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HISTORY OF ENGLAND.

c ii a r. The remainder of the routed army, with theirII* prince , was besieged by Alfred in a fortifiedcamp, to which they fled; but being reduced toextremity by want and hunger, they had recourseto the clemency os the victor, and offered tosubmit on any conditions. The king, no lessgenerous than brave, gave them their lives; andeven formed a scheme for converting them, frommortal enemies, into faithful subjects and confe-derates. He knew, that the kingdoms of East-Anglia and Northumberland were totally deso-lated by the frequent inroads of the Danes ; andhe now purposed to re-people them by fettlingthere Guthrum and his followers. He hopedthat the new planters would at last betake them-selves to industry, when, by reason of his resist-ance, and the exhausted condition of the coun-try, they could no longer subsist by plunder;and that they might serve him as a rampart againstany future incursions of their countrymen. Butbefore he ratified these mild conditions with theDanes, he required, that they should give himone pledge of their submission, and of their in-clination to incorporate with the English , bydeclaring their conversion to Christianity *\ Guth-rum and his army had no aversion to the pro-posal ; and, without much instruction or argu-ment or conference , they were all admitted tobaptism. The king answered for Guthrum at the

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Chron. Sax. p. 8Z.