In all his work his main desire
was the good of his people. Among the books he translated or edited were
(1) _The Handbook_, a collection of extracts on religious subjects; (2)
_The Cura Pastoralis_, or Herdsman's book of Gregory the Great, with a
preface by himself which is the first English prose; (3) _Bede's
Ecclesiastical History of the English_; (4) _The English Chronicle_,
which, already brought up to 855, he continued up to the date of writing;
it is probably by his own hand; (5) Orosius's _History of the World_,
which he adapted for English readers with many historical and
geographical additions; (6) the _De Consolatione Philosophiae_ of
Boethius; and (7) a translation of some of the Psalms. He also made a
collection of the best laws of his predecessors, Ethelbert, Ine, and
Offa. It has been said "although King Alfred lived a thousand years ago,
a thousand years hence, if there be England then, his memory will yet be
precious to his country."
AELFRIC (955-_c._ 1022).--Called Grammaticus (10th century), sometimes
confounded with two other persons of the same name, AE. of Canterbury and
AE.
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