Part 3 (1/2)

”The account of Ohthere's voyage holds a unique position as the first attempt to give expression to the spirit of discovery.”

Alfred knew how to use helpers. All who understand the ”ought to be”

take help as well as give it. The good King encouraged others, and the office of encourager is no mean part of the office of helper. We cannot do our work in the world alone: G.o.d meant us to work with others, and man's best work as an individual can never be independent of the work of others, those who are living or those who have gone before.

Another of the books translated by Alfred was the ”Consolations of Philosophy,” by a good and thoughtful Consul of Rome, who was put to death by Theodoric, the Arian King of the East Goths. He wrote the book in prison, and there was so much in it that was felt to be in accord with Christian teaching that some people thought Boethius must have belonged to the body of Holy Church.

A Christian writer, finding a book seeming to possess much of the spirit of Christianity, would naturally study it and frequently use it; and Boethius's book, with more or less adaptation, grew to be a great favourite with Christians. Its influence can be traced in the work of the greatest Catholic poet, Dante, and in that of the great English poet, Chaucer, who rendered it into the English of his day.

Alfred made the translation definitely Christian. For instance, he writes of ”G.o.d” and ”Christ” where Boethius says ”love” or ”the good”; and he writes of ”angels” instead of ”divine substance.”

I will give you one or two specimens of the additions to Boethius with which Alfred is credited.

”He that will have eternal riches, let him build the house of his mind on the footstone of lowliness; not on the highest hill where the raging wind of trouble blows, or the rain of measureless anxiety.”

”Power is never a good unless he be good who has it.”

Here is what he has to say of being well-born:

”Art thou more fair for other men's fairness? A man will not be the better because he had a well-born father, if he himself is nought. The only thing which is good in n.o.ble descent is this, that it makes men ashamed of being worse than their elders, and strive to do better than they.”

And here is his standard of self-respect:

”We under-worth ourselves when we love that which is lower than ourselves.”[D]

[Footnote D: Translation by Miss Kate Warren.]

These sayings are worth copying into a little book such as Alfred kept to note down things he wanted to keep track of. a.s.ser tells us this, and he tells us of the ”Handbook” which grew to a great size, from this collecting habit of Alfred's. The book was unfortunately lost.

By no means have we exhausted the interest of Alfred's story. It would be indeed difficult to do so; but we must now bid him good-bye.

We love to think how, amidst all his cares and work for his kingdom, he had the true Catholic Missionary spirit; for he sent emba.s.sies to India, with alms for ”the Christians of St Thomas and St Bartholomew.”

There is a valuable thing which we possess, known as the ”Alfred Jewel”: it has on it an inscription which we can truly say applies to far more than this work of art. Its application to Alfred's work is indeed a very wide one:

Alfred commanded to make me.

CHAPTER VII

Some of greatest pre-Conquest poetry a.s.sociated with name of Cynewulf.

Guesses about him. Little known. Probably North-countryman, eighth century, an educated man. Finding of the Cross. Elene, story of St Helena's mission. Constantine goes to fight invaders. Vision of the Cross. Victory. Journey of St Helena, and search for the Cross. The Finding.

We are going now to consider some of the greatest poetry written before the Conquest. It a.s.sociates itself with the name of Cynewulf, a name with which certain poems are signed in runes. By-and-by we shall hear something about runes and the old writing; and something also about where our old treasures of literature, part of our dear Catholic heritage, are found in their original form.

As I have said, certain poems are signed with Cynewulf's name; and there are others which are with more or less probability of rightness attributed to him on grounds of likeness of subject, likeness of style, similar greatness of treatment.

About Cynewulf himself we know, I may say, nothing except what we gather from his work. Various guesses have been made, and various theories formed, identifying him with one or other of the men about whom we know something; but for the present, at all events, we must be content to think that he probably lived in the eighth century, and that he probably was a North-countryman. All his writings have come to us in the dialect of Wess.e.x, except some parts of a poem known as the ”Dream of the Holy Rood.” These are carved on an old cross, which I will speak of by-and-by, and they are in the Northumbrian dialect; but the ma.n.u.script of the entire poem is in West Saxon.

Scholars are working upon old materials and discoveries are being made and theories formed which are at variance with what used to be set down as certainty. The main thing is that we have these poems, and that we want to know about them and learn to prize them. If we want to know them thoroughly and prize them as they deserve, we must take the trouble to learn the language they are written in. But many of us have not time for this, and so must be content, for the present, at least, with making their acquaintance through translations.

Perhaps Cynewulf was a poet who lived as one of the household of some great lord, and wrote more at his ease than if he had been merely an itinerant singer, a ”gleeman,” who sang his songs as he went about. He appears, at any rate, to have been an educated man, and I think no one can read his poetry without feeling that he was a man of deep and fervent piety.