action; of thought; of endurance. Freedom first great possession;
afterwards learning and culture. Alfred a loyal Son of the Church.
Founder of English prose. Earliest literature of a nation in verse;
why. Influence of Rome on Alfred.

"Let us praise the men of renown," says Holy Scripture (Ecclesiasticus,
44), "and our fathers in their generations.... Such as have borne rule
in their dominions, men of great power and endued with their wisdom ...
ruling over the present people, and by the strength of wisdom
instructing the people in most holy words."

We have to think now of a man of renown who bore rule in his dominions;
a man of great power, and endued with wisdom; who by strength and wisdom
instructed his people in most holy words. We have hitherto spoken of
work done in the dedicated life of religion: to-day we direct our
attention to the work of a great layman; the first English layman whom
we know to have been a great power in literature; less as a "maker,"
poet or proseman, than as an opener out to "makers" of precious store; a
helper and encourager; a fellow-student; a learner and a teacher of whom
it could be said, as Chaucer says of his Clerk of Oxford, "gladly would
he learn and gladly teach."

[Illustration: STATUE OF KING ALFRED, BY H. THORNEYCROFT, R.A. [_Page 48_]

It would not, I think, be possible for English people to over-estimate
the value of the gift God gave them in KING AELFRED. That is really the
right way to spell his name, but as to most people it looks unfamiliar,
we will adopt the more usual spelling and write of him as Alfred.

We think of him in various aspects: first as the strong, brave man who
did so much toward making noble history for time to come, by his own
action, guided by his piety and devotion. His earliest work was to fight
for the gaining of freedom and unity for his people, and this work went
over many years. When there was an interval of peace, and when a more
settled peace had been won, he worked hard to gain for them the freedom
of the mind which can never exist where ignorance is reigning. Freedom
is the first great possession; afterwards we seek for learning and
culture. People who may be called away at any moment to fight for life
or liberty cannot do much in the way of quiet study; and while the
Danes were not yet finally repulsed or bound by treaty, the great work
of Alfred in civilizing England had to remain in suspense.

We love to think that