BOOK II. 22. Alfred's Marriage. THE episode of Alfred's love, which our author has introduced in his history, and which there forms the sixth book, seems not at all to be founded upon history, which he acknowledges himself, pretending that tradition alone has preserved its memory in an ancient song, entitled “Edgar and Emma." All our researches in the British Museum, and other libraries, to discover the authenticity of that song, were fruitless. We will, however, not therefore accuse it of being a mere fiction, although it seems that Haller wished to render his book interesting to the Germans by that episode. His purpose was probably to make his serious doctrines more popular, by giving them a romantic drapery, which he owns himself in his preface. We know not whether such a system is applicable in this country, as the English may be considered as complete professors of gravity, and masters in the art de s'ennuyer. They all like to read that which is in their line; but even in spite of this custom, Walter Scott, Bulwer, and other authors, have succeeded in using historical canvasses for romantic tales. With respect to Alfred's marriage, history relates, that although Alfred was a very good husband, and Elswitha a very honourable lady, their marriage was not one of passionate love, but rather a political calculation of his mother Osburga, who probably, like Rachel in the Holy Writ, wished that her son Alfred might take a wife out of her own country, Mercia. Among the noblemen of that province was a namesake of the West-Saxon king, Ethelred, alderman of the Ganii, surnamed from his size," Mickle," or "the Big." The wife of this Ethelred was Edburga, descended from the Mercian royal family, and probably a relative of Osburga. But Edburga, unlike the former queen of that name, who disgraced her family and rank, was a virtuous, and, in the language of Asser, who saw her a few years before her death, 66 a venerable lady, who survived her husband, and passed the remainder of her life in widowhood." This lady, by Ethelred, had a daughter named Elswitha, whom Alfred now asked and obtained in marriage. The union was a happy one, as has been inferred by Turner, from the earnestness with which Alfred, in his translation of Boethius, speaks on the subject of connubial affection. 23. License of Poetical Fiction. Although unlikely that ladies of the highest rank should deign to look down upon common servants, this improbability has often been made use of in poetical fiction, and still oftener greatly abused. This privilege has but lately been so far extended by Victor Hugo, in his drama of Ruy Blas," as to let a queen fall in love with a livery servant. The absurdity of the exaggeration is, however, from the great skill of the author, scarcely perceived by the audience, during the performance of the drama. 66 24. Hunting and Falconry. Asser thus describes the arts of hunting and falconry among the laborious pursuits of Alfred: "The Saxons brought with them, out of Germany, a strong liking for the pleasures and dangers of the chase: hunting was held to be a necessary part of a liberal education; it inured the Saxon youth to hardihood, made them active, patient of toil, and prompt to extricate themselves from the dangers into which a headlong pursuit after the wild beasts of the forest might lead them. The king had been bred up from his boyhood to this exercise, and continued to practise it, and to encourage it among his subjects, as a means of raising their manly courage, whilst it added to the state and magnificence of his own court. "It may be added, that the breed of English dogs has been remarkable from the days of Nemesian and Oppian: and was not likely to have escaped the attention of the observant king. The extensive marshes also, and the inundations which so frequently deluged the plains on the banks of the English rivers, furnished great temptations and facilities for the successful prosecution of falconry." BOOK III. 25. Alfred's firmness undaunted. England had enjoyed comparative tranquillity during fifteen years, namely, from 878 to 893; and the reign of Alfred may be divided into three periods, according to the varied character of the events which predominated at different times. The first period comprehends seven years, from his accession to the throne in 871, to his defeat at Chippenham, and expulsion from his throne in 878. This part of his life is diversified by few occurrences, which were thought worthy to be transmitted to posterity, though it comprises the two last attempts which the Danes made to reduce Wessex to the state of servitude, in which the rest of the island was bound. The short and decisive campaign, which first threw this able wrestler, and afterwards raised him from his fall stronger and more vigorous than before, may be looked on as one of those tests, by which superior talents occasionally are tried. It was a necessary discipline for the king's mind; for a king must not engross himself too deeply in the arts of peace alone; or devote the whole of his time to learning and religion. If then Alfred had sunk under the trial to which his firmness was exposed in 878, if he had fled to a safer home, and left his kingdom a prey to the barbarians, his name would have come down to us, not as the focus of glories that will ever dazzle the eye and fill the mind of those who