Page:King Alfred's Old English version of St. Augustine's Soliloquies - Hargrove - 1902.djvu/22

XVI gives us his 'blossoms', culled from the rich garden of St. Augustine's writings. And the pathos becomes almost tragic as we contemplate this warrior-king, then forty years old, vowing to give half his means and time to God's service, patiently studying Latin books, and translating them 'sometimes word for word, sometimes according to the sense', but always adapting the thoughts and expressions to the needs of his unlettered subjects.

The scholarship of the world has already accepted the unity of the English language and literature from Cædmon to the present. But in the study of the writings of Alfred we are acquainting ourselves with the prime mover of two great persistent tendencies in the English literature. One pertains to the manner of expression, the other to the matter expressed. The first is the use of prose — a simple but virile prose as the means of reaching the minds of his readers. The second is the use of theological ideas as an appeal to the heart for a higher and holier life. Whatever other honors the critics may steal from Alfred's name, we shall continue to read, on the ever-during monument of his writings, at least these two truths: that he was Father of English Prose, and that he was the first writer of Religious Literature in English Prose.

In working out and establishing these facts, and in otherwise dealing with the work before us, it will be needful to present the following topics in order:

I. The Manuscript and Reprints.

II. Grammatical Observations.

III. Relation of Alfred to Augustine.

IV. Relation of the Soliloquies to Alfred's Other Works.

V. Discussion of Alfred's Version of the Soliloquies.