The life-work of the Great Alfred has had a continuity, an organic development, a moral, intellectual, and spiritual majesty which has no parallel or rival amongst rulers in the annals of mankind. He is the father of English History, the founder of English prose. He gave impulse and form to the _English Chronicle_, the oldest national record in modern Europe. He formed himself, or dictated, an organic prose literature, which was kept in current use until the Norman Conquest. His mark as a king is the creative mind—the organising genius. His whole life, as recorded in act and as imagined in his own ideals, has the stamp of supreme insight, practical wisdom, self-control, devotion to duty. His passion for poetry, his love for history, his dignity, his grace, his tenderness, his manly piety—all alike are spontaneous and beautiful—all are in harmony, none are in excess. ALFRED AS A RELIGIOUS MAN AND AN EDUCATIONALIST BY THE BISHOP OF BRISTOL ALFRED AS A RELIGIOUS MAN AND AN EDUCATIONALIST I HIS EARLY YEARS Earliest years—Visits to Rome—Purpose of such visits—His father’s will—His education—Saxon poetry—His mother’s book—His religious interest—His desire for learning—Musical skill—His religious wars—He becomes king. The original sources of information from which this chapter is drawn are fairly numerous. Asser’s _Life of Alfred_ is of course the chief source; but Alfred’s laws, Alfred’s translations, Alfred’s will, all throw much light on his character as a religious man; and the translations tell us something of his views on education, besides what we learn from the record of his actions.