men into a compact body, and was enabled to receive the furious onsets of the Danes. There was no wavering on the side of the West-Saxons, who, in the end, owing to the skilful tactics of their leader, gained a complete victory. During the Danish retreat, many of the Northmen were slain, and in their flight to their fortress at Chippenham many prisoners were taken, as well as a large number of cattle.

We now see Alfred in a more determined attitude for he put all his captives to the sword, and then advanced to the fortress to lay siege to it. On previous occasions Alfred had erred on the side of leniency, and his generosity had been abused by the Danes. Now he was satisfied that the enemy must be thoroughly beaten, and that his great advantage must be pursued till it ended in the complete rout of the Danes.

Accordingly, Chippenham was besieged by the king and all his army for the space of fourteen days. At the end of that period, "the pagans, driven by famine, cold, fear, and last of all by despair, asked for peace." The tide of fortune had at length turned to Alfred's side, and he, who, a few weeks before, was a lonely exile, now had the Danish army at his mercy. Now he could command his own terms, and, moreover, he was in a position to enforce them.

Alfred's strength of character also appears, for he grants peace on condition that the Danes should give him as many hostages as he pleased, and that they should not require one man from him. He had never before obtained such terms, so we may con

clude that the Danes were completely vanquished Moreover, they promised to keep their oaths more faithfully than they had done in the past, and finally they decided to quit the kingdom of Wessex.

Thus, after many years of conflict there appeared every prospect of a lasting peace, which no one desired more earnestly than the king. For we know that Alfred's ambition was the mental and moral improvement of his countrymen, and the formation of a state in which justice and liberty should flourish. In the following chapter we shall read how Alfred made a treaty with the Danes, and how the land had rest for many years.

CHAPTER XIX.

THE PEACE OF WEDMORE.

WE are told that when the Danes asked for peace Alfred took pity upon them, and received such hostages as he chose. But in addition to carrying out this part of the pledge, we read that Guthrum, the great Danish leader, promised to become a Christian, and expressed a wish to receive baptism at Alfred's hands. It does not appear that Alfred urged the conversion of this powerful Viking, but rather it would seem that it arose from a sincere desire on the part of Guthrum himself to lead a quiet life. To no one would the change be more welcome than to Alfred, who had not only been fighting for

个

the liberty and freedom of his country, but also for

its religion.

Alfred at once agreed to the Danish requests, and seven weeks later, Guthrum, with thirty of his bravest men, visited the victorious king at Aller, a place not far from Athelney. Here Alfred presented Guthrum for baptism and acted as sponsor for the new convert, giving him the English name of Athelstan, instead of the Danish name of Guthrum.

This was a great triumph for Alfred, greater even than the Battle of Edington, and we feel sure that he rejoiced when he had won the heart of his opponent. Guthrum and his friends stayed with Alfred for twelve days in the English camp, but before they took their departure there was another ceremony to be performed. It was the custom at baptism to cover the head of the person with a white linen cloth called the chrism, which was to remain on for eight days. Accordingly, we find that on the eighth day after Guthrum's baptism, the ceremony of the chrismloosing took place at Wedmore, and further that this was performed by one of Alfred's friends, Ethelnoth.

Alfred was, indeed, a true king, for he realised that he must now endeavour to gain the hearty good-will of his former enemies. He could see that it would be impossible to drive the Danes entirely out of England, so he determined to allow them to settle in the eastern part of England. To make the necessary arrangements he called together his Wise Men, and with their assistance Alfred and Guthrum made a treaty.

By this treaty the boundary between Alfred's

kingdom and the lands of Guthrum was fixed.

The line of separation was to commence at the mouth of the Thames, run along the Lea to its source, and at Bedford turn to the right along the Ouse as far as Watling Street. If you look at the map you will see that this really means that Guthrum was to keep East Anglia.1 Alfred was to retain Wessex, with the addition of English Mercia. Thus the Danes really got the larger part of England, but Alfred contrived to keep London.

Alfred did not join on his new territory to Wessex, nor did he entirely govern it himself. He chose another plan, by appointing one of the men of WestSaxon Mercia to be its alderman. Alfred's choice fell upon Ethelred, a worthy man, who now became Alderman of West-Saxon Mercia. Such confidence did Alfred repose in Ethelred, that he gave him his daughter, Ethelfleda, in marriage. She was called the Lady of the Mercians, and of her we shall read more in a later chapter.

The remaining provisions of this treaty settled the relations between the English and the Danes while they remained together in Wessex. Henceforth there was to be no distinction between English and Danes; the were-gild or life-ransom was to be the same in each case for men of like position; and there was to be fair and peaceful dealing between the two peoples. The last paragraph of the treaty of Wedmore deserves to be read. It runs as follows:

"And we all ordained on that day that the oaths were sworn, that neither bond nor free might go to 1 Danish Northumbria and Danish Mercia.