contemplate them, but as the worthy contemporary and equal of Burrhed, king of Mercia, and other kings, who in the age immediately preceding that of Alfred, made no scruple to abandon the high and useful stations in which Providence had placed them. 26. A few Remarks on Juries. Our author's remarks on the jurymen should the more be appreciated, since this manner of administering justice has, in the present century been, and will still more be introduced throughout the whole of Europe, as it has already been in the United States, France, the Rhenish-Prussian provinces, and other states; but we fear that it will in reality, in some of those countries, be no improvement of true justice; for neither the character of the French, nor that of the Germans, are fitted for it. No objection can be made to the publicity given to such trials, as that prevents any of those abuses which took place under the arbitrary manner in which judgments were previously given in other countries, and principally under the Spanish Inquisition, under the tribunal of Venice, and even in France, whereof the unfortunate fate of Jean Calas is a sad example, without calculating the many abuses of lettres de cachet, &c. But the foundation of justice, which is impregnated in all English hearts, their coolness and moderation, even when not favoured with a sufficient scientific education, cannot be found in any other nation; and to that it may be attributed, that these institutions, created since so many centuries, are still preserved, without having undergone any reform. But, like a worn-out coat, all things that have remained unaltered during so long a period, require some repairs. We think that some reforms are necessary, as judges, accusers, and defendants, as well as juries, deviate from the functions they were originally intended to fulfil. The accuser endeavours to make an impression by his acuteness, whereby he composes, through evidence, suspicion, and probability, an ensemble, intended to awe the defendant, whilst he should only give a simple narrative of the facts, without any comment on his part. The judge who, in former times, was only the leader of the transaction, endeavours, from ambition, to acquire popularity and fame, by seeming impartiality, but considering his own opinions and views as supreme as his power, he imparts them to the jury, whilst he should strictly keep to the letter of the law. Sometimes he is too severe, sometimes too mild; but the jury almost always feel, by various means, his preponderance, which often breaks out-not in expounding the law-but in jokes and sarcasms. The defender who, in former times, sought to affect the judges by his eloquence, now looks upon that means with contempt, and does not take the trouble to prove the greater or lesser extent of the crime imputed to the culprit, but merely to detect some technical flaw in the indictment. The jurors, who are not acquainted with the law, and not guided by a regular code, judge according to their own impression; they consider far too much the tranquillity of society, and the necessity of warning examples, as to weigh scrupulously the arguments for guilt or innocence, thinking it sometimes their duty to be severe, and at others the reverse. Thus the punishments are generally more severe and cruel in England than in other civilized countries, without the situation of society being thereby improved. It were quite superfluous for us to cite examples of what we assert; the record of the judgments given during the last epochs is an ample proof. 27. Anglo-Saxon Legislation before Alfred and Alfred's Code. The Saxon laws of Ethelbert, Ina, Withred, and Offa, which formed the Anglo-Saxon legislation previous to Alfred's time, were few and imperfect. Ninety short sentences contain all that has been preserved of the laws of Ethelbert, King of Kent. Sixteen sentences contain the Dooms of his successors, Lothaire and Edric; and twenty sentences comprise all the laws that have survived of Withred, another king of the same province. The subjects to which these ordinances apply are a few of the most obvious injuries that occur in a simple state of society. It is remarkable, that almost every crime, from murder to the smallest petty larceny, had its value, and might be compensated by the payment of a sum of money. Another celebrated legislator was Ina, King of the West-Saxons, a few pages of whose laws have also been preserved. It must not, however, be omitted, that the laws of Ina have come down to us not in a separate and independent form, but appended to those of Alfred, to whose care in collecting and preserving the ancient jurisprudence of his country, we are indebted for all that we now know of the subject. As the West-Saxons owed their principal code of laws to Ina, so was Offa, the legislator of the Mercians; but his laws have not been preserved; and if in later times Alfred published a separate collection for the use of Mercia, with the laws of Offa annexed, as those of Ina were attached to the laws of Wessex, that collection also has either perished, or has not yet been discovered. It might be expected that the laws of a people, emerging, under the auspices of the Church, from barbarism, would be strongly tinged with the opinions of the clerks who compiled them. In fact, the whole of these legislative codes are based upon the autho |