That a nation who not fifty years before had but
just begun to emerge from a barbarism so perfect
that they were unfurnished even with an alphabet
should in so short a time have established so flourishing a seminary of learning, and have produced so
eminent a teacher, is a circumstance which I imagine
no other nation besides England can boast.
just begun to emerge from a barbarism so perfect
that they were unfurnished even with an alphabet
should in so short a time have established so flourishing a seminary of learning, and have produced so
eminent a teacher, is a circumstance which I imagine
no other nation besides England can boast.
Edmund Burke
IV.
c.
13.
t Spelm.
Concil.
p.
329.
t Insta'uret etiam Dei ecclesiam;. . . . et instauret vias publicas
pontibus super aquas profundas ct super csenosas vias;. . . . manumittat servos suos proprios, et redimat ab aliis hoininibus servos suos
ad libertatem. -L. Eccl. Edgari, 14.
? ? ? ? 244 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
act for the public happiness. The monasteries were
then the only bodies corporate in the kingdom; and
if any persons were desirous to perpetuate their charity by a fund for the relief of the sick or indigent,
there was no other way than to confide this trust to
some monastery. The monks were the sole channel
through which the bounty of the rich could pass in
any continued stream to the poor; and the people
turned their eyes towards them in all their distresses.
We must observe, that the monks of that time, especially those from Ireland,* who had a considerable
share -in the conversion of all the northern parts, did
not show that rapacious desire of riches which long
disgraced and finally ruined their successors. Not
only did they not seek, but seemed even to shun'
such donations. This prevented that alarm which
might have arisen from an early and declared avarice. At this time the most fervent and holy anchorites retired to places the furthest that could be found
from human concourse and help, to the most desolate
and barren situations, which even from their horror
seemed particularly adapted to men who had renounced the world. Many persons followed them in
order to partake of their instructions and prayers, or
to form themselves upon their example. An opinion
of their miracles after their death drew still greater numbers. Establishments were gradually made.
The monastic life was frugal, and the government
moderate. These causes drew a constant concourse.
Sanctified deserts assumed a new face; the marshes
* Aidanus, Finan, Colmannus mirae sanctitatis fuerunt et parsimonie. . Adeo autem sacerdotes erant illius temporis ab avaritia immunes, ut nec territoria nisi coacti acciperent. -- Hen. Hun. tingd. Lib. III. p. 333. Bed. Hist. Eccl. Lib. III. c. 26.
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 245
were drained, and the lands cultivated. And as this
revolution seemed rather the effect of the holiness
of the place than of any natural causes, it increased
their credit; and every improvement drew with it a
new donation. In this manner the great abbeys of
(royland and Glastonbury, and many others, from
the most obscure beginnings, were advanced to a degree of wealth and splendor little less than royal.
In these rude ages government was not yet fixed
upon solid principles, and everything was full of tumult and distraction. As the monasteries were better secured from violence by their character than any other places by laws, several great men, and even
sovereign princes, were obliged to take refuge in convents; who, when, by a more -happy revolution in
their fortunes, they were reinstated in their former
dignities, thought they could never make a sufficient
return for the safety they had enjoyed under the sacred hospitality of these roofs. Not content to enrich
them with ample possessions, that others also might
partake of the protection they had experienced, they
formally erected into an asylum those monasteries,
and their adjacent territory. So that all thronged
to that refuge who were rendered unquiet by their
crimes, their misfortunes, or the severity of their
lords; and content to live under a government to
which their minds were subject, they raised the importance of their masters by their numbers, their labor, and, above all, by an inviolable attachment. The monastery was always the place of sepulture for the greatest lords and kings. This added to
the other causes of reverence a sort of sanctity, which,
in universal opinion, always attends the repositories
of the dead: and they acquired also thereby a more
? ? ? ? 246 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
particular protection against the great and powerful;
for who would violate the tomb of his ancestors or his
own? It was not an unnatural weakness to think
that some advantage might be derived from lying in
holy places and amongst holy persons: and this superstition was fomented with the greatest industry and art. The monks of Glastonbury spread a notion
that it was almost impossible any person should be
damned whose body lay in their cemetery. This
must be considered as coming in aid of the amplest
of their resources, prayer for the dead.
But there was no part of their policy, of whatever
nature, that procured to them a greater or juster
credit than their cultivation of learning and useful
arts: for, if the monks contributed to the fall of
science in the Roman Empire, it is certain that the
introduction of learning and civility into this Northern world is entirely owing to their labors. It is true that they cultivated letters only in a secondary way,
and as subsidiary to religion. But the scheme of
Christianity is such that it almost necessitates an
attention to many kinds of learning. For the Scripture is by no means an irrelative system of moral and divine truths but it stands connected with so
many histories, and with the laws, opinions, and
manners of so many various sorts of people, and in
such different times, that it is altogether impossible
to arrive to any tolerable knowledge of it without
having recourse to much exterior inquiry: for which
reason the progress of this religion has always been
marked by that of letters. There were two other
circumstances at this time that contributed no less
to the revival of learning. The sacred writings had
not been translated into any vernacular language,
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 247
and even the ordinary service of the Church was still
continued in the Latin tongue; all, therefore, who
formed themselves for the ministry, and hoped to
make any figure in it, were in a manner driven to the
study of the writers of polite antiquity, in order to
qualify themselves for their most ordinary functions.
By this means a practice liable in itself to great objections had a considerable share in preserving the wrecks of literature, and was one mean of conveying down to our times those inestimable monuments which otherwise, in the tumult of barbarous confusion on one hand, and untaught piety on the other, must inevitably have perished. The second circumstance, the pilgrimages of that age, if considered in itself, was as liable to objection as the former; but it
proved of equal advantage to the cause of literature.
A principal object of these pious journeys was Rome,
which contained all the little that was left in the
Western world of ancient learning' and taste. The
other great object of those pilgrimages was Jerusalem: this led them into the Grecian Empire, which still subsisted in the East with great majesty and
power. Here the Greeks had not only not discontinued the ancient studies, but they added to the stock of arts many inventions of curiosity and convenience
that were unknown to antiquity. When, afterwards,
the Saracens prevailed in that part of the world, the
pilgrims had also by the same means an opportunity
of profiting from the improvements of that laboricus people;' and however little the majority of these pious travellers might have had such objects in their
view, something useful must unavoidably have stuck
to them; a few certainly saw with more discernment,
and rendered their travels serviceable to their coun
? ? ? ? 248 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
try by importing other things besides miracles and
legends. Thus a communication was opened between this remote island and countries of which it otherwise could then scarcely have heard mention
made; and pilgrimages thus preserved that intercourse amongst mankind which is now formed by politics, commerce, and learned curiosity.
It is not wholly unworthy of observation, that
Providence, which strongly appears to have intended the continual intermixture of mankind, never leaves the human mind destitute of a principle to
effect it. This purpose is sometimes carried on by
a sort of migratory instinct, sometimes by the spirit
of conquest; at one time avarice drives men from
their homes, at another they are actuated by a thirst
of knowledge; where none of these causes can operate, the sanctity of particular places attracts men from the most distant quarters. It was this motive
which sent thousands in those ages to Jerusalem
and Rome, and now, in a full tide, impels half the
world annually to Mecca.
By those voyages the seeds of various kinds of
knowledge and improvement were at different times
imported into England. They were cultivated in
the leisure and retirement of monasteries; otherwise they could not have been cultivated at all:
for it was altogether necessary to draw certain men
from the general rude and fierce society, and wholly
to set a bar between them and the barbarous life of
the rest of the world, in order to fit them for study
and the cultivation. of arts and science. Accordingly,
we find everywhere in the first institutions for the
propagation of knowledge amongst any people, that
those who followed it were set apart and secluded
from the mass of the community.
