or ÆLFRED, the Great, king of England, was the fifth and youngest son of Æthelwolf king of the West Saxons, and was born at Wantage in Berkshire in 849. He distinguished himself during the reign of his brother Ethelred, in several engagements against the Danes; and upon his death succeeded to the crown, in the year 871, and the 22d of his age. At his ascending the throne, he found himself involved in a dangerous war with the Danes, and placed in such circumstances of distress as called for the greatest valour, resolution, and all the other virtues with which he was adorned. The Danes had already penetrated into the heart of his kingdom; and before he had been a month upon the throne, he was obliged to take the field against those formidable enemies. After many battles gained on both sides, he was at length reduced to the greatest distress, and was entirely abandoned by his subjects. In this situation, Alfred, conceiving himself no longer a king, laid aside all marks of royalty, and took shelter in the house of one who kept his cattle. He retired afterwards to the isle of Æthelingey in Somersetshire, where he built a fort for the security of himself, his family, and the few faithful servants who repaired thither to him. When he had been about a year in this retreat, having been informed that some of his subjects had routed a great army of the Danes, killed their chiefs, and taken their magical standard (a), he issued his letters, giving notice where he was, and inviting his nobility to come and consult with him. Before they came to a final determination, Alfred, putting on the habit of a harp-

(a) "This (says Sir John Spelman) was a banner, with the image of a raven magically wrought by the three sisters of Hingwar and Hubba, on purpose for their expedition, in revenge of their father Lodebroch's murder, made, they say, almost in an instant, being by them at once begun and finished in a moment, and believed by the Danes to have carried great fatality with it, for which it was highly esteemed by them. It is pretended, that, being carried in battle, towards good success it would always seem to clap its wings, and make as if it would fly; but towards the approach of misfortune, it would hang down and not move." (Life of Alfred, p. 61.)

(b) The Danes had possessed themselves of London in the time of his father; and had held it till now as a convenient place for them to land at, and fortify themselves in; neither was it taken from them but by a close siege. However, when it came into the king's hands, it was in a miserable condition, scarce habitable, and all its fortifications ruined. The king, moved by the importance of the place, and the desire of strengthening his frontier against the Danes, restored it to its ancient splendour. And observing, that through the confusion of the times, many, both Saxons and Danes, lived in a loose disorderly manner, without owning any government, he offered them now a comfortable establishment, if they would submit and become his subjects. This proposition was better received than he expected; for multitudes growing weary of a vagabond kind of life, joyfully accepted such an offer. (Chron. Sax. p. 88.) enemy, he obliged the Danes, settled in Northumberland and Essex, to give him hostages for their good behaviour. He then moved towards the invaders, and pitched his camp between their armies, to prevent their junction. A great body, however, moved off to Essex; and crossing the river, came to Farnham in Surrey, where they were defeated by the king's forces. Meanwhile the Danes settled in Northumberland, in breach of treaty, and notwithstanding the hostages given, equipped two fleets; and, after plundering the northern and southern coasts, failed to Exeter, and besieged it. The king, as soon as he received intelligence, marched against them; but before he reached Exeter, they had got possession of it. He kept them, however, blocked up on all sides; and reduced them at last to such extremities, that they were obliged to eat their horses, and were even ready to devour each other. Being at length rendered desperate, they made a general fall on the besiegers; but were defeated, though with great loss on the king's side. The remainder of this body of Danes fled into Essex, to the fort they had built there, and to their ships. Before Alfred had time to recruit himself, another Danish leader, whose name was Lof, came with a great army out of Northumberland, and destroyed all before him, marching on to the city of Werheal in the west, which is supposed to be Chester, where they remained the rest of that year. The year following they invaded North-Wales; and after having plundered and destroyed everything, they divided, one body returning to Northumberland, another into the territories of the East-Angles; from whence they proceeded to Essex, and took possession of a small island called Meresig. Here they did not long remain; for having separated, some sailed up the river Thames, and others up the Lea-road; where drawing up their ships, they built a fort not far from London, which proved a great check upon the citizens, who went in a body and attacked it, but were repulsed with great loss: at harvest time the king himself was obliged to encamp with a body of troops in the neighbourhood of the city, in order to cover the reapers from the excursions of the Danes. As he was one day riding by the side of the river Lea, after some observations he began to think that the Danish ships might be laid quite dry: this he attempted, and succeeded; so that the Danes deserted their fort and ships, and marched away to the banks of the Severn, where they built a fort, and wintered at a place called Quatbrig (c). Such of the Danish ships as could be got off, the Londoners carried into their own road; the rest they burnt and destroyed.

Alfred enjoyed a profound peace during the three last years of his reign, which he chiefly employed in establishing and regulating his government, for the security of himself and his successors, as well as the ease and benefit of his subjects in general. After a troublesome reign of 28 years, he died on the 28th of October A.D. 900; and was buried at Winchester, in Hyde Abbey, under a monument of porphyry.

