The nobles, however, and chieftains, and all the leading powers of the kingdom of Wessex, which was the particular kingdom which descended from Alfred’s ancestors, united to urge Alfred to take the throne.  His father had, indeed, designated him as the successor of his brothers by his will, though how far a monarch may properly control by his will the disposal of his realm, is a matter of great uncertainty.  Alfred yielded at length to these solicitations, and determined on assuming the sovereign power.  He first went to Wimborne to attend to the funeral solemnities which were to be observed at his royal brother’s burial.  He then went to Winchester, which, as well as Wimborne, is in the south of England, to be crowned and anointed king.  Winchester was, even in those early days, a great ecclesiastical center.  It was for some time the capital of the West Saxon realm.  It was a very sacred place, and the crown was there placed upon Alfred’s head, with the most imposing and solemn ceremonies.  It is a curious and remarkable fact, that the spots which were consecrated in those early days by the religious establishments of the times, have preserved in almost every case their sacredness to the present day.  Winchester is now famed all over England for its great Cathedral church, and the vast religious establishment which has its seat there—­the annual revenues and expenditures of which far exceed those of many of the states of this Union.  The income of the bishop alone was for many years double that of the salary of the President of the United States.  The Bishop of Winchester is widely celebrated, therefore, all over England, for his wealth, his ecclesiastical power, the architectural grandeur of the Cathedral church, and the wealth and importance of the college of ecclesiastics over which he presides.

[Illustration:  CORONATION CHAIR.]

It was in Winchester that Alfred was crowned.  As soon as the ceremony was performed, he took the field, collected his forces, and went to meet the Danes again.  He found the country in a most deplorable condition.  The Danes had extended and strengthened their positions.  They had got possession of many of the towns, and, not content with plundering castles and abbeys, they had seized lands, and were beginning to settle upon them, as if they intended to make Alfred’s new kingdom their permanent abode.  The forces of the Saxons, on the other hand, were scattered and discouraged.  There seemed no hope left to them of making head against their pestiferous invaders.  If they were defeated, their cruel conquerors showed no moderation and no mercy in their victory; and if they conquered, it was only to suppress for a moment one horde, with a certainty of being attacked immediately by another, more recently arrived, and more determined and relentless than those before them.