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 249
The great ecclesiastical chair of this kingdom, for
nlear a century, was filled by foreigners. They were
nominated by the Popes, who were in that age just or
politic enough to appoint persons of a merit in some
degree adequate to that important charge. Through
this series of foreign and learned prelates, continual
accessions were made to the originally slender stock
of English literature. The greatest and most valuable of these accessions was made in the time and by the care of Theodorus, the seventh Archbishop of Canterbury. He was a Greek by birth, a man of a high ambitious spirit, and of a mind mlore liberal and talents better cultivated than generally fell to the lot of the Western prelates. He first introduced the study
of his native language into this island. He brought
with him a number of valuable books in many faculties, and amongst them a magnificent copy of the works of Homer, the most ancient and best of poets,
and the best chosen to inspire a people just initiated
into letters with an ardent love and with a true taste
for the sciences. Under his influence a school was
formed at Canterbury; and thus the other great
fountain of knowledge, the Greek tongue; A. 669
was opened in England in the year of our
Lord 669.
The southern parts of England received their improvements directly through the channel of Rome.
The kingdom of Northumberland, as soon as it was
converted, began to contend with the southern provinces in an emulation of piety and learning. The ecclesiastics then [there? ] also kept up and profited
by their intercourse with Rome; but they found their
principal resources of knowledge from another and a
more extraordinary quarter. The island of Tii, or
? ? ? ? 250 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
Columbkill,* is a small and barren rock in the Western
Ocean. But in those days it was high in reputation as
the site of a monastery which had acquired great renown for the rigor of its studies and the severity of its
ascetic discipline. Its authority was extended over all
the northern parts of Britain and Ireland; and the
monks of Hii even exercised episcopal jurisdiction over
all those regions. They had a considerable share both
in the religious and literate institution of the Northunbrians. Another island, of still less importance, in the
mouth of the Tees [Tweed? ], and called Lindisfarne,
was about this time sanctified by the austerities of an
hermit called Cuthbert. It soon became also a very
celebrated monastery. It was, from a dread of the
ravages of pirates, removed first to the adjacent part
of the continent, and on the same account finally to
Durham. The heads of this monastery omitted nothing which could contribute to the glory of their founder and to the dignity of their house, which became, in a very short time, by their assiduous endeavors, the
most considerable school perhaps in Europe.
The great and justest boast of this monastery is
the Venerable Beda, who was educated and spent his
whole life there. An account of his writings is an
account of the English learning in that age, taken
in its most advantageous view. Many of his works
remain, and he wrote both in prose and verse, and
upon all sorts of subjects. His theology forms the
most considerable part of his writings. He wrote
comments upon almost the whole Scripture, and several homilies on the principal festivals of the Church.
Both the conmments and sermons are generally allegorical in the construction of the text, and simply
* Icolmkill, or Iona.
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 251.
moral in the application. In these discourses several
things seem strained and fanciful; but herein he followed entirely the manner of the earlier fathers, from
whom the greatest part of his divinity is not so much
imitated as extracted. The systematic and logical
method, which seems to have been first introduced
into theology by John of Damascus, and which after
wards was known by the name of School Divinity.
was not then in use, at least in the Western Church.
though soon after it made an amazing progress. In
this scheme the allegorical gave way to the literal
explication, the imagination had less scope, and the
affections were less touched. But it prevailed by an
appearance more solid and philosophical, by an order more scientific, and by a readiness of application
either for the solution or the exciting of doubts and
difficulties.
They also cultivated in this monastery the study
of natural philosophy and astronomy. There remain
of Beda one entire book and some scattered essays
on these subjects. This book, De Rerum Natura, is
concise and methodical, and contains no very contemptible abstract of the physics which were taught
in the decline of the Roman Empire. It was somewhat unfortunate that the infancy of English learning was supported by the dotage of the Roman, and that even the spring-head from whence they drew
their instructions was itself corrupted. However, the
works of the great masters of the ancient science still
remained; but in natural philosophy the worst was
the most fashionable. The Epicurean physics, the
most approaching to rational, had long lost all credit
by being made the support of an impious theology
and a loose morality. The fine visions of Plato fell
? ? ? ? '252 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
into some discredit by the abuse which heretics had
made of them; and the writings of. Aristotle seem to
have been then the only ones much regarded, even
in natural philosophy, in which branch of science
alone they are unworthy of him. Beda entirely
follows his system. The appearances of Nature are
explained by matter and form, and by the four vulgar elements, acted upon by the four supposed qualities of hot, dry, moist, and cold. His astronomy is
on the common system of the ancients, sufficient for
the few purposes to which they applied it, but otherwise imperfect and grossly erroneous. He makes the
moon larger than the earth; though a reflection on
the nature of eclipses, which he understood, might
have satisfied him of the contrary. But he had so
much to copy that he had little time to examine.
These speculations, however erroneous, were still
useful; for, though men err in assigning the causes
of natural operations, the works of Nature are by
this means brought under their consideration, which
cannot be done without enlarging the mind. The
science may be false or frivolous; the improvement
will be real. It may here be remarked, that soon
afterwards the monks began to apply themselves to
astronomy and chronology, from the disputes, which
were carried on with so much heat and so little effect, concerning the proper time of celebrating Easter; and the English owed. the cultivation of these noble. sciences to one of the most trivial controversies of ecclesiastic discipline.
Beda did not confine his attention to those superior
sciences. He treated of music, and of rhetoric, of
grammar, and the art of versification, and of arithmetic, both by letters and on the fingers; and his
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. '253
work on this last subject is the only one in which
that piece of antique curiosity has been preserved to
us. All these are short pieces; some of them are in
the catechetical method, and seem designed for the
immediate use of the pupils in his monastery, in order to furnish them with some leading ideas in the
rudiments of these arts, then newly introduced into
his country. He likewise made, and probably for the
same purpose, a very ample and valuable collection
of short philosophical, political, and moral maxims,
from Aristotle, Plato, Seneca, and other sages of
heathen antiquity. He made a separate book of
shining commonplaces and remarkable passages extracted from the works of Cicero, of whom he was
a great admirer, though he seems to have been not
an happy or diligent imitator in his style. From a
view of these pieces we may form an idea of what
stock in the science the English at that time possessed, and what advances they had made. That
work of Beda which is the best known and most
esteemed is the Ecclesiastical History of the Eng.
lish nation. Disgraced by a want of choice and
frequently by a confused ill disposition of his matter, and blemished with a4 degree of credulity next
to infantine, it is still a valuable, and for the time
a surprising performance. The book opens with a
description of this island which would not have disgraced a classical author; and he has prefixed to
it a chronological abridgment of sacred and profane
history connected, from the beginning of the world,
which, though not critically adapted to his main design, is of far more intrinsic value, and indeed displays a vast fund of historical erudition. On the whole, though this father of the English learning
? ? ? ? 254 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
seems to have been but a genius of the middle class,
neither elevated nor subtile, and one who wrote in a
low style, simple, but not elegant,'yet, when we reflect upon the time in which he lived, the place in
which he spent his whole life, within the walls of a
monastery, in so remote and wild a country, it is impossible to refuse him the praise of an incredible industry and a generous thirst of knowledge.
That a nation who not fifty years before had but
just begun to emerge from a barbarism so perfect
that they were unfurnished even with an alphabet
should in so short a time have established so flourishing a seminary of learning, and have produced so
eminent a teacher, is a circumstance which I imagine
no other nation besides England can boast.
Hitherto we have spoken only of their Latin and
Greek literature. They cultivated also their native
language, which, according to the opinions of the
most adequate judges, was deficient neither in energy nor beauty, and was possessed of such an happy
flexibility as to be capable of expressing with grace
and effect every new technical idea introduced either
by theology or science. They were fond of poetry;
they sung at all their feasts; and it was counted extremely disgraceful not to be able to take a part in
these- performances, even when they challenged each
other to a sudden exertion of the poetic spirit. Caedmon, afterwards one of the most eminent of their
poets, was disgraced in this manner into an exertion
of a latent genius. He was desired in his turn to
sing, but, being ignorant and full of natural sensibility, retired in confusion from the company, and by
instant and strenuous application soon became a dis.
tinguished proficient in the art.
