eginning to settle upon them, as if they intended to make Alfred's
new kingdom their permanent abode. The forces of the Saxons, on the
other hand, were scattered and discouraged. There seemed no hope left
to them of making head against their pestiferous invaders. If they
were defeated, their cruel conquerors showed no moderation and no
mercy in their victory; and if they conquered, it was only to suppress
for a moment one horde, with a certainty of being attacked immediately
by another, more recently arrived, and more determined and relentless
than those before them.

Alfred succeeded, however, by means of the influence of his personal
character, and by the very active and efficient exertions that he
made, in concentrating what forces remained, and in preparing for a
renewal of the contest. The first great battle that was fought was at
Wilton. This was within a month of his accession to the throne. The
battle was very obstinately fought; at the first onset Alfred's troops
carried all before them, and there was every prospect that he would
win the day. In the end, however, the tide of victory turned in favor
of the Danes, and Alfred and his troops were driven from the field.
There was an immense loss on both sides. In fact, both armies were,
for the time, pretty effectually disabled, and each seems to have
shrunk from a renewal of the contest. Instead, therefore, of fighting
again, the two commanders entered into negotiations. Hubba was the
name of the Danish chieftain. In the end, he made a treaty with
Alfred, by which he agreed to retire from Alfred's dominions, and
leave him in peace, provided that Alfred would not interfere with him
in his wars in any other part of England. Alfred's kingdom was Wessex.
Besides Wessex, there was Essex, Mercia, and Northumberland. Hubba and
his Danes, finding that Alfred was likely to prove too formidable an
antagonist for them easily to subdue, thought it would be most prudent
to give up one kingdom out of the four, on condition of not having
Alfred to contend against in their depredations upon the other three.
They accordingly made the treaty, and the Danes withdrew. They
evacuated their posts and strong-holds in Wessex, and went down the
Thames to London, which was in Mercia, and there commenced a new
course of conquest and plunder, where they had no such powerful foe to
oppose them.

Buthred was the king of Mercia. He could not resist Hubba and his
Danes alone, and he could not n