came to be baptized over and over again for the sake of the white
dresses which were given to them at their baptism; and when one of these
had once got a dress which was coarser than usual, he declared that such
a sack was fitter for a swineherd than for a warrior, and that he would
have nothing to do with it or with the Christian religion. The Saxons
gave Charles a great deal of trouble, for his war with them lasted no
less than thirty-three years; and at one time he was so much provoked by
their frequent revolts that he had the cruelty to put 4,500 Saxon
prisoners to death.

But there are better things to be told of Charles. He took very great
pains to restore learning, which had long been in a state of decay. He
invited learned men from Italy and from England to settle in his
kingdom; and of all these, the most famous was a Northumbrian named
Alcuin. Alcuin gave him wise and good advice as to the best way of
treating the Saxons in order to bring them to the faith; and when
Charles was on his way to Rome, just before he was crowned as emperor,
Alcuin presented him with a large Latin Bible, written expressly for his
use; for we must remember that printing was not invented until more than
six hundred years later, so that all books in Charles's days were
_manuscript_ (or written by hand). Some people have believed that an
ancient manuscript Bible which is now to be seen in the great library at
Paris is the very one which Alcuin gave to Charles.

We are told that when Charles found himself at a loss for help in
educating his people, he said to Alcuin that he wished he might have
twelve such learned clerks as Jerome and Augustine; and that Alcuin
answered, "The Maker of heaven and earth has had only two such; and are
you so unreasonable as to wish for twelve?"

Alcuin was made master of the palace school, which moved about wherever
the court was, and in which the pupils were Charles's own children and
the sons of his chief nobles; and besides this, care was taken for the
education of the clergy and of the people in general. Charles himself
tried very hard to learn reading and writing when he was already in
middle age; but although he became able to read, and used to keep little
tablets under his pillow, in order that he might practise writing while
lying awake in bed, he never was able to write easily. Many curious
stories are told of the way in which he overlooked the service in his
chapel, where he desired that everyt