How the Danish power was driven back by Alfred, how his wise policy reclaimed the half of his kingdom, is a well-known part of our national history. The final triumph was not so much one of war as of peace. The wisdom of a very great King effected much; the growing strength of recovering Christianity did the rest. Never did any ruler so effectually combine the forces of secular and spiritual power, or hold them more truly in balance and co-operation. The invaders became settlers, and have left this part of their history in the names of their new homes. This is especially true of Lincolnshire; then, hardly less decidedly, of York. But north of the Tees the English population simply retained lands which they had never ceased to occupy. Danish place-names in the county of Durham are few and far between. [Illustration: ORNAMENTAL STONEWORK, MONKWEARMOUTH CHURCH.] This is so much evidence--and it is worth something--in favour of the supposition that the sister churches of Monkwearmouth and Jarrow were not left to permanent ruin. The population of the neighbourhood was, and remained, English, and would no doubt be warmly attached to the ancient sanctuaries. Their hearts and minds would be as faithful to the sacred memories of the past as were those of the wanderers who guarded the body of St. Cuthbert. That there was no revolution in the history of this particular district may be presumed from the silence which veils this part of the story of their two great churches. The theory here advocated appears to be further confirmed by the one incident recorded at this period in connection with the church of Jarrow. The old faith in the potency of the relics of the saints remained unshaken through all periods of sunshine or of gloom. Respect for the past and for the good clings to the devoted Churchman of every age; it may sometimes even be strong enough to overpower his moral principle. It was so undoubtedly in the case of Ælfred, a monk of Durham in the early part of the eleventh century. This man conceived himself to be divinely commissioned to visit the sites of ancient monasteries and to gather together the remains of departed martyrs and confessors. He was very successful in his quest. Hexham and Melrose were laid under contribution, and Jarrow was not likely to be forgotten. To it he paid an annual visit on the anniversary of the death of Bede. At least once he prolonged his stay for several days, fasting and praying in the church. Then one morning he departed at a very early hour, and he returned no more. What he had done may be inferred from the assurance with which he stated in after-years that the remains of Bede were resting in the grave of St. Cuthbert. From what we know of the man and of the age there seems little room for dispute about the matter: it appears, moreover, to have been corroborated at a later date by visual evidence.