o the point of view in which they are to be regarded,
but also in respect to questions of fact. Even the place where this
battle was fought, notwithstanding what we have said about the
derivation of Aston from AEscesdune, is not absolutely certain. There
is in the same vicinity another town, called Ashbury, which claims the
honor. One reason for supposing that this last is the true locality is
that there are the ruins of an ancient monument here, which, tradition
says, was a monument built to commemorate the death of a Danish
chieftain slain here by Alfred. There is also in the neighborhood
another very singular monument, called The White Horse, which also
has the reputation of having been fashioned to commemorate Alfred's
victories. The White Horse is a rude representation of a horse, formed
by cutting away the turf from the steep slope of a hill, so as to
expose a portion of the white surface of the chalky rock below of such
a form that the figure is called a horse, though they who see it seem
to think it might as well have been called a dog. The name, however,
of _The White Horse_ has come down with it from ancient times, and
the hill on which it is cut is known as The White Horse Hill. Some
ingenious antiquarians think they find evidence that this gigantic
profile was made to commemorate the victory obtained by Alfred and
Ethelred over the Danes at the ancient AEscesdune.

However this may be, and whatever view we may take of the comparative
influence of Alfred's energetic action and Ethelred's religious faith
in the defeat of the Danes at this great battle, it is certain that
the results of it were very momentous to all concerned. Ethelred
received a wound, either in this battle or in some of the smaller
contests and collisions which followed it, under the effects of which
he pined and lingered for some months, and then died. Alfred, by his
decision and courage on the day of the battle, and by the ardor and
resolution with which he pressed all the subsequent operations during
the period of Ethelred's decline, made himself still more conspicuous
in the eyes of his countrymen than he had ever been before. In looking
forward to Ethelred's approaching death, the people, accordingly,
began to turn their eyes to Alfred as his successor. There were
children of some of his older brothers living at that time, and they,
according to all received principles of hereditary right, would
naturally succeed to the throne; but the n