into
Christianity. They were glad to accept it. Alfred seemed to have the
persuasive power of the Reverend Doctor Torrey. Guthrum, the Danish
King, who had come over to take a personal hand in the looting, was
captured, baptized, and then Alfred stood sponsor for him and gave him
the name of Ethelstan. He was made a bishop.

This acceptance of Christianity by the leaders of the Danes broke their
fierce spirit, and peace followed. Alfred told the soldiers to use their
horses to plow the fields. The two armies that had fought each other now
worked together at road-making and draining the marshes. Some of the
Danes fled in their ships, but very many remained and became citizens of
the country. The Danish names are still recognizable. Names beginning
with the aspirate, say Herbert, Hulett, Hubbard, Hubbs, Harold, Hancock,
are Danish, and are the cause of that beautiful muddling of the "H" that
still perplexes the British tongue, the rule governing which is to put
it on where it is not needed and leave it off where it is. The Danes
called the Engles, "Hengles," and the Engles called a man by the name of
Henry, "Enry."

In saving Wessex, Alfred saved England for the English people; for it
was from Wessex, as a center, that his successors began the task of
reconquering England from the Danes.

* * * * *

With the rule of Alfred begins the England that we know. As we call
Herodotus the father of history, so could we, with equal propriety, call
Asser, who wrote in the time of Alfred, the father of English history.
The oldest English book is the "Life of Alfred" by Asser the monk.

That Asser was a dependent on his subject and very much in love with
him, doubtless gave a very strong bias to the book. That it is right in
the main, although occasionally wrong as to details, is proved by
various corroborating records.

The king's word in Alfred's time was law, and Alfred proved his modesty
by publicly proclaiming that a king was not divine, but only a man, and
therefore a king's edicts should be endorsed by the people in Folkmoot.
Here we get the genesis of popular government, and about the only
instance that I can recall where a very strong man acting as chief ruler
renounced a part of his power to the people, of his own accord. Kings
usually have to be trimmed, and it is revolution that does the shearing.
It is the rule that men do not relinquish power of their own
accord--they have to be dis