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 255
CHAPTER III.
SERIES OF ANGLO-SAXON KINGS FROMI ETHELBERT TO
ALFRED: WITH THE INVASION OF THE DANES.
THE Christian religion, having once taken root in
Kent, spread itself with great rapidity throughout
all the other Saxon kingdoms in England. The
manners of the Saxons underwent a notable alteration by this change in their religion: their ferocity was much abated; they became more mild and sociable; and their laws began to partake of the
softness of their manners, everywhere recommending mercy and a tenderness for Christian blood.
There never was any people who embraced religion
with a more fervent zeal than the Anglo-Saxons,
nor with more simplicity of spirit. Their history
for a long time shows us a remarkable conflict between their dispositions and their principles. This
conflict produced no medium, because they were
absolutely contrary, astd both operated with almost
equal violence. Great crimes and extravagant penances, rapine and an entire resignation of worldly
goods, rapes and vows of perpetual chastity, succeeded each other in the same persons. There
was nothing which the violence of their passions
could not induce them to commit; nothing to which'they did not submit to atone for their offences, when
reflection gave an opportunity to repent. But by
degrees the sanctions of religion began to preponderate; and as the monks at this time attracted all
the religious veneration, religion everywhere began
to relish of the cloister: an inactive spirit, and a
spirit of scruples prevailed; they dreaded to put
? ? ? ? 256 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
the greatest criminal to death; they scrupled to
engage in any worldly functions. A king of the
Saxons dreaded that God would call him to an account for the time which he spent in his temporal
affairs and had stolen from prayer. It was frequent
for kings to go on pilgrimages to Rome or to Jerusalem, on foot, and under circumstances of great
hardship. Several kings resigned their crowns to devote themselves to religious contemplation in monasteries, -more at that time and in this nation than in all other nations and in all times. This, as it
introduced great mildness into the tempers of the
people, made them less warlike, and consequently
prepared the way to their forming one body under
Egbert, and for the other changes which followed.
The kingdom of Wessex, by the wisdom and courage of King Ina, the greatest legislator and politician
of those times, had swallowed up Cornwall, for a
while a refuge for some of the old Britons, together
with the little kingdom of the South Saxons. By
this augmentation it stretched from the Land's End
to the borders of Kent, the Thames flowing on the
north, the ocean washing it on the south. By their
situation the people of Wessex naturally came to engross the little trade which then fed the revenues of
England; and their minds were somewhat opened by
a foreign communication, by which they became more
civilized and better acquainted with the arts of war
and of government. Such was the condition of
799 the kingdom of Wessex, when Egbert was
called to the throne of his ancestors. The
civil commotions which for some time prevailed had
driven this prince early in life into an useful banishment. He was honorably received at the court,of
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 257
Charlemagne, where he had an opportunity of studying government in the best school, and of forming
himself after the most perfect model. Whilst Charlemagne was reducing the continent of Europe into one
empire, Egbert reduced England into one kingdom.
The state of his own dominions, perfectly united under him, with the other advantages which we have
just mentioned, and the state of the neighboring Saxon governments, made this reduction less difficult.
Besides Wessex, there were but two kingdoms of consideration in England, - Mercia and Northumberland.
They were powerful enough in the advantages of Nature, but reduced to great weakness by their divis-.
ions. As there is nothing of more moment to anycountry than to settle the succession of its government on clear and invariable principles, the Saxon, monarchies, which were supported by no such principles, were continually tottering. The right of government sometimes was considered as in the eldest son, sometimes in all; sometimes the will of the deceased prince disposed of the crown, sometimes a
popular election bestowed it. The consequence of
this was the frequent division and frequent reunion
of the same territory, which were productive of infinite mischief; many various principles of succession
gave titles to some, pretensions to more; and plots,
cabals, and crimes could not be wanting to all the
pretenders. Thus was Mercia torn to pieces; and
the kingdom of Northumberland, assaulted on one
side by the Scots, and ravaged on the other by the
Danish incursions, could not recover from a long an
archy into which its intestine divisions had plunged
it. Egbert knew how to make advantage of these
divisions: fomenting them by his policy at first, and.
VOL. VII. 17
? ? ? ? 258 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
quelling them afterwards by his sword, he reduced
these two kingdoms ulder his government. The
same power which conllqered Mercia and Northumberland made the reduction of Kent and Essex easy,
- the people oil all hands the more readily submitting, because there was no change made in their laws,
manners, or the form of their government.
Egbert, Egbert, when he had brought all England
A. D. 827. . under his dominion, made the Welsh tributary, and carried his arms with success into Scotland,
assumed the title of Monarch of all Britain. * The
southern part of the island was now for the first time
authentically known by the name of England, and by
every appearance promised to have arrived at the fortunate moment for forming a permanent and splendid monarchy. But Egbert had not reigned seven years in peace, when the Danes, who had before
showed themselves in some scattered parties, and
made some inconsiderable descents, entered
A. D. 832.
the kingdom in a formidable body. This
people came from the same place whence the English themselves were derived, and they differed from
them in little else than that they still retained their
original barbarity and heathenism. These, assisted
by the Norwegians, and other people of Scandinavia,
were the last torrent of the Northern ravagers which
overflowed Europe. What is remarkable, they attacked England and France when these two kingdoms were in the height of their grandeur, - France under Charlemagne, England united by Egbert. The
good fortune of Egbert met its first check from these
people, who defeated his forces with great slaughter
near Charmouth in Dorsetshire. It generally hap* No Saxon monarch until Athelstan.
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 259
pens that a new nation, with a new method of making war, succeeds against a people only exercised in
arms by their own civil dissensions. Besides, England, newly united, was not without those jealousies
and that disaffection which give such great advantage to an invader. But the vigilance and courage of Egbert repaired this defeat; he repulsed the Danes; and died soon after at Winchester, full of
years and glory.
He left a great, but an endangered suc- Ethelwolf,
cession, to his son Ethelwolf, who was a mild A. D' 838.
and virtuous prince, full of a timid piety, which utterly disqualifies for government; and he began to
govern at a time when the greatest capacity was
wanted. The Danes pour in upon every side; the
king rouses from his lethargy; battles are fought
with various success, which it were useless and tedious to recount. The event seems to have been,
that in some corners of the kingdom the Danes
gained a few inconsiderable settlements; the rest of
the kingdom, after being terribly ravaged, was left
a little time to recover, in order to be plundered
anew. But the weak prince took no advantage of
this time to concert a regular plan of defence, or
to rouse a proper spirit in his people. Yielding
himself wholly to speculative devotion, he entirely
neglected his affairs, and, to complete the ruin of
his kingdom, abandoned it, in such critical circumstances, to make a pilgrimage to Rome. At Rome
he behaved in the manner that suited his little genius; in making charitable foundations, and in extending the Rome-scot or Peter-pence, which the folly of some princes of the Heptarchy had granted
for their particular dominions, over the whole king
? ? ? ? 260. ABRIDGMENT OF: ENtLISH HISTORY.
dom. His shameful desertion of his country raised
so general a discontent, that in his absence. his own
son, with the principal of his nobility and bishops,
conspired against him. At his return, he found,
however, that several still adhered to him; but here,
too, incapable of acting with vigor, he agreed to an
accommodation, which placed the crown on the head
of his rebellious son, and only left to himself a sphere
of government as narrow as his genius,- the district of Kent, whither he retired to enjoy an inglorious privacy with a wife whom he had married in France.
