Western Reserve chronicle. [volume] (Warren, Ohio) 1855-1921, 1871-03-29
THE ASGLO.SAxOX CIVILIZATION.
AS ExENIPLIFIED BY ALFRED THE
GREAT.

In Alfred the Gfeat We have one o
the best types Of the civilized man
aud perhaps the most exalted Chris
tan the middle ages produced. BOrr
! In barbario times, u il surprising Z
: mud how little Of he barbarian there
. was in Alfred. HIS intellectual tone
OF mind, and the truly Christ-spiril
which he sought - incuIcate, is 10
happy. concord with the enlightened
ana advanced views OF modern times.
!, We can indorse nearly all Of Alfred's
philosOphic conceptions of religion to-
day, and his slate policy and illustra-
tinn Of just mOlarchical economy
stand out as the highest example in
the history of kings. James Stuart's
eXecrable eeOnOnly of kingcraft aud
divine right Oi prices is put to shame
by the enlightened views of the great
Saxon lawpivel. He conceived the
grand thought thit to be truly great
Is to be truly good, and that goodness
should be the attribute Of the King
pre-eminently. This goodness was
his highest divine right 10 reign over
his fellows. The King must be q
father TO his people, or he was no
proper king. Thisview of the Saxon
lawgiver has q very touching and
practical illustration in his counsel to
his son and successor, Edward, just
before his death. Il
"Thou, my dear sOn, p said this wise
man, "sft thee row beside me, and l
viii deliver thee two instructions.
My son, / feel that my hour is COM
ing. Ny counTenanee Is wan; my
days are almost done. We must now
/ part. shall go TO another world and
I thou shalt be lefs alone in all my
wealth. pray thee-iOr thou art my
/ dear child-striye TO be father and q.
/ lord TO thy people. Be thou the chill
| dren's father and the widows friend.
/ Comfort thou the poor, and shelter
/ the weak; and with all thy might
I right that which Is wrong. Aud, son,
/ govern thyself BY law then shall the
Lord love thee, and God, above all
/ things, be thy reward. Call thou
upon Him 10 advise thee in all thy
need, and so shall He help thee, the
better to compass that which thou
/ wOuldst.n
Here Is political wisdom of the very
Z highest order. No kingcraft in this
1t is sound state policy, grandly noble
in its philosophy OF a sovereign's
I duty, and supFemely touching in its
beautiful simplicity. -....y..- ---
There Is no Driestly mysticism of
divine right, but q thorough English
view of religion and human liberties.
Indeed, we see how natural 1t Is for
that nation which brought forth an
Allied to bring forth also cOnstitu-
tiOnal governments, and, lastly, re-
publican Institutions. Alfred is no
accident of his race, but its legitimate
offspring, and his mind and character
are English TO the last degree. Heis.
moreover, Protestant as much so as
Oliver Cromwell, John Milton, and
the rest of the Puritan demolishers of
kingcraft in England and America
This legacy of wisdom to his sou Ed
ward, as we'll as the literary and phi
lOsOphical fragment which he left,
manifest that healthy simplicity so
characteristic of Protestantism in its
religious and political economies. |
That grand mysticism of the Papaey, |
which awed nations and reduced 4
them to mental and spiritual servi- |
tude, is altogether un-English and |
un-AmeTican; aud that it Is so we I
have only to go back nearly thous- |
and years 70 Alfred 10 find the proof !
thereof. George Washington himself /
was not better illustration than the /
Saxon race are in their genius both |
protestant and republican than was \
the immortal lawgiver Of England
AbsOlutism and despOtism are unnat-
ural to il, as kingcraft must ever be TO
the American mind. The race Is,
therefore, the proper parent of liber-
ties and human progress, as much in
its own essential nature and character
as it has been in the actual fac6s of
history.
Mark how the great Alfred places
the law above kings: "And, son,
govern thyself by Law" Here is the
conception to that blasPhem-
Gus assumption Of princes after the
order of the Stuarts: "The king can
do no wrong" "The law is not made
for kings" 1.-THE king Is above the
law" Such doctrines are mopstrOus,
even in barbarOus ages, but they are
supremely repulsiye when attempted [
to be applied In modern times. They
have cured the world for ages, and
would curse the world for ages yet to
come were they still maintained
But they are irrecOncilable with the
Saxon genius, whether applied to
church or state, and Alfred only an
ticipated q universal sentiment Of his
race when he placed the law of right
and ruth above the throne. /.
Charlemagne, in working out the
new empire of the West, after the de-
cline Of the empire of the Caesars and
the quarrel between the successors of
and the successors of st.
Peter, becane e a necessity to Popes;
but Alfred, who arose soon Afterward
from Saxon England, had a loftier
aud a higher mission. The
one gave the imperial tone to- the
world, and it was warlike and barbar-
ic he was something of Caesar, and
though he blended the priest with the
king, he better illustrated the imperi-
al potency of ChristendOm than its
divine spirit Of love and its ultimate
aims for human good. But Alfred
was an apostle Of humanity; as law
giver, he was the prophet of constitu-
.ional rights, both for subjects and
rulers: and as the king, he was wit
ness that the sovereign should be a
iather to his people. That part of
then, fnreshadOwed in {
Alfred the Great, was a radical neees-
,ity, not only in the Christian ecOnO- I
ny, but also in human develop
nent.
rHE PARALLEL BETWEEN ALFRED !
AND WASHINGTON.
We believe that Providence gave to I
more than to any other ma
ion, and after her to America, the !
ands of Alfred and WashingtOn-thel
mission to work out human liberties. !
And. just at this point, we are brought
o the difference between a philOsOph-
cal infidelity, to which France and I
Germany have come from despOtic
orms of Church and State. and that !
faith which always char
.cteriZed England aud America. Not
hat either has been perfectly in the 9
light, but they have both certainly q
,een in the advance, and ever will be 1
anked as having been the foremost S
nations in the Protestant civilization, S
md the most universalian and eOnsti- s
utiOnal in their tendencies. c
The continent Of Europe, in embrae- ]
ng Christianity, received it more in
be grandeur of ancient superstitions 1
md priestly mysticism, belonging TO /
rather than in that beau j
iful simplicity Of a divine spirit and c
principle, exemplified in Jesus and {
he fishermen of Galilee. Indeed, the '
Roman and the Grecian genius. which |
n former civilizations had received G