who is supposed to have written the book while in prison for political crimes; the Pastoral Care (a hand-book for priests), by Pope Gregory I; and the Ecclesiastical History of Beda. The works are not always literally translated, the Consolations of Philosophy in particular showing great freedom in rendering, and containing many passages inserted by Alfred himself.

In his Preface to the Pastoral Care King Alfred laments

STATUE OF KING ALFRED, WINCHESTER.

the decay of learning in England, and lays plans for the revival of it. Writing to his bishops, he says:

...

"It has very often come into my mind what wise men there were formerly throughout England, both of sacred and secular orders; and how happy times there were then throughout England. So general was the decay of learning in England that there were very few who could understand their rituals in English when I came to the throne. . . . Therefore it seems better to me, if ye think so, for us to translate some books which are most needful for men to know into the language which

we can all understand, and for you to do as we very easily can if we have tranquillity enough, that is that all the youth now in England of free men, who are rich enough to be able to devote themselves to it, be set to learn as long as they are not fit for any other occupation, until they are well able to read English writing; and let those be afterward taught in the Latin language who are to continue learning and be promoted to a higher rank."

ST. MARTIN'S CHURCH, NEAR CANTERBURY.

On this site stood the first church in Britain used by Augustine. "The Anglo-Saxon Chronicle." - More important, all things considered, than any of these translations is the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle, begun under the inspiration of Alfred's illustrious court at Winchester, if not under the direct supervision of the King. This work, based on Beda's history and the additions from various cathedrals and monasteries, was continued to the death of King Stephen in 1154, and is the basis of our knowledge of twelve centuries of British history. The entries vary greatly in length and importance. For the year 444, for example, the entire record is that "Saint Martin died; " whereas for 449 there

is an account in much detail of the coming of the Angles, Saxons, and Jutes. For 774 we read:

"In this year a red cross appeared in the heavens after sunset; and in this year the Mercians and Kentish men fought at Otford, and wondrous serpents were seen in the South Saxons' land."

Occasionally the simple prose of the Chronicle is broken by a spirited poem, of which the best are the Battle of Brunanburh, celebrating the victory of Alfred's grandson Athelstan over the Danes in 937; and the Battle of Maldon, recording the defeat in 991 of the Saxons under Byrhtnoth by the Danes. A good idea of the Battle of Brunanburh may be got from the concluding section of Tennyson's translation:

"Never had huger
Slaughter of heroes

Slain by the sword-edge-
Such as old writers
Have writ of in histories
Hapt in this isle, since
Up from the East hither
Saxon and Angle from
Over the broad billow
Broke into Britain with
Haughty war-workers who
Harried the Welshman, when
Earls that were lured by the
Hunger of glory gat

Hold of the land." 1

Decay of Anglo-Saxon Literature. With the passing of Alfred a great incentive to literary production passed; and both the Anglo-Saxon literature and the Anglo-Saxon lan

1 The translation gives a good idea of the form of Anglo-Saxon poetry. See pages 7-8.

guage underwent a rapid decay. During the century and a half between Alfred's death (901) and the Norman Conquest (1066) it seems that no poetry was produced; and the small amount of prose from the same period is not of high order. Besides the Chronicle the chief contributions to literature were sermons and saints' lives. Two writers of these are known to us by name Elfric, abbot of Eynsham near Oxford, and Wulfstan, Archbishop of York. Their interest for us to-day is very slight. It is merely, says Andrew Lang, "that they upheld a standard of learning and of godly living, in evil times of fire and sword, and that English prose became a rather better literary instrument in their hands."

Under Alfred's successors the Danes regained most of their lost territory; and the decay of national life went along with, possibly helped to bring about, the decay of language and literature. The nation needed new life; and this was brought to it by the great event the Norman Conquestwith which our next chapter begins.

CHAPTER II

FROM THE NORMAN CONQUEST TO THE DEATH OF CHAUCER (1066-1400)

Origin of the Normans. A few years after Alfred's death some Scandinavian pirates sailed southward and invaded what is now

northern France. So

bold and pressing were they that Charles the Simple ceded to them the duchy of Normandy to stop their encroachments. The newcomers, called Normans (that is, Northmen), soon mixed with the natives, producing a new race having the strength and boldness of the North, and the grace and refinement of the South. In 1066 they invaded England, and defeated Harold,

the last of the Saxon kings, in the battle of Hastings. The coming of this new race was unquestionably beneficial in every way to the people of Britain.