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

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  Speaker 1: Chapter four of King Alfred of England by Jacob Abbot.
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  Speaker 1: This is LibriVox recording. All LibriVox recordings are in the
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  Speaker 1: public domain. For more information or a volunteer, please visit
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  Speaker 1: LibriVox dot org. Recording by Ryan Cherick. King Alfred of
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  Speaker 1: England by Jacob Abbot, Chapter four Alfred's early years. Before
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  Speaker 1: commencing the narrative of Alfred's administration of the public affairs
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  Speaker 1: of his realm, it is necessary to go back a
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  Speaker 1: little in order to give some account of the more
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  Speaker 1: private occurrences of his early life. Alfred, like Washington, was
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  Speaker 1: distinguished for a very extraordinary combination of qualities which exhibited
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  Speaker 1: itself in his character, viz. The combination of great military
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  Speaker 1: energy and skill on the one hand, with a very
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  Speaker 1: high degree on the other of moral and religious principle
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  Speaker 1: and conscientious devotion to the obligations of duty. This combination,
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  Speaker 1: so rarely found in the distinct enguished personages which have
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  Speaker 1: figured among mankind, is in a great measure explained and
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  Speaker 1: accounted for in Alfred's case by the peculiar circumstances of
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  Speaker 1: his early history. It was his brother Ethelred, as has
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  Speaker 1: already been stated, whom Alfred immediately succeeded. His father's name
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  Speaker 1: was Ethel Wolf, and it seems highly probable that the
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  Speaker 1: peculiar turn which Alfred's mind seemed to take in after
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  Speaker 1: years was the consequence in some considerable degree of this
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  Speaker 1: parent's situation and character. Ethelwulf was a younger son, and
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  Speaker 1: was brought up in a monastery at Winchester. The monasteries
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  Speaker 1: of those days were the seats of both learning and piety,
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  Speaker 1: that is, of such learning and piety as then prevailed.
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  Speaker 1: The ideas of religious faith and duty which were entertained
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  Speaker 1: a thousand years ago were certainly very different from those
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  Speaker 1: which are received now. Still, there was then, mingled with
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  Speaker 1: much superstition, a great deal of honest and conscientious devotion
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  Speaker 1: to the principles of Christian duty, and of sincere and
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  Speaker 1: earnest desire to live for the honor of God and religion,
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  Speaker 1: and for the highest and best welfare of mankind. Monastic
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  Speaker 1: establishments existed everywhere, defended by the sacredness which invested them
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  Speaker 1: from the storms of violence and war, which swept over
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  Speaker 1: everything which the Cross did not protect. To these, the thoughtful,
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  Speaker 1: the serious, and the intellectual retired, leaving the restless, the rude,
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  Speaker 1: and the turbulent, to distract and terrify the earth with
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  Speaker 1: their endless quarrels. Here they studied, they wrote, they read,
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  Speaker 1: they transcribed books, They kept records, They arranged exercises of devotion,
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  Speaker 1: They educated youth, and in a word, performed in the
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  Speaker 1: enclosed and secluded retreats in which they sought shelter those
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  Speaker 1: intellectual functions of civil life, which now can all be
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  Speaker 1: performed in open exposure, but which in those days, if
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  Speaker 1: there had been no monaster retreats to shelter them, could
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  Speaker 1: not have been performed at all. For the learning and
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  Speaker 1: piety of the present age, whether Catholic or Protestant, to
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  Speaker 1: malign the monasteries of Anglo Saxon times is for the
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  Speaker 1: oak to troduce the acorn from which it sprung. Ethelwulf
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  Speaker 1: was a younger son, and consequently did not expect to reign.
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  Speaker 1: He went to the monastery at Winchester and took the vows.
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  Speaker 1: His father had no objection to this plan, satisfied with
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  Speaker 1: having his oldest son expect and prepare for the throne.
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  Speaker 1: As however, he advanced towards manhood. The thought of the
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  Speaker 1: probability that he might be called to the throne in
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  Speaker 1: the event of his brother's death led all parties to
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  Speaker 1: desire that he might be released from his monastic vows.
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  Speaker 1: They applied accordingly to the vote for a dispensation. The
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  Speaker 1: dispensation was granted, and Ethelwulf became a general in the army.