Ethelred, On his death, his son Ethelred still held. D. 86. the crown, which he had preoccupied by
his rebellion, and which he polluted with a new
stain. He married his father's widow. The confused history of these times furnishes no clear account either of the successions of the kings or of their actions. During the reign of this prince and
his successors Ethelbert and Ethelred, the people in
several parts of England seem to have withdrawn
from the kingdom of Wessex, and to have revived
their former independency. This, added to the weakness of the government, made way for new swarms
of Danes, who burst in upon this ill-governed and
divided people, ravaging the whole country in a
terrible manner, but principally directing their fury
against every monument of civility or piety. They
had now formed a regular establishment in Northumberland, and gained a very considerable footing in
Mercia and East Anglia; they hovered over every
part of the kingdom with their fleets; and being es.
tablished in many places: in the heart of the coun
try, nothing seemed able to resist them.
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH. HISTORY. 261 CHAPTER IV.
REIGN OF KING ALFRED.
IT was in the midst of these distractions
A. D. 871.
that Alfred succeeded to a sceptre which
was threatened every moment to be wrenched from
his hands. He was then only twenty-two years of
age, but exercised from his infancy in -troubles and
in wars that formed and displayed his virtue. Some
of its best provinces were torn from his kingdom,
whibh was shrunk to the ancient bounds of Wessex;
and what remained was weakened by dissension, by
a long war, by a raging pestilence, and surrounded
by enemies whose numbers seemed inexhaustible, and
whose fury was equally increased by victories or defeats. All these difficulties served only to increase the vigor of his mind. He took the field without
delay; but he was defeated with considerable loss.
This ominous defeat displayed more fully the greatness of his courage and capacity, which found in desperate hopes and a ruined kingdom such powerful resources. In a short time after he was in a condition to be respected: but he was not led away
by the ambition of a young warrior. He neglected
no measures to procure peace for his country, which
wanted a respite from the calamities which had long
oppressed it. A peace was concluded for Wessex.
Then the Danes turned their faces once more towards Mercia and East Anglia. They had before stripped the inhabitants of all their movable substance, and now they proceeded without resistance to seize upon their lands. Their success encouraged
new swal'ms of Danes to crowd over, who, fillding
? ? ? ? 262 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
all the northern parts of England possessed by their
friends, rushed into Wessex. They were adventurers under different and independent leaders; and
a peace little regarded by the particular party that
made it had no influence at all upon the others.
875 Alfred opposed this shock with so much
firmness that the barbarians had recourse
to a stratagem: they pretended to treat; but taking
advantage of the truce, they routed a body of the
West Saxon cavalry that were off their guard, mounted their horses, and, crossing- the country with amazing celerity, surprised the city of Exeter. This was an acquisition of infinite advantage to their affairs,
as it secured them a port in the midst of Wessex.
Alfred, mortified at this series of misfortunes, perceived clearly that nothing could dislodge the Danes,
or redress their continual incursions, but a powerful
fleet which might intercept them at sea. The want
of this, principally, gave rise to the success of that
people. They used suddenly to land and ravage a
part of the country; when a force opposed them,
they retired to their ships, and passed to some other
part, which in a like manner they ravaged, and then
retired as before, until the country, entirely harassed,
pillaged, and wasted by these incursions, was no longer able to resist them. Then they ventured safely
to enter a desolated and disheartened country, and
to establish themselves in it. These considerations
made Alfred resolve upon equipping a fleet. In this
enterprise nothing but difficulties presented themselves: his revenue was scanty, and his subjects altogether unskilled in maritime affairs, either as to the construction or the navigation of ships. He did not
therefore despair. With great promises attending a
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 263
little money, he engaged in his service a number of
Frisian seamen, neighbors to the Danes, and pirates,
as they were. He brought, by the same means, shipwrights from the continent. He was himself present
to everything; and having performed the part. of a
king in drawing together supplies of every kind, he
de'scended with no less dignity into the artist, - improving on the construction, inventing new machines, and supplying by the greatness of his genius the
defects and imperfections of the arts in that rude
period. By his indefatigable application the first
English navy was in a very short time in readiness to
put to sea. At that time the Danish fleet of one hundred and twenty-five ships stood with full sail for Exeter; they met; but, with anl omen prosperous to
the new naval power, the Danish fleet was entirely
vanquished and dispersed. This success drew on the.
surrendry of Exeter, and a peace, which Alfred much
wanted to put the affairs of his kingdom in order.
This peace, however, did not last long. As the
Danes were continually pouring into some part of England, they found most parts already in Danish hands; so that all these parties naturally directed their course
to the only English kingdom. All the Danes conspired to put them in possession of it, and bursting unexpectedly with the united force of their whole
body upon Wessex, Alfred- was entirely overwhelmed,
and obliged to drive before the storm of his fortune.
He fled in disguise into a fastness in the A. D 876
Isle of Athelney, where he remained four
months in the lowest state of indigence, supported by
an heroic humility, and that spirit of piety which
neither adverse fortune nor prosperity could overcome. It is much to be lamented that a character
? ? ? ? 264 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLIStH HISTORY.
so formed to interest all men, involved in reverses of
fortune that make the most agreeable and useful part
of history, should be only celebrated by pens so little
suitable to the dignity of the subject. These revolutions are -so little prepared, that we neither can perceive distinctly the causes which sunk him nor those
which again raised him to power. A few naked facts
are all our stock. From these we see Alfred, assisted
by the casual success of one of his nobles, issuing
from his retreat; he heads a powerful army once
more, defeats the Danes, drives them out of WTessex, follows his blow, expels them from Mercia, subdues them in Northumberland, and makes them tributary in East Anglia; and thus established by a number of victories in a full peace, he is presented
to us in that character which makes him venerable
to posterity. It is a refreshment, in the midst of
such a gloomy waste of barbarism and desolation,
to fall upon so fair and cultivated a spot.
When Alfred had once more reunited the
a. D. 880.
kingdoms of his ancestors, he found the
whole face of things in the most desperate condition: there was no observance of law and order;
religion had no force; there was no honest industry; the most squalid poverty and the grossest ignorance had overspread the whole kingdom. Alfred
at once enterprised the cure of all these evils. To
896 remedy the disorders in the government, he
revived, improved, and digested all the Saxon institutions, insomuch that he is generally honored as the founder of our laws and Constitution. *
* Historians, copying after. one another, and examining little,
have attributed to this monarch the institution of juries, an institution which certainly did never prevail amongst the Saxons. They
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 265
The shire he divided into hundreds, the hundreds
into tithings; every freeman was obliged to be entered into some tithing, the members of which were
mutually bound for each other, for the preservation
of the peace, and the avoiding theft and rapine. For
securing the liberty of the subject, he introduced the
method of giving bail, the most certain fence against
the abuses of power. It has been observed that the
reigns of weak princes are times favorable to liberty;
but the wisest and bravest of all the English princes
is the father of their freedom. This great man was
even jealous of the privileges of his subjects; and as
his whole life was spent in protecting them, his last
will breathes the same spirit, declaring that he had
left his people as free as their own thoughts. He not
only collected with great care a complete body of
laws, but he wrote comments on them for the instruction of his judges, who were in general, by the misforhave likewise attributed to him the distribution of England. into shires, hundreds, and tithings, and of appointing officers over these
divisions. But it is very obvious that the shires were never settled
upon any regular plan, nor are they-the result of any single design.
But these reports, however ill imagined, are a strong proof of the
high veneration in which thist excellent prince has always been held;
as it has been thought that the attributing these regulations to him
would endear them to the nation. He probably settled them in such
an order, and made such reformations in his government, that some
of the institutions themselves which he improved have been attributed
to him: and, indeed, there was one work of his which serves to furnish us with a higher idea of the political capacity of that great man
than any of these fictions. He made a general survey and register
of all the property in the kingdom, who held it, and what it was distinctly: a vast work for an age of ignorance and time of confusion,
which has been neglected in more civilized nations and settled times.