All our historians agree in distinguishing him as one of the most valiant, wisest, and best of kings that ever reigned in England; and it is also generally allowed, that he not only digested several particular laws still in being, but that he laid the first foundation of our present happy constitution. There is great reason to believe that we are indebted to this prince for trials by juries; and the Doomsday book, which is preserved in the exchequer, is thought to be no more than another edition of Alfred's book of Winchester, which contained a survey of the kingdom. It is said also, that he was the first who divided the kingdom into shires. What is ascribed to him is not a bare division of the country, but the settling a new form of judicature; for after having divided his dominions into shires, he subdivided each shire into three parts, called tythings. There are some remains of this ancient division in the ridings of Yorkshire, the laths of Kent, and the three parts of Lincolnshire. Each tything was divided into hundreds or wapentakes; and these again into tythings or dwellings of ten householders: each of these householders stood engaged to the king, as a pledge for the good behaviour of his family, and all the ten were mutually pledges for each other; so that if any one of the tythings was suspected of an offence, if the head boroughs or chiefs of the tythings would not be security for him, he was imprisoned; and, if he made his escape, the tything and hundred were fined to the king. Each shire was under the government of an earl, under whom was the reeve, his deputy; since, from his office, called foire-reeve, or sheriff. And so effectual were these regulations, that it is said he caused bracelets of gold to be hung up in the highways, as a challenge to robbers; and they remained untouched.

In private life, Alfred was the most amiable man in his dominions; of so equal a temper, that he never suffered either fadness or unbecoming gaiety to enter his mind; but appeared always of a calm, yet cheerful disposition, familiar to his friends, just even to his enemies, kind and tender to all. He was a remarkable economist of his time; and Asserius has given us an account of the method he took for dividing and keeping an account of it: he caused six wax-candles to be made, each of 12 inches long, and of as many ounces weight; on the candles the inches were regularly marked, and having found that one of them burnt just four hours, he committed them to the care of the keepers of his chapel, who from time to time gave him notice how the hours went: but as in windy weather the candles were wasted by the impression of the air on the flame, to remedy this inconvenience, he invented lanterns, there being then no glass in his dominions.

This prince, we are told, was 12 years of age before a master could be procured in the western kingdom.

---

(c) The king's contrivance is thought to have produced the meadow between Hertford and Bow; for at Hertford was the Danish fort, and from thence they made frequent excursions on the inhabitants of London. Authors are not agreed as to the method the king pursued in laying dry the Danish ships: Dugdale supposes that he did it by straightening the channels; but Henry of Huntingdon alleges, that he cut several canals, which exhausted its water. Alfred, to teach him the alphabet; such was the state of learning when Alfred began to reign. He had felt the misery of ignorance; and determined even to rival his contemporary Charlemagne in the encouragement of literature. He supposed to have appointed persons to read lectures at Oxford, and is hence considered as the founder of that university. By other proper establishments, and by a general encouragement to men of abilities, he did every thing in his power to diffuse knowledge throughout his dominions. Nor was this end promoted more by his countenance and encouragement than by his own example and his writings. For notwithstanding the lateness of his initiation, he had acquired extraordinary erudition; and, had he not been illustrious as a king, he would have been famous as an author. His works are, 1. Breviarium quoddam collectum ex Legibus Trajanorum, &c. Lib. i. A Breviary collected out of the laws of the Trojans, Greeks, Britons, Saxons, and Danes, in one book. Leland saw this book in the Saxon tongue, at Christ-church in Hampshire. 2. Vigi-Saxonum Leges, lib. i. The laws of the West-Saxons, in one book. Pitts tells us, that it is in Bennett-College library, at Cambridge. 3. Infinita quaedam, lib. i. Certain Institutes, in one book. This is mentioned by Pitts, and seems to be the second capitulation with Guthrum. 4. Contra Judices injuriosos, lib. i. An invective against Unjust Judges, in one book. 5. Acta Magistratus suorum, lib. i. Acts of his Magistrates, in one book. This is supposed to be the Book of Judgments mentioned by Horne; and was, in all probability, a kind of reports, intended for the use of succeeding ages. 6. Regum fortune variae, lib. i. The various Fortunes of Kings, in one book. 7. Dicta Sapientum, lib. i. The sayings of Wise Men, in one book. 8. Parabola et Sales, lib. i. Parables and pleasant Sayings, in one book. 9. Collectiones Chronicorum, Collection of Chronicles. 10. Epistle ad Wulfsigum Episcopum, lib. i. Epistles to Bishop Wulfsig, in one book. 11. Manuale Meditationum. A Manual of Meditations.—Besides those original works, he translated many authors from the Latin, &c. into the Saxon language, viz. 1. Bede's History of England. 2. Paulinus Orosius's History of the Pagans. 3. St Gregory's Pastoral, &c. The first of these, with his prefaces to the others, together with his laws, were printed at Cambridge, 1644. His laws are likewise inserted in Spelman's Councils. 4