Deseret evening news. [volume] (Great Salt Lake City [Utah]) 1867-1920, 1901-09-24

the young prince IN amazement'
father" answered Ethelred, whose
honor is more dear TO him than life
itself. My motive for this is quickly
explained. am subject but not q
slave, you know well nay illustrious an
cestors. will now make known To you
my sentiments. | may be mistaken, but
I thought last night discovered a par
tlcuar attention TO one OF my daugh-
tiers. II you have any designs upon
the honor OF my house you see the
sword that shall in an instant sacrifice
these unhappy but willing victims. But
II pure flame Is klndled within your
breast my alliance need not be deemed
unworthy, even OF royalty. Choose
therefore and name her that Is born
70 such distinguished honor" Alfred,
Impressed with the mobiles highminded
daring, held out his hand TO the trem-
bling. beautiful Ealswitha. who after
ward was proclaimed his wife Alfred
was 10 at The time OF his marriage, and
the union seems 10 have been an ex-
cepionally happy one.
Alfred assembled the throne during
a stormy period. His kingdom was the
scene Of the ravaglng invasons OF
scandlnayians, and at times he had to
Zee for his life. wandering about In
disguise But in the year S7s he won n
complete Victory over The invaders, and
later one OF the foreign leaders. with
20 Of his chiefs, was baptized, where
upon they We're given tract Of land
between the Tweed and the Thames,
upon which they settled.
Later another scandinavian invasion
followed, when the Danes with $50 ships
arrived of the shores Of Kent For
three years these became the
terror OF the country But they finally
came to grief, through the genius Of
Alfred. When he saw the river dotted
thickly with the enemys ships he OF
dered his men to dig deep channels from
the River Lea to the River Thames;
the course OF the former river was
changed, the ships of the Danes ran
aground, and Hastings and his men
we're put to flight.
Peace now followed, and the king de-
voted his time and energy to the build
Ing up OF his country, He fortified 1t
against future attacks, strengthened |
the army and reconstructed the navy.
He further encouraged manufactures
Of all kinds; rewarded inventors llber-
ally, ameliorated the condition of the
''theOws' or serfs, and invited indus
trious people from foreign lands to re-
people his country after the desolat-
Ing wars. He sent scholars to Jerusa-
lem Russia, and India, to search for
and learned men focked TO
his court He made the education OF
noblemen's children compulsory. He IS
by some historians credited with being
the founder OF the oxford university,
In the year S86. Whether this Is so or
not, he encouraged learned enterprises
Of every kind, and the Anglo-saxon
tongue attained during his day. great
perfection. Perhaps his character IS
best portrayed in his parting injunction
to his son and successor Edward He
said:
Chou, my dear son, set thee now
beside me, and | win deliver thee true
My son, | feel that my |
hour IS com,ns My countenance is
wan. My days are almost done. We |
must now part | shall TO another
world aud thou shit be left alone In AL |
my wealth, / pray thee for thou art |
my dear child strive to be father |
and a lord to thy people. BE thou the
children's father and the widows |
friend Comfort thou the poor and shell
ter the weak, and with all thy might |
right that which is wrong, And, son, |
govern thyself by law. then shall the |
Lord love thee. and God above all |
things shall be thy reward. Call thou |
upon Him to advise thee In all thy |
need, and so shall lie help thee the bet
ter TO compass that which thou |
woudst"
A thousand years Is not a very long
period In human history, and yet how
much has not taken place In Great
Britain, In Europe, in all the world
since King Alfred was called to his
eternal rest? How different is ey-
erything now, TO what 1t was then
What will another thousand years
bring; Generations come and go Eacn
performs part in the construction of
the worlds history. But the work IT.
self Is shaped by the great Architect
who laid the plans from the beginning
and who superintends II from age TO
age in accordance with those plans,
and for His own wise and benevolent
p1rDOSes