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  Speaker 1: In the end, his brother died and he became king.
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  Speaker 1: He continued, however, during his reign, to manifest the peaceful,
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  Speaker 1: quiet and serious character which had led him to enter
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  Speaker 1: the monastery, and which had probably been strengthened and confirmed
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  Speaker 1: by the influences and habits to which he had been
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  Speaker 1: accustomed there. He had, however, a very able, energetic, and
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  Speaker 1: warlike minister, who managed his affairs with great ability and
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  Speaker 1: success for a long course of years. Ethel Wolf, in
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  Speaker 1: the meantime, leaving public affairs to his minister, continued to
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  Speaker 1: devote himself to the pursuits to which his predilections inclined him.
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  Speaker 1: He visited monasteries, he cultivated learning, he endowed the church.
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  Speaker 1: He made journeys to Rome. All this time his kingdom,
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  Speaker 1: which had before almost swallowed up the other kingdoms of
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  Speaker 1: the Hypotrsy, became more and more firmly established, until at
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  Speaker 1: length the Danes came in, as is described in the
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  Speaker 1: last chapter, and brought the whole land into the most
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  Speaker 1: extreme and imminent danger. The case did not, however, become
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  Speaker 1: absolutely desperate until after ethel Wolf's death. As will be hereafter explained,
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  Speaker 1: Ethelwulf married a lady whose gentle, quiet and serious character
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  Speaker 1: corresponded with his own. Alfred was the youngest, and, as
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  Speaker 1: is often the case with the youngest, the favored child.
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  Speaker 1: He was kept near to his father and mother than
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  Speaker 1: closely under their influence, until his mother died, which event, however,
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  Speaker 1: took place when he was quite young. After this, Ethelwulf
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  Speaker 1: sent Alfred to Rome. Rome was still more the greatest
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  Speaker 1: center then than it is now of religion and learning.
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  Speaker 1: There were schools there maintained by the various nations of Europe, respectively,
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  Speaker 1: for the education of the sons of the nobility. Alfred, however,
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  Speaker 1: did not go for this purpose. It was only to
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  Speaker 1: make the journey to see the city, to be introduced
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  Speaker 1: to the Pope, and to be presented by means of
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  Speaker 1: the fame of the expedition to the notice of Europe.
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  Speaker 1: As the future saw Vard of England, for it was
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  Speaker 1: Ethowulf's intention at this time to pass over his older
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  Speaker 1: sons and make this Benjamin his success on the throne.
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  Speaker 1: The journey was made with great pomp and parade. A
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  Speaker 1: large trade of nobles and ecclesiastics accompanied the young prince,
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  Speaker 1: and a splendid reception was given to him in the
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  Speaker 1: various towns in France which he passed through on the way.
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  Speaker 1: He was but five years old, and his position and
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  Speaker 1: his prospects made him, though so young, a personage of
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  Speaker 1: great distinction. After spending a short time at Rome, he
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  Speaker 1: returned again to England. Two years after this, Ethelwulf, Alfred's father,
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  Speaker 1: determined to go to Rome himself. His wife had died,
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  Speaker 1: his older sons had grown up, and his own natural
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  Speaker 1: aversion to the cares and toils of government seems to
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  Speaker 1: have been increased by the alarms and dangers produced by
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  Speaker 1: the incursions of the Danes, and by his own advancing years.
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  Speaker 1: Having accordingly arranged the affairs of the kingdom by placing
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  Speaker 1: his oldest sons in command, he took the youngest, Alfred,
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  Speaker 1: who was now seven years old, with him, and, crossing
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  Speaker 1: the channel, landed on the continent on his way to Rome.
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  Speaker 1: All the arrangements of this journey were conducted on a
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  Speaker 1: scale of great magnificence and splendor. It is true that
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  Speaker 1: it was a rude and semi barbarous age, and very
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  Speaker 1: little progress had been made in respect of the peaceful
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  Speaker 1: and industrial arts of life. But in respect of the
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  Speaker 1: arts connected with the war, to everything that related to
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  Speaker 1: the march of armies, the pomp and parade of royal progresses,
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  Speaker 1: the comparison of horses and arbor, and military dresses of men,
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  Speaker 1: and the parade and pageantry of military spectacles, a very
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  Speaker 1: considerable degree of advancement had been attained. King Ethelwolf availed
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  Speaker 1: himself of all the resources that he could command to
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  Speaker 1: give a claque to his journey. He had a numerous
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  Speaker 1: train of attendants and followers, and he carried with him
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  Speaker 1: a number of rich and valuable presents for the Pope.
