Bede’s _History_ was the most modern of the books on Alfred’s list. In this book the translator omitted considerable sections and added none. There is no contemporary record that the translator was King Alfred. The earliest extant statement of the kind is in Ælfric’s _Homily on St. Gregory’s Day_, where the preacher, referring to “Historia Anglorum,” as he calls it, adds, “which King Alfred translated out of Latin into English.” Though a hundred years later, this is nevertheless excellent testimony, and it has been supported both by later historians and until recently by modern critics. But now the latest editor,[35] Mr. Thomas Miller, has pointed out some radical differences of dialect between the West Saxon of the _Cura Pastoralis_ and the English of this translation, which he locates in the northern part of Mercia. He is further guided by certain ecclesiastical considerations (especially the contents of the parts omitted) to select Litchfield as the spot where the translation was probably made. The evidence is too multifarious to be stated here, but it seems worthy to receive a searching examination and discussion. So far we have treated of the more conspicuous and better-known of the king’s writings; we must now make mention of his minor works. In “The Shrine: a Collection of Occasional Papers on Dry Subjects,” which appeared at irregular intervals from 1864 to 1870, the Rev. Oswald Cockayne published for the first time two works which claim to rank among Alfredian literature. These he entitled, _King Ælfred’s Book of Martyrs_ and _Blooms by King Ælfred_.