io 4 HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

chap. where they fixed their quarters ; part of themII. took quarters at Cambridge, whence they dislodg-ed ju the ensuing summer, and seized Wereham,in the county of Dorset , the very center os Alfred’sdominions That prince so straitened them inthese quarters, that they were content to come toa treaty with him , and stipulated to depart hiscountry. Alfred, well acquainted with their usualperfidy, obliged them to swear upyn the holy re-Uques to the observance of the treaty 51 ; not thathe expected they would pay any veneration to thereliques; but he hoped, that, if they now violat-ed this oath, their impiety would infalliblydraw down upon them the vengeance of heaven.But the Danes, little apprehensive of the danger,suddenly, without seeking any pretence, fellupon Alfred’s army; and having put it to rout,marched westward, and took possession ofFixe ter. The prince collected new forces ; andexerted such vigour, that he fought in one yeareight battles with the enemy !s , and reducedthem to the utmost extremity. He hearkenedhowever to new proposals of peace, and wassatisfied to stipulate with them , that they wouldsettle somewhere in England 15 , and would notpermit the entrance of more ravagers into thekingdom. But while he was expecting the

51 Asser. p. 8.

’’ Ibid. p. 8. The Saxon Chronicle , p. 82. fays ninebattles.

55 Asser. p. 9. Alur. Levers p. 104.