It was called the Roll of Winton, and served as a model of a work
of the same kind made by William the Conqueror.
t Insta'uret etiam Dei ecclesiam;. . . . et instauret vias publicas
pontibus super aquas profundas ct super csenosas vias;. . . . manumittat servos suos proprios, et redimat ab aliis hoininibus servos suos
ad libertatem. -L. Eccl. Edgari, 14.
? ? ? ? 244 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
act for the public happiness. The monasteries were
then the only bodies corporate in the kingdom; and
if any persons were desirous to perpetuate their charity by a fund for the relief of the sick or indigent,
there was no other way than to confide this trust to
some monastery. The monks were the sole channel
through which the bounty of the rich could pass in
any continued stream to the poor; and the people
turned their eyes towards them in all their distresses.
We must observe, that the monks of that time, especially those from Ireland,* who had a considerable
share -in the conversion of all the northern parts, did
not show that rapacious desire of riches which long
disgraced and finally ruined their successors. Not
only did they not seek, but seemed even to shun'
such donations. This prevented that alarm which
might have arisen from an early and declared avarice. At this time the most fervent and holy anchorites retired to places the furthest that could be found
from human concourse and help, to the most desolate
and barren situations, which even from their horror
seemed particularly adapted to men who had renounced the world. Many persons followed them in
order to partake of their instructions and prayers, or
to form themselves upon their example. An opinion
of their miracles after their death drew still greater numbers. Establishments were gradually made.
The monastic life was frugal, and the government
moderate. These causes drew a constant concourse.
Sanctified deserts assumed a new face; the marshes
* Aidanus, Finan, Colmannus mirae sanctitatis fuerunt et parsimonie. . Adeo autem sacerdotes erant illius temporis ab avaritia immunes, ut nec territoria nisi coacti acciperent. -- Hen. Hun. tingd. Lib. III. p. 333. Bed. Hist. Eccl. Lib. III. c. 26.
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 245
were drained, and the lands cultivated. And as this
revolution seemed rather the effect of the holiness
of the place than of any natural causes, it increased
their credit; and every improvement drew with it a
new donation. In this manner the great abbeys of
(royland and Glastonbury, and many others, from
the most obscure beginnings, were advanced to a degree of wealth and splendor little less than royal.
In these rude ages government was not yet fixed
upon solid principles, and everything was full of tumult and distraction. As the monasteries were better secured from violence by their character than any other places by laws, several great men, and even
sovereign princes, were obliged to take refuge in convents; who, when, by a more -happy revolution in
their fortunes, they were reinstated in their former
dignities, thought they could never make a sufficient
return for the safety they had enjoyed under the sacred hospitality of these roofs. Not content to enrich
them with ample possessions, that others also might
partake of the protection they had experienced, they
formally erected into an asylum those monasteries,
and their adjacent territory. So that all thronged
to that refuge who were rendered unquiet by their
crimes, their misfortunes, or the severity of their
lords; and content to live under a government to
which their minds were subject, they raised the importance of their masters by their numbers, their labor, and, above all, by an inviolable attachment. The monastery was always the place of sepulture for the greatest lords and kings. This added to
the other causes of reverence a sort of sanctity, which,
in universal opinion, always attends the repositories
of the dead: and they acquired also thereby a more
? ? ? ? 246 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
particular protection against the great and powerful;
for who would violate the tomb of his ancestors or his
own? It was not an unnatural weakness to think
that some advantage might be derived from lying in
holy places and amongst holy persons: and this superstition was fomented with the greatest industry and art. The monks of Glastonbury spread a notion
that it was almost impossible any person should be
damned whose body lay in their cemetery. This
must be considered as coming in aid of the amplest
of their resources, prayer for the dead.
But there was no part of their policy, of whatever
nature, that procured to them a greater or juster
credit than their cultivation of learning and useful
arts: for, if the monks contributed to the fall of
science in the Roman Empire, it is certain that the
introduction of learning and civility into this Northern world is entirely owing to their labors. It is true that they cultivated letters only in a secondary way,
and as subsidiary to religion. But the scheme of
Christianity is such that it almost necessitates an
attention to many kinds of learning. For the Scripture is by no means an irrelative system of moral and divine truths but it stands connected with so
many histories, and with the laws, opinions, and
manners of so many various sorts of people, and in
such different times, that it is altogether impossible
to arrive to any tolerable knowledge of it without
having recourse to much exterior inquiry: for which
reason the progress of this religion has always been
marked by that of letters. There were two other
circumstances at this time that contributed no less
to the revival of learning. The sacred writings had
not been translated into any vernacular language,
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 247
and even the ordinary service of the Church was still
continued in the Latin tongue; all, therefore, who
formed themselves for the ministry, and hoped to
make any figure in it, were in a manner driven to the
study of the writers of polite antiquity, in order to
qualify themselves for their most ordinary functions.
By this means a practice liable in itself to great objections had a considerable share in preserving the wrecks of literature, and was one mean of conveying down to our times those inestimable monuments which otherwise, in the tumult of barbarous confusion on one hand, and untaught piety on the other, must inevitably have perished. The second circumstance, the pilgrimages of that age, if considered in itself, was as liable to objection as the former; but it
proved of equal advantage to the cause of literature.
A principal object of these pious journeys was Rome,
which contained all the little that was left in the
Western world of ancient learning' and taste. The
other great object of those pilgrimages was Jerusalem: this led them into the Grecian Empire, which still subsisted in the East with great majesty and
power. Here the Greeks had not only not discontinued the ancient studies, but they added to the stock of arts many inventions of curiosity and convenience
that were unknown to antiquity. When, afterwards,
the Saracens prevailed in that part of the world, the
pilgrims had also by the same means an opportunity
of profiting from the improvements of that laboricus people;' and however little the majority of these pious travellers might have had such objects in their
view, something useful must unavoidably have stuck
to them; a few certainly saw with more discernment,
and rendered their travels serviceable to their coun
? ? ? ? 248 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
try by importing other things besides miracles and
legends. Thus a communication was opened between this remote island and countries of which it otherwise could then scarcely have heard mention
made; and pilgrimages thus preserved that intercourse amongst mankind which is now formed by politics, commerce, and learned curiosity.
It is not wholly unworthy of observation, that
Providence, which strongly appears to have intended the continual intermixture of mankind, never leaves the human mind destitute of a principle to
effect it. This purpose is sometimes carried on by
a sort of migratory instinct, sometimes by the spirit
of conquest; at one time avarice drives men from
their homes, at another they are actuated by a thirst
of knowledge; where none of these causes can operate, the sanctity of particular places attracts men from the most distant quarters. It was this motive
which sent thousands in those ages to Jerusalem
and Rome, and now, in a full tide, impels half the
world annually to Mecca.
By those voyages the seeds of various kinds of
knowledge and improvement were at different times
imported into England. They were cultivated in
the leisure and retirement of monasteries; otherwise they could not have been cultivated at all:
for it was altogether necessary to draw certain men
from the general rude and fierce society, and wholly
to set a bar between them and the barbarous life of
the rest of the world, in order to fit them for study
and the cultivation. of arts and science. Accordingly,
we find everywhere in the first institutions for the
propagation of knowledge amongst any people, that
those who followed it were set apart and secluded
from the mass of the community.
