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After seven long years, King Alfred’s men became too tired to hold out
much longer and were forced into submission. As a result, the king himself,
a few of his troops, his wife, Ealhswith, together with his little children,
had to take refuge in a wild swamp in Selwood Forest. It was during this
time of despair that Alfred recovered his spiritual strength and returned
from his backsliding. He repented of his pride and self-reliance. God
mercifully and graciously gave him the ultimate victory over the Danish
through a sudden, surprise attack on them that caught them unguarded and
left them defeated.
England had peace for six years after that. But as this country had
been in a state of wickedness and disorder, King Alfred sought to reform it.
He introduced imprisonment and made assault, immorality and Sabbathbreaking
illegal. The king’s palace was also transformed from a drunken
Saxon court to a place where the Bible was read daily by the
head of state with his wife and children. Here, the Latin
Scriptures were translated into English for the people.
Outside the palace, tumbledown churches were
rebuilt, services were ordered to be held in
the language of the people, and clergy
trained. Alfred himself did translation
of some Latin Christian books, as well
as portions of Scripture. An education
programme was also started in the
country, and work was done for
the designing and rebuilding of
some cities, including London.
30 BIBLE WITNESS