His laws show no striking changes from the laws of earlier kings; in fact, he disclaimed originality and spoke of his work as mainly a compilation of existing laws. But they are marked by two characteristics which deserve notice: first, they are intensely religious; sec ond, they make no distinction between English and Welsh, as the earlier laws had done.
The millenary of King Alfred was celebrated on September 18, 1901, at Winchester, the for mer capital of the Anglo-Saxon kingdom. The commemorative exercises were participated in by many distinguished men from all English speaking countries. On September 20, the day of the most important functions, all the delegates joined in a great procession and marched to the site where the colossal statue of Alfred, the work of Thornycroft, was unveiled, and the oration was delivered by Lord Rosebery.
In the United States the Society of American Authors encouraged the celebration of "the one thousandth anniversary of the founder of the Anglo-Saxon race." Exercises were held on Oc tober 28 in libraries and schools in various cities. The chief celebration was in New York City, where Alfred Dowker. the Mayor of Winchester, was the guest of honor.
The great contemporary sources of information for Alfred's life are Asser's Life of Alfred and the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle. Of each of these there are several editions in the original Latin; trans lations can he found in the 13ohn Library; in Ste venson's Church Historians of England, and else where. The genuineness of Asser's work has been
the subject of much controversy, but most schol ars now believe it to he a contemporary work. with some later interpolations. Of secondary works Pauli's Konig Alfred, edited by Thomas Wright, is still deserving of mention.
BIBLIOGRAPHY. The constitutional events of Bibliography. The constitutional events of the reign are described in Stubbs, Constitutional History, Volume I. (Oxford, 1891). The mil lenary celebration caused the production of many books and articles. Of these the following may be mentioned: Bowker, Alfred the Great (London. 1899). which contains seven special studies by Sir Walter Besant, Sir Frederick Pol lock. Frederic Harrison. and others; Conybeare, Alfred in the Chroniclers (London, 1900) ; Draper, Alfred the Great (London, 1901); Har rison. Writings of King Alfred (New York, 1901) ; Hughes, Alfred the Great, new edition (London, 1901 ) ; Jeffery, :1 Perfect Prince, The Story of the England of Alfred the Great (Lon don. 1901) ; Macfayden, Alfred the West Saxon (London, 1901) ; Wall, Alfred the Great, His Abbeys of Hyde, Atheincy, and Shaftesbury (London, 1900). Frederic Perry is preparing a volume, Alfred the Truth Teller, for the Heroes of the Nations Series. Mr. Slade. of the Library of Congress, has prepared a bibliography of Al fred, which aims at completeness.