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 249
The great ecclesiastical chair of this kingdom, for
nlear a century, was filled by foreigners. They were
nominated by the Popes, who were in that age just or
politic enough to appoint persons of a merit in some
degree adequate to that important charge. Through
this series of foreign and learned prelates, continual
accessions were made to the originally slender stock
of English literature. The greatest and most valuable of these accessions was made in the time and by the care of Theodorus, the seventh Archbishop of Canterbury. He was a Greek by birth, a man of a high ambitious spirit, and of a mind mlore liberal and talents better cultivated than generally fell to the lot of the Western prelates. He first introduced the study
of his native language into this island. He brought
with him a number of valuable books in many faculties, and amongst them a magnificent copy of the works of Homer, the most ancient and best of poets,
and the best chosen to inspire a people just initiated
into letters with an ardent love and with a true taste
for the sciences. Under his influence a school was
formed at Canterbury; and thus the other great
fountain of knowledge, the Greek tongue; A. 669
was opened in England in the year of our
Lord 669.
The southern parts of England received their improvements directly through the channel of Rome.
The kingdom of Northumberland, as soon as it was
converted, began to contend with the southern provinces in an emulation of piety and learning. The ecclesiastics then [there? ] also kept up and profited
by their intercourse with Rome; but they found their
principal resources of knowledge from another and a
more extraordinary quarter. The island of Tii, or
? ? ? ? 250 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
Columbkill,* is a small and barren rock in the Western
Ocean. But in those days it was high in reputation as
the site of a monastery which had acquired great renown for the rigor of its studies and the severity of its
ascetic discipline. Its authority was extended over all
the northern parts of Britain and Ireland; and the
monks of Hii even exercised episcopal jurisdiction over
all those regions. They had a considerable share both
in the religious and literate institution of the Northunbrians. Another island, of still less importance, in the
mouth of the Tees [Tweed? ], and called Lindisfarne,
was about this time sanctified by the austerities of an
hermit called Cuthbert. It soon became also a very
celebrated monastery. It was, from a dread of the
ravages of pirates, removed first to the adjacent part
of the continent, and on the same account finally to
Durham. The heads of this monastery omitted nothing which could contribute to the glory of their founder and to the dignity of their house, which became, in a very short time, by their assiduous endeavors, the
most considerable school perhaps in Europe.
The great and justest boast of this monastery is
the Venerable Beda, who was educated and spent his
whole life there. An account of his writings is an
account of the English learning in that age, taken
in its most advantageous view. Many of his works
remain, and he wrote both in prose and verse, and
upon all sorts of subjects. His theology forms the
most considerable part of his writings. He wrote
comments upon almost the whole Scripture, and several homilies on the principal festivals of the Church.
Both the conmments and sermons are generally allegorical in the construction of the text, and simply
* Icolmkill, or Iona.
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 251.
moral in the application. In these discourses several
things seem strained and fanciful; but herein he followed entirely the manner of the earlier fathers, from
whom the greatest part of his divinity is not so much
imitated as extracted. The systematic and logical
method, which seems to have been first introduced
into theology by John of Damascus, and which after
wards was known by the name of School Divinity.
was not then in use, at least in the Western Church.
though soon after it made an amazing progress. In
this scheme the allegorical gave way to the literal
explication, the imagination had less scope, and the
affections were less touched. But it prevailed by an
appearance more solid and philosophical, by an order more scientific, and by a readiness of application
either for the solution or the exciting of doubts and
difficulties.
They also cultivated in this monastery the study
of natural philosophy and astronomy. There remain
of Beda one entire book and some scattered essays
on these subjects. This book, De Rerum Natura, is
concise and methodical, and contains no very contemptible abstract of the physics which were taught
in the decline of the Roman Empire. It was somewhat unfortunate that the infancy of English learning was supported by the dotage of the Roman, and that even the spring-head from whence they drew
their instructions was itself corrupted. However, the
works of the great masters of the ancient science still
remained; but in natural philosophy the worst was
the most fashionable. The Epicurean physics, the
most approaching to rational, had long lost all credit
by being made the support of an impious theology
and a loose morality. The fine visions of Plato fell
? ? ? ? '252 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
into some discredit by the abuse which heretics had
made of them; and the writings of. Aristotle seem to
have been then the only ones much regarded, even
in natural philosophy, in which branch of science
alone they are unworthy of him. Beda entirely
follows his system. The appearances of Nature are
explained by matter and form, and by the four vulgar elements, acted upon by the four supposed qualities of hot, dry, moist, and cold. His astronomy is
on the common system of the ancients, sufficient for
the few purposes to which they applied it, but otherwise imperfect and grossly erroneous. He makes the
moon larger than the earth; though a reflection on
the nature of eclipses, which he understood, might
have satisfied him of the contrary. But he had so
much to copy that he had little time to examine.
These speculations, however erroneous, were still
useful; for, though men err in assigning the causes
of natural operations, the works of Nature are by
this means brought under their consideration, which
cannot be done without enlarging the mind. The
science may be false or frivolous; the improvement
will be real. It may here be remarked, that soon
afterwards the monks began to apply themselves to
astronomy and chronology, from the disputes, which
were carried on with so much heat and so little effect, concerning the proper time of celebrating Easter; and the English owed. the cultivation of these noble. sciences to one of the most trivial controversies of ecclesiastic discipline.
Beda did not confine his attention to those superior
sciences. He treated of music, and of rhetoric, of
grammar, and the art of versification, and of arithmetic, both by letters and on the fingers; and his
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. '253
work on this last subject is the only one in which
that piece of antique curiosity has been preserved to
us. All these are short pieces; some of them are in
the catechetical method, and seem designed for the
immediate use of the pupils in his monastery, in order to furnish them with some leading ideas in the
rudiments of these arts, then newly introduced into
his country. He likewise made, and probably for the
same purpose, a very ample and valuable collection
of short philosophical, political, and moral maxims,
from Aristotle, Plato, Seneca, and other sages of
heathen antiquity. He made a separate book of
shining commonplaces and remarkable passages extracted from the works of Cicero, of whom he was
a great admirer, though he seems to have been not
an happy or diligent imitator in his style. From a
view of these pieces we may form an idea of what
stock in the science the English at that time possessed, and what advances they had made. That
work of Beda which is the best known and most
esteemed is the Ecclesiastical History of the Eng.
lish nation. Disgraced by a want of choice and
frequently by a confused ill disposition of his matter, and blemished with a4 degree of credulity next
to infantine, it is still a valuable, and for the time
a surprising performance. The book opens with a
description of this island which would not have disgraced a classical author; and he has prefixed to
it a chronological abridgment of sacred and profane
history connected, from the beginning of the world,
which, though not critically adapted to his main design, is of far more intrinsic value, and indeed displays a vast fund of historical erudition. On the whole, though this father of the English learning
? ? ? ? 254 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
seems to have been but a genius of the middle class,
neither elevated nor subtile, and one who wrote in a
low style, simple, but not elegant,'yet, when we reflect upon the time in which he lived, the place in
which he spent his whole life, within the walls of a
monastery, in so remote and wild a country, it is impossible to refuse him the praise of an incredible industry and a generous thirst of knowledge.
That a nation who not fifty years before had but
just begun to emerge from a barbarism so perfect
that they were unfurnished even with an alphabet
should in so short a time have established so flourishing a seminary of learning, and have produced so
eminent a teacher, is a circumstance which I imagine
no other nation besides England can boast.
Hitherto we have spoken only of their Latin and
Greek literature. They cultivated also their native
language, which, according to the opinions of the
most adequate judges, was deficient neither in energy nor beauty, and was possessed of such an happy
flexibility as to be capable of expressing with grace
and effect every new technical idea introduced either
by theology or science. They were fond of poetry;
they sung at all their feasts; and it was counted extremely disgraceful not to be able to take a part in
these- performances, even when they challenged each
other to a sudden exertion of the poetic spirit. Caedmon, afterwards one of the most eminent of their
poets, was disgraced in this manner into an exertion
of a latent genius. He was desired in his turn to
sing, but, being ignorant and full of natural sensibility, retired in confusion from the company, and by
instant and strenuous application soon became a dis.
tinguished proficient in the art.
