thousandth anniversary of Alfred the Great. It is edited by
the Mayor of Winchester, whose Christian name we observe is "Alfred " ; it has a charming introduction by Sir Walter Besant, a frontispiece poem by the Poet-Laureate, and a facsimile repre- sentation of the Alfred Jewel on its cover. For solid contents, Mr. Frederic Harrison contributes an article on Alfred "as King "; the Bishop of Bristol explains him "as a Religious Man and an Educationist" ; Professor Oman treats of him "as a Warrior "; Sir Clements Markham "as a Geographer " ; and Professor Earle "as a Writer." Sir Frederick Pollock puts in a very interesting chapter on "English Law before the Norman Conquest " ; and Mr. Loftie concludes with a paper on "King Alfred and the Arts." And so we get, in a series of careful studies of the various aspects of his life and character, an impressive monument to the memory of the great King. To Sir Walter, speaking first in a general introduction, it has fallen to give the key-note of the volume; and he tells us that "to look for the secret of his [Alfred's] wisdom is like looking for the secret of making a great poem, or writing a great play; it may be arrived at and described, but it is not therefore the easier of imitation. Alfred's secret is quite simple. His work was permanent because it was established on the national character." Mr. Frederic Harrison dwells with sympathetic enthusiasm on the catholicity of Alfred's character, and the consequently wide range of the sympathies his memory appeals to :—" Alfred's name is almost the only one in the long roll of our national worthies which awakens no bitter, no jealous thought, which combines the honour of all ; Alfred represents at once the ancient monarchy, the army, the navy, the law, the literature, the poetry, the art, the enterprise, the industry, the religion of our race. Neither Welshman, nor Scot, nor Irishman can feel that Alfred's memory has left the trace of a wound for his national pride. No difference of Church arises to separate any who would join to do Alfred honour. No saint in the Calendar was a more loyal and devoted member of the ancient faith ; and yet no Protestant can imagine a purer and more simple follower of the Gospel. Alfred was a victorious warrior whose victories have left no curses behind them ; a king whom no man ever charged with a harsh act ; a scholar who never bee ame a pedant; a saint who knew no superstition ; a hero as bold as Lancelot, as spotless as Galahad." But the volume, though a book of praise, is also a book of historical facts and scholarly criticism, and if it is as widely read as it deserves to be, the majority of English people will know a great deal more about their greatest King by the time of the millenary than they do now.
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