, and rectifying everything that
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  Speaker 1: was wrong. He exacted rigid impartiality, and all the courts
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  Speaker 1: of justice, he held public servants of every rank and
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  Speaker 1: station to strict accountability. And in all the colleges and
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  Speaker 1: monasteries and ecclesiastical establishments of every kind, he corrected all
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  Speaker 1: abuses and enforced a rigid discipline, faithfully excripating from every
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  Speaker 1: lurking place all semblance of immorality or vice. He did
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  Speaker 1: these things, too, with so much kindness and consideration for
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  Speaker 1: all concerned, and was actuated in all he didtionably by
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  Speaker 1: an honest and sincere desire to fulfill his duty to
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  Speaker 1: his people and to God, that nobody opposed him. The
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  Speaker 1: good considered him their champion. The indifference readily caught a
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  Speaker 1: portion of his spirit and wished him success, while though wicked,
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  Speaker 1: were silenced if they were not changed. Alfred's children had
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  Speaker 1: grown up to maturity and seemed to inherit in some
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  Speaker 1: degree their father's character. He had a daughter named athol Fleda,
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  Speaker 1: who was married to a Prince of Mercia, and who
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  Speaker 1: was famed all over England for the superiority of her
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  Speaker 1: mental powers, her accomplishments, and her moral worth. The name
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  Speaker 1: of his oldest son was Edward. He was to succeed
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  Speaker 1: Alfred on the throne, and it was a source now
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  Speaker 1: of great satisfaction to the king to find his son
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  Speaker 1: emulating his virtues and preparing for an honorable and prosperous reign.
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  Speaker 1: Alfred had warning, in the progress of his disease of
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  Speaker 1: the approach of his end. When he found that the
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  Speaker 1: time was near at hand, he called his son Edward
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  Speaker 1: to his side and gave him these farewell counsels, which
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  Speaker 1: express in few words the principles and motives by which
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  Speaker 1: his own life had been so fully governed. Thou, my
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  Speaker 1: dear son, set THEE now beside me, and I would
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  Speaker 1: deliver THEE true instructions. I feel that my hour is coming,
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  Speaker 1: My strength is gone, my countenance is wasted and pale.
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  Speaker 1: My days are almost ended. We must now part. I
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  Speaker 1: go to another world, and Thou art to be left
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  Speaker 1: alone in the possession of all that I have thus
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  Speaker 1: far held. I pray THEE, my dear child, to be
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  Speaker 1: a father to thy people, Be the children's father and
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  Speaker 1: the widow's friend, comfort the poor, protect and shelter the weak,
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  Speaker 1: and with all thy might right that which is wrong.
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  Speaker 1: And my son govern thyself by law. Then shall the
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  Speaker 1: Lord love THEE, and God himself shall be thy reward.
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  Speaker 1: Call thou upon him to advise THEE in all thy need,
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  Speaker 1: and he shall help THEE to compass all thy desires.
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  Speaker 1: Alfred was fifty two years of age when he died.
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  Speaker 1: His death was universally lamented. The body was interred in
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  Speaker 1: the Great Cathedral at Winchester. The kingdom passed peacefully and
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  Speaker 1: prosperously to his son, and the arrangements which Alfred had
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  Speaker 1: spent his life in framing and carrying into effect, soon
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  Speaker 1: began to work out their happy results. The constructions which
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  Speaker 1: he founded stand the present day, strengthened and extend, rather
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  Speaker 1: than impaired by the hand of time, and his memory
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  Speaker 1: as their founder will be honored as long as any
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  Speaker 1: remembrance of the past shall endure among the minds of men.
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  Speaker 1: End of Chapter twelve. Recording by Ryan Cherock two