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 255
CHAPTER III.
SERIES OF ANGLO-SAXON KINGS FROMI ETHELBERT TO
ALFRED: WITH THE INVASION OF THE DANES.
THE Christian religion, having once taken root in
Kent, spread itself with great rapidity throughout
all the other Saxon kingdoms in England. The
manners of the Saxons underwent a notable alteration by this change in their religion: their ferocity was much abated; they became more mild and sociable; and their laws began to partake of the
softness of their manners, everywhere recommending mercy and a tenderness for Christian blood.
There never was any people who embraced religion
with a more fervent zeal than the Anglo-Saxons,
nor with more simplicity of spirit. Their history
for a long time shows us a remarkable conflict between their dispositions and their principles. This
conflict produced no medium, because they were
absolutely contrary, astd both operated with almost
equal violence. Great crimes and extravagant penances, rapine and an entire resignation of worldly
goods, rapes and vows of perpetual chastity, succeeded each other in the same persons. There
was nothing which the violence of their passions
could not induce them to commit; nothing to which'they did not submit to atone for their offences, when
reflection gave an opportunity to repent. But by
degrees the sanctions of religion began to preponderate; and as the monks at this time attracted all
the religious veneration, religion everywhere began
to relish of the cloister: an inactive spirit, and a
spirit of scruples prevailed; they dreaded to put
? ? ? ? 256 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
the greatest criminal to death; they scrupled to
engage in any worldly functions. A king of the
Saxons dreaded that God would call him to an account for the time which he spent in his temporal
affairs and had stolen from prayer. It was frequent
for kings to go on pilgrimages to Rome or to Jerusalem, on foot, and under circumstances of great
hardship. Several kings resigned their crowns to devote themselves to religious contemplation in monasteries, -more at that time and in this nation than in all other nations and in all times. This, as it
introduced great mildness into the tempers of the
people, made them less warlike, and consequently
prepared the way to their forming one body under
Egbert, and for the other changes which followed.
The kingdom of Wessex, by the wisdom and courage of King Ina, the greatest legislator and politician
of those times, had swallowed up Cornwall, for a
while a refuge for some of the old Britons, together
with the little kingdom of the South Saxons. By
this augmentation it stretched from the Land's End
to the borders of Kent, the Thames flowing on the
north, the ocean washing it on the south. By their
situation the people of Wessex naturally came to engross the little trade which then fed the revenues of
England; and their minds were somewhat opened by
a foreign communication, by which they became more
civilized and better acquainted with the arts of war
and of government. Such was the condition of
799 the kingdom of Wessex, when Egbert was
called to the throne of his ancestors. The
civil commotions which for some time prevailed had
driven this prince early in life into an useful banishment. He was honorably received at the court,of
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 257
Charlemagne, where he had an opportunity of studying government in the best school, and of forming
himself after the most perfect model. Whilst Charlemagne was reducing the continent of Europe into one
empire, Egbert reduced England into one kingdom.
The state of his own dominions, perfectly united under him, with the other advantages which we have
just mentioned, and the state of the neighboring Saxon governments, made this reduction less difficult.
Besides Wessex, there were but two kingdoms of consideration in England, - Mercia and Northumberland.
They were powerful enough in the advantages of Nature, but reduced to great weakness by their divis-.
ions. As there is nothing of more moment to anycountry than to settle the succession of its government on clear and invariable principles, the Saxon, monarchies, which were supported by no such principles, were continually tottering. The right of government sometimes was considered as in the eldest son, sometimes in all; sometimes the will of the deceased prince disposed of the crown, sometimes a
popular election bestowed it. The consequence of
this was the frequent division and frequent reunion
of the same territory, which were productive of infinite mischief; many various principles of succession
gave titles to some, pretensions to more; and plots,
cabals, and crimes could not be wanting to all the
pretenders. Thus was Mercia torn to pieces; and
the kingdom of Northumberland, assaulted on one
side by the Scots, and ravaged on the other by the
Danish incursions, could not recover from a long an
archy into which its intestine divisions had plunged
it. Egbert knew how to make advantage of these
divisions: fomenting them by his policy at first, and.
VOL. VII. 17
? ? ? ? 258 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
quelling them afterwards by his sword, he reduced
these two kingdoms ulder his government. The
same power which conllqered Mercia and Northumberland made the reduction of Kent and Essex easy,
- the people oil all hands the more readily submitting, because there was no change made in their laws,
manners, or the form of their government.
Egbert, Egbert, when he had brought all England
A. D. 827. . under his dominion, made the Welsh tributary, and carried his arms with success into Scotland,
assumed the title of Monarch of all Britain. * The
southern part of the island was now for the first time
authentically known by the name of England, and by
every appearance promised to have arrived at the fortunate moment for forming a permanent and splendid monarchy. But Egbert had not reigned seven years in peace, when the Danes, who had before
showed themselves in some scattered parties, and
made some inconsiderable descents, entered
A. D. 832.
the kingdom in a formidable body. This
people came from the same place whence the English themselves were derived, and they differed from
them in little else than that they still retained their
original barbarity and heathenism. These, assisted
by the Norwegians, and other people of Scandinavia,
were the last torrent of the Northern ravagers which
overflowed Europe. What is remarkable, they attacked England and France when these two kingdoms were in the height of their grandeur, - France under Charlemagne, England united by Egbert. The
good fortune of Egbert met its first check from these
people, who defeated his forces with great slaughter
near Charmouth in Dorsetshire. It generally hap* No Saxon monarch until Athelstan.
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 259
pens that a new nation, with a new method of making war, succeeds against a people only exercised in
arms by their own civil dissensions. Besides, England, newly united, was not without those jealousies
and that disaffection which give such great advantage to an invader. But the vigilance and courage of Egbert repaired this defeat; he repulsed the Danes; and died soon after at Winchester, full of
years and glory.
He left a great, but an endangered suc- Ethelwolf,
cession, to his son Ethelwolf, who was a mild A. D' 838.
and virtuous prince, full of a timid piety, which utterly disqualifies for government; and he began to
govern at a time when the greatest capacity was
wanted. The Danes pour in upon every side; the
king rouses from his lethargy; battles are fought
with various success, which it were useless and tedious to recount. The event seems to have been,
that in some corners of the kingdom the Danes
gained a few inconsiderable settlements; the rest of
the kingdom, after being terribly ravaged, was left
a little time to recover, in order to be plundered
anew. But the weak prince took no advantage of
this time to concert a regular plan of defence, or
to rouse a proper spirit in his people. Yielding
himself wholly to speculative devotion, he entirely
neglected his affairs, and, to complete the ruin of
his kingdom, abandoned it, in such critical circumstances, to make a pilgrimage to Rome. At Rome
he behaved in the manner that suited his little genius; in making charitable foundations, and in extending the Rome-scot or Peter-pence, which the folly of some princes of the Heptarchy had granted
for their particular dominions, over the whole king
? ? ? ? 260. ABRIDGMENT OF: ENtLISH HISTORY.
dom. His shameful desertion of his country raised
so general a discontent, that in his absence. his own
son, with the principal of his nobility and bishops,
conspired against him. At his return, he found,
however, that several still adhered to him; but here,
too, incapable of acting with vigor, he agreed to an
accommodation, which placed the crown on the head
of his rebellious son, and only left to himself a sphere
of government as narrow as his genius,- the district of Kent, whither he retired to enjoy an inglorious privacy with a wife whom he had married in France.
