ity for their loyal adherence to the pledges already given.
Having taken the necessary measures, Alfred then attacked Hastings,
compelled him to sue for peace, and next turned his arms against a body
of these pirates who had established themselves at Farnham. With them,
too, he was no less successful; but while he was thus occupied, the
East-Anglian and Northumbrian Danes seized the opportunity of revolt,
and sailed in two fleets for the coast of Devonshire. These also he
defeated, though even then it required no less than three years to drive
these new invaders from the country.

And now, in the year 901, having fulfilled his earthly mission as the
defender and civilizer of his people, the great and good King Alfred
expired, on October 26th, six days before the Mass of All Saints--not
less beloved by his contemporaries than admired by after-ages.

JOHN HUSS

By REV. DR. TWEEDIE

(1373-1415)

[Illustration: John Huss. [TN]]

John Huss, a reformer before the Reformation, and the martyr of
Constance, was born about the year 1373. His birthplace was Hussinetz, a
village of Bohemia. His parentage was humble, and his early toils and
privations formed the school in which he was trained for future
hardships and sufferings. He studied at the university of Prague; and
some of his teachers were men somewhat in advance of their age. In the
year 1396 Huss received his master's degree, and began to lecture in
his university in 1398. In 1400 he was appointed confessor to the Queen
of Bohemia; and in 1401 he became president of the philosophical faculty
of Prague. The corruptions of his day, especially among the Romish
priesthood, early suggested deep thoughts to this ardent man, and he
found a few who were like-minded with himself among those who resided at
Prague. Some of these entered into an arrangement for spreading truth as
purely as it was then known; Huss was chosen their preacher, and there,
in a place appropriately called "Bethlehem," or the House of Bread, he
"refreshed the common people with the bread of holy preaching." The
impression which he produced was profound. A fervent love, a holy life,
glowing appeals, and a gentle manner, all helped to make him a master in
grace, but soon brought him into collision with dark, mediaeval minds.

Here, then, is another decided and heroic man who has entered the ranks
of the friends of truth. He will have much to do and much to endure--his
patron will become his pers