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  Speaker 1: He was received with great distinction by King Charles of France,
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  Speaker 1: through whose dominions he had to pass on his way
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  Speaker 1: to Italy. Charles had a daughter, Judith, a young girl,
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  Speaker 1: with whom ethel Wolf, though now himself quite advanced in life,
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  Speaker 1: felt the deeply in love ethel Wulf, after a short
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  Speaker 1: stay in France, went to Rome. His arrival and his
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  Speaker 1: visit here attracted great attention. As King of England, he
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  Speaker 1: was a personage of very considerable consequence, and then he
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  Speaker 1: came with a large retinue and magnificent state. His religious predlictions, too,
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  Speaker 1: inspired him with a very strong interest in the ecclesiastical
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  Speaker 1: authorities and institutions of Rome, and awaken reciprocally in these
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  Speaker 1: authorities a strong interest in him. He made costly presents
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  Speaker 1: to the Pope, some of which were peculiarly splendid. One
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  Speaker 1: was a crown of pure gold, which weighed, it is said,
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  Speaker 1: four pounds. Another was a sword richly mounted in gold.
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  Speaker 1: There were also several utensils and vessels of Saxon form
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  Speaker 1: and construction, some of gold and others of silver guilt,
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  Speaker 1: and also a considerable number of dress, all richly adorned.
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  Speaker 1: King ethel Wolf also made a distribution in money to
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  Speaker 1: all the inhabitants of Rome, gold to the nobles and
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  Speaker 1: to the clergy, and silver to the people. How far
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  Speaker 1: his munificence on this occasion may have been exaggerated by
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  Speaker 1: the Saxon chroniclers, who, of course, like other early historians
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  Speaker 1: were fond of magnifying all the exploits and swelling in
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  Speaker 1: every way the fame of the heroes of their stories.
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  Speaker 1: We cannot now know. There is no doubt, however, that
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  Speaker 1: all the circumstances of Ethelbul's visit to the great capital
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  Speaker 1: were such as to attract universal attention to the event,
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  Speaker 1: and to make the little Alfred, on whose account the
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  Speaker 1: journey was in great measure, perform an object of very
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  Speaker 1: general interest and attention. In fact, there is every reason
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  Speaker 1: to believe that the Saxon nations had at the time
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  Speaker 1: made such progress in wealth, population, and power as to
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  Speaker 1: afford to such a prince as ethel Wolf the means
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  Speaker 1: of making a great display if he chose to do
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  Speaker 1: so on such an occasion as that of a royal
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  Speaker 1: progress through France and a visit to the great city
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  Speaker 1: of Rome. The Saxons had been in possession of England
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  Speaker 1: at this time many hundreds of years, and though during
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  Speaker 1: all this period they had been involved in various wars,
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  Speaker 1: both with one another and with their neighbouring nations, they
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  Speaker 1: had been all the time steadily increasing in wealth and
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  Speaker 1: making constant improvements in all the arts and refinements of life.
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  Speaker 1: As the Wolf reigned therefore over a people of considerable
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  Speaker 1: wealth and power, and he moved across the continent on
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  Speaker 1: his way to Rome, and figured while there as a
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  Speaker 1: personage of no ordinary distinction. Rome was at this time,
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  Speaker 1: as we have said, the great center of education, as
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  Speaker 1: well as of religious and ecclesiastical influence. In fact, education
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  Speaker 1: and religion went hand in hand in those days, there
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  Speaker 1: being scarcely any instruction in books, excepting for the purposes
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  Speaker 1: of the church. Separate schools had been established at Rome
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  Speaker 1: by the leading nations of Europe, where their youth could
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  Speaker 1: be taught, each at an institution in which his own
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  Speaker 1: language was spoken. Ethelwolf remained a year at Rome to
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  Speaker 1: give Alfred the benefit of the advantages which his city afforded.
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  Speaker 1: The boy was of a reflective and thoughtful turn of mind,
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  Speaker 1: and applied himself diligently to the performance of his duties.
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  Speaker 1: His mind was rapidly expanded, his powers were developed, and
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  Speaker 1: stories of such knowledge as was adapted to the circumstances
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  Speaker 1: and wants of the times were laid up. The religious
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  Speaker 1: and intellectual influences thus brought to bear upon the young
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  Speaker 1: Alfred's mind produced strong and decided effects in the formation
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  Speaker 1: of his character, effects which were very strikingly visible in
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  Speaker 1: his subsequent career. Ethel Wolf found when he arrived at
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  Speaker 1: Rome that the Saxon Seminary had been burned the preceding year.
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  Speaker 1: It had been founded by a former Saxon king. Ethel
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  Speaker 1: Wolf rebuilt it and placed the institution on a new
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  Speaker 1: and firmer foundation than before. He also obtained some edicts
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  Speaker 1: from the papal government to secure and confirm certain rights
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  Speaker 1: of his Saxon subjects residing in the city, which rights had,
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  Speaker 1: it seems, been in some degree infringed upon, and he
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  Speaker 1: thus saved his subjects from oppressions to which they had
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  Speaker 1: been exposed. In a word, Ethabolf's visit not only afforded
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  Speaker 1: an imposing spectacle to those who witnessed the pageantry and
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  Speaker 1: the ceremonies which marked it, but it was attended with
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  Speaker 1: permanent and substantial benefits to many classes, who became, in
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  Speaker 1: consequence of it, the objects of the pious monarch's benevolent regard.
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  Speaker 1: At length, when the year had expired, Ethowolf set out
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  Speaker 1: on his return. He went back through France as he came,
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  Speaker 1: and during his stay in that country on the way home.
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  Speaker 1: An event that occurred which was of no inconsiderable consequence
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  Speaker 1: to Alfred himself, and which changed or modified Ethobolf's whole destiny.
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  Speaker 1: The event was that, having as before stated, become enamored
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  Speaker 1: with the young Princess Judith, the daughter of the King
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  Speaker 1: of France, Ethowolf, demanded her in marriage. We have no
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  Speaker 1: means of knowing how the proposal affected the princess herself.
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  Speaker 1: Marriages in that rank and station in life were then,
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  Speaker 1: as they are now, in fact, wholly determined and controlled
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  Speaker 1: by the great political considerations, or by the personal predilections
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  Speaker 1: of powerful men, with very little regard for the opinions
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  Speaker 1: or desires of the party whose happiness was most to
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  Speaker 1: be affected by the result. At all events, whatever may
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  Speaker 1: have been Judas's opinion, the marriage was decided upon and consummated,
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  Speaker 1: and the venerable King returned to England with his youthful bride.
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  Speaker 1: The historians of the day say, what would seem almost
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  Speaker 1: incredible that she was but about twelve years old. Judith
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  Speaker 1: Saxon's name was Leotheta. She made an excellent mother to
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  Speaker 1: the young Alfred, though she innocently and indirectly caused her
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  Speaker 1: husband trouble in his realm Alfred's older brothers were wild
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  Speaker 1: and turbulent men, and one of them, Ethelbald, was disposed
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  Speaker 1: to retain a portion of the power with which he
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  Speaker 1: had been invested during his father's absence. Instead of giving
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  Speaker 1: it up peaceably on his return, he organized rebellion against
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  Speaker 1: his father, making the king's course of conduct and respect
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  Speaker 1: to his useful bride the pretext. Ethelwulf was very fond
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  Speaker 1: of his young wife, and seemed disposed to elevate her
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  Speaker 1: to a position of great political consideration and honor. Ethebald
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  Speaker 1: complained of this. The father, loving peace rather than war,
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  Speaker 1: compromised the question with him and relinquished to him a
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  Speaker 1: part of his kingdom. Two years after this, he died,
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  Speaker 1: leaving Ethelbald the entire possession of the throne. Ethelbald, as
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  Speaker 1: if to be complete and consummate in his unnatural conduct
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  Speaker 1: toward the father, persuaded the beautiful Judith, his father's widow,
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  Speaker 1: to become his wife, in violation not only of all
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  Speaker 1: laws human and divine, but also of those universal instincts
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  Speaker 1: of propriety which no lapse of time and no changes
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  Speaker 1: of condition can eradicate from the human soul. This second
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  Speaker 1: union throws some light on the question of Judath's action.
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  Speaker 1: Since she was willing to marry her husband's son to
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  Speaker 1: preserve the position of a queen, we may very well
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  Speaker 1: suppose that she did not object to uniting herself to
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  Speaker 1: the father in order to attain it. Perhaps, however, we
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  Speaker 1: ought to consider that no responsibility whatsoever in transactions of
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  Speaker 1: this character should attach to such a mere child. During
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  Speaker 1: all this time, Alfred was passing from his eighth to
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  Speaker 1: his twelfth year. He was a very intelligent and observing boy,
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  Speaker 1: and had acquired much knowledge of the world and a
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  Speaker 1: great deal of general information in the journeys which he
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  Speaker 1: had taken with his father, both about England and also
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  Speaker 1: on the continent in France and Italy. Had taking a
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  Speaker 1: great interest in his progress. She talked with him, she
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  Speaker 1: encouraged his inquiries, She explained to him what he did
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  Speaker 1: not understand, and endeavored in every way to develop and
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  Speaker 1: strengthen his mental powers. Alfred was a favorite, and as
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  Speaker 1: such was always very much indulged. But there was a
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  Speaker 1: certain conscientiousness and gentleness of spirit which marked his character
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  Speaker 1: even in these early years, and seemed to defend him
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  Speaker 1: from injurious influences which indulgence and extreme attention and care
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  Speaker 1: often produce. Alfred was considerate, quiet and reflective. He improved
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  Speaker 1: the privileges which he enjoyed, and did not abuse the
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  Speaker 1: kindness and the favors which everyone by whom he was
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  Speaker 1: known lavished upon him. Alfred was very fond of the
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  Speaker 1: Anglo Saxon poetry which abounded in those days. The poems
• 16:52
  Speaker 1: were legends, ballads, and tales, which described the exploits of
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  Speaker 1: heroes and the adventures of pilgrims and wanderers of all kinds.
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  Speaker 1: These poems were to Alfred what Homer's poems were to Alexander.
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  Speaker 1: He loved to listen to them, to hear them recited,
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  Speaker 1: and to commit them to memory. In committing them to memory,
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  Speaker 1: he was obliged to depend upon hearing the poems repeated
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  Speaker 1: by others, for he himself could not read, and yet
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  Speaker 1: he was now twelve years old. It may surprise the reader, perhaps,
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  Speaker 1: to be thus told, after all that he has been said,
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  Speaker 1: of the attention paid to Alfred's education, and of the
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  Speaker 1: progress which he had made, that he could not even read,
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  Speaker 1: But reading far from being then considered as it is
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  Speaker 1: now an essential attainment for all, and one which we
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  Speaker 1: are sure of finding possessed by all who have received
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  Speaker 1: any instruction whatsoever. Was regarded in those days a sort
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  Speaker 1: of technical art, learned only by those who were to
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  Speaker 1: make some professional use of the acquisition. Monks and clerks
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  Speaker 1: could always read, but generals, gentlemen and kings very seldom.
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  Speaker 1: As they could not read, neither could they write. They
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  Speaker 1: made a rude cross at the end of the writings
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  Speaker 1: which they wished to authenticate, instead of signing their names,
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  Speaker 1: a mode which remains to the present day, though it
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  Speaker 1: has descended to the very lowest and humblest classes of society.
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  Speaker 1: In fact, even the upper classes of society could not
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  Speaker 1: generally learn to read in those days, for there were
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  Speaker 1: no books. Everything recorded was in manuscripts, that characters being
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  Speaker 1: written with great labor and care, usually on parchment, the
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  Speaker 1: captions and leading letters being often splendidly illuminated and adorned
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  Speaker 1: by gilded miniatures of heads or figures or landscapes which
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  Speaker 1: enveloped or surrounded them. Judith had such a manuscript of
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  Speaker 1: some Saxon poems. She had learned the language while in France.