Ethelred, On his death, his son Ethelred still held. D. 86. the crown, which he had preoccupied by
his rebellion, and which he polluted with a new
stain. He married his father's widow. The confused history of these times furnishes no clear account either of the successions of the kings or of their actions. During the reign of this prince and
his successors Ethelbert and Ethelred, the people in
several parts of England seem to have withdrawn
from the kingdom of Wessex, and to have revived
their former independency. This, added to the weakness of the government, made way for new swarms
of Danes, who burst in upon this ill-governed and
divided people, ravaging the whole country in a
terrible manner, but principally directing their fury
against every monument of civility or piety. They
had now formed a regular establishment in Northumberland, and gained a very considerable footing in
Mercia and East Anglia; they hovered over every
part of the kingdom with their fleets; and being es.
tablished in many places: in the heart of the coun
try, nothing seemed able to resist them.
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH. HISTORY. 261 CHAPTER IV.
REIGN OF KING ALFRED.
IT was in the midst of these distractions
A. D. 871.
that Alfred succeeded to a sceptre which
was threatened every moment to be wrenched from
his hands. He was then only twenty-two years of
age, but exercised from his infancy in -troubles and
in wars that formed and displayed his virtue. Some
of its best provinces were torn from his kingdom,
whibh was shrunk to the ancient bounds of Wessex;
and what remained was weakened by dissension, by
a long war, by a raging pestilence, and surrounded
by enemies whose numbers seemed inexhaustible, and
whose fury was equally increased by victories or defeats. All these difficulties served only to increase the vigor of his mind. He took the field without
delay; but he was defeated with considerable loss.
This ominous defeat displayed more fully the greatness of his courage and capacity, which found in desperate hopes and a ruined kingdom such powerful resources. In a short time after he was in a condition to be respected: but he was not led away
by the ambition of a young warrior. He neglected
no measures to procure peace for his country, which
wanted a respite from the calamities which had long
oppressed it. A peace was concluded for Wessex.
Then the Danes turned their faces once more towards Mercia and East Anglia. They had before stripped the inhabitants of all their movable substance, and now they proceeded without resistance to seize upon their lands. Their success encouraged
new swal'ms of Danes to crowd over, who, fillding
? ? ? ? 262 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY.
all the northern parts of England possessed by their
friends, rushed into Wessex. They were adventurers under different and independent leaders; and
a peace little regarded by the particular party that
made it had no influence at all upon the others.
875 Alfred opposed this shock with so much
firmness that the barbarians had recourse
to a stratagem: they pretended to treat; but taking
advantage of the truce, they routed a body of the
West Saxon cavalry that were off their guard, mounted their horses, and, crossing- the country with amazing celerity, surprised the city of Exeter. This was an acquisition of infinite advantage to their affairs,
as it secured them a port in the midst of Wessex.
Alfred, mortified at this series of misfortunes, perceived clearly that nothing could dislodge the Danes,
or redress their continual incursions, but a powerful
fleet which might intercept them at sea. The want
of this, principally, gave rise to the success of that
people. They used suddenly to land and ravage a
part of the country; when a force opposed them,
they retired to their ships, and passed to some other
part, which in a like manner they ravaged, and then
retired as before, until the country, entirely harassed,
pillaged, and wasted by these incursions, was no longer able to resist them. Then they ventured safely
to enter a desolated and disheartened country, and
to establish themselves in it. These considerations
made Alfred resolve upon equipping a fleet. In this
enterprise nothing but difficulties presented themselves: his revenue was scanty, and his subjects altogether unskilled in maritime affairs, either as to the construction or the navigation of ships. He did not
therefore despair. With great promises attending a
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 263
little money, he engaged in his service a number of
Frisian seamen, neighbors to the Danes, and pirates,
as they were. He brought, by the same means, shipwrights from the continent. He was himself present
to everything; and having performed the part. of a
king in drawing together supplies of every kind, he
de'scended with no less dignity into the artist, - improving on the construction, inventing new machines, and supplying by the greatness of his genius the
defects and imperfections of the arts in that rude
period. By his indefatigable application the first
English navy was in a very short time in readiness to
put to sea. At that time the Danish fleet of one hundred and twenty-five ships stood with full sail for Exeter; they met; but, with anl omen prosperous to
the new naval power, the Danish fleet was entirely
vanquished and dispersed. This success drew on the.
surrendry of Exeter, and a peace, which Alfred much
wanted to put the affairs of his kingdom in order.
This peace, however, did not last long. As the
Danes were continually pouring into some part of England, they found most parts already in Danish hands; so that all these parties naturally directed their course
to the only English kingdom. All the Danes conspired to put them in possession of it, and bursting unexpectedly with the united force of their whole
body upon Wessex, Alfred- was entirely overwhelmed,
and obliged to drive before the storm of his fortune.
He fled in disguise into a fastness in the A. D 876
Isle of Athelney, where he remained four
months in the lowest state of indigence, supported by
an heroic humility, and that spirit of piety which
neither adverse fortune nor prosperity could overcome. It is much to be lamented that a character
? ? ? ? 264 ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLIStH HISTORY.
so formed to interest all men, involved in reverses of
fortune that make the most agreeable and useful part
of history, should be only celebrated by pens so little
suitable to the dignity of the subject. These revolutions are -so little prepared, that we neither can perceive distinctly the causes which sunk him nor those
which again raised him to power. A few naked facts
are all our stock. From these we see Alfred, assisted
by the casual success of one of his nobles, issuing
from his retreat; he heads a powerful army once
more, defeats the Danes, drives them out of WTessex, follows his blow, expels them from Mercia, subdues them in Northumberland, and makes them tributary in East Anglia; and thus established by a number of victories in a full peace, he is presented
to us in that character which makes him venerable
to posterity. It is a refreshment, in the midst of
such a gloomy waste of barbarism and desolation,
to fall upon so fair and cultivated a spot.
When Alfred had once more reunited the
a. D. 880.
kingdoms of his ancestors, he found the
whole face of things in the most desperate condition: there was no observance of law and order;
religion had no force; there was no honest industry; the most squalid poverty and the grossest ignorance had overspread the whole kingdom. Alfred
at once enterprised the cure of all these evils. To
896 remedy the disorders in the government, he
revived, improved, and digested all the Saxon institutions, insomuch that he is generally honored as the founder of our laws and Constitution. *
* Historians, copying after. one another, and examining little,
have attributed to this monarch the institution of juries, an institution which certainly did never prevail amongst the Saxons. They
? ? ? ? ABRIDGMENT OF ENGLISH HISTORY. 265
The shire he divided into hundreds, the hundreds
into tithings; every freeman was obliged to be entered into some tithing, the members of which were
mutually bound for each other, for the preservation
of the peace, and the avoiding theft and rapine. For
securing the liberty of the subject, he introduced the
method of giving bail, the most certain fence against
the abuses of power. It has been observed that the
reigns of weak princes are times favorable to liberty;
but the wisest and bravest of all the English princes
is the father of their freedom. This great man was
even jealous of the privileges of his subjects; and as
his whole life was spent in protecting them, his last
will breathes the same spirit, declaring that he had
left his people as free as their own thoughts. He not
only collected with great care a complete body of
laws, but he wrote comments on them for the instruction of his judges, who were in general, by the misforhave likewise attributed to him the distribution of England. into shires, hundreds, and tithings, and of appointing officers over these
divisions. But it is very obvious that the shires were never settled
upon any regular plan, nor are they-the result of any single design.
But these reports, however ill imagined, are a strong proof of the
high veneration in which thist excellent prince has always been held;
as it has been thought that the attributing these regulations to him
would endear them to the nation. He probably settled them in such
an order, and made such reformations in his government, that some
of the institutions themselves which he improved have been attributed
to him: and, indeed, there was one work of his which serves to furnish us with a higher idea of the political capacity of that great man
than any of these fictions. He made a general survey and register
of all the property in the kingdom, who held it, and what it was distinctly: a vast work for an age of ignorance and time of confusion,
which has been neglected in more civilized nations and settled times.
It was called the Roll of Winton, and served as a model of a work
of the same kind made by William the Conqueror.
