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