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  Speaker 1: One day, Alfred was looking at the book and admiring
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  Speaker 1: the character in which it was written, particularly the ornamented
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  Speaker 1: letters of the headings. Some of his brothers were in
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  Speaker 1: the room, they, of course, being much older than he.
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  Speaker 1: Judas said that either of them might have the book,
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  Speaker 1: who would first learn to read it. The older brothers
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  Speaker 1: paid little attention to this proposal, but Alfred's interest was
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  Speaker 1: strongly awakened. He immediately saw and found some one to
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  Speaker 1: teach him, and before long he read the volume to
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  Speaker 1: Judith and claimed it as his own. She rejoiced at
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  Speaker 1: his success and fulfilled her promise with the greatest pleasure.
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  Speaker 1: Alfred soon acquired, by his Anglo Saxon studies, a great
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  Speaker 1: taste for books, and had next the strong desire to
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  Speaker 1: study the Latin language. The scholars of the various nations
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  Speaker 1: of Europe formed at this time, as in fact they
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  Speaker 1: do now, one community, linked together by many ties. They
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  Speaker 1: wrote and spoke the Latin language, that being the only
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  Speaker 1: language which could be understood by them all. In fact,
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  Speaker 1: the works which were the most highly valued then by
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  Speaker 1: the educated men of all nations were the poems and
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  Speaker 1: the histories and other writings produced by the classic authors
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  Speaker 1: of the Roman Commonwealth. There were also many works on theology,
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  Speaker 1: on ecclesiastical polity, and on the law of great authority
• 20:07
  Speaker 1: and in high repute, all written in the Latin tongue.
• 20:11
  Speaker 1: Copies of these works were made by the monks in
• 20:13
  Speaker 1: their retreats in abbeys and monasteries, and learned men spent
• 20:17
  Speaker 1: their lives in pursuing them. To explore this field was
• 20:20
  Speaker 1: not properly a duty incumbent upon a young prince destined
• 20:24
  Speaker 1: to take a seat upon a throne, but Alfred felt
• 20:27
  Speaker 1: a great desire to undertake the work. He did not
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  Speaker 1: do it, however, for the reason, as he afterwards stated,
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: that there was no one at court at the time
• 20:36
  Speaker 1: who was qualified to teach him. Alfred, though he had
• 20:40
  Speaker 1: thus the thoughtful and reflective habits of a student, was
• 20:44
  Speaker 1: also active and graceful and strong in his bodily development.
• 20:48
  Speaker 1: He excelled in all the athletic recreations of the time,
• 20:51
  Speaker 1: and was especially famous for his skill and courage and
• 20:54
  Speaker 1: power as a hunter. He gave every indication in a
• 20:59
  Speaker 1: word at this early age of possessing that uncommon combination
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  Speaker 1: of mental and personal qualities which fits those who possess
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  Speaker 1: it to secure and maintain a great ascendancy among mankind.
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  Speaker 1: The unnatural union which has been formed on the death
• 21:14
  Speaker 1: of Ethelwulf between his youthful widow and her aged husband's
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  Speaker 1: son did not long continue. The people of England were
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: very much shocked at such a marriage, and the great Prelate,
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: the Bishop of Winchester, remonstrated against it with such sternness
• 21:30
  Speaker 1: and authority that Ethelbald not only soon put his wife away,
• 21:34
  Speaker 1: but submitted to a severe pentance, which the Bishop imposed
• 21:37
  Speaker 1: upon him in retribution for his sin. Judith, thus forsaken,
• 21:44
  Speaker 1: soon afterwards sold the lands and the states which her
• 21:47
  Speaker 1: two husbands had severely granted her, and, taking a final
• 21:51
  Speaker 1: leave of Alfred, whom she tenderly loved, she returned to
• 21:54
  Speaker 1: her native land. Not long after this, she was married
• 21:58
  Speaker 1: a third time to a continental prince whose dominions lay
• 22:02
  Speaker 1: between the Baltic and the Rhine, and from this period
• 22:06
  Speaker 1: she disappears entirely from the stage of Alfred's history. End
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  Speaker 1: of Chapter four recording by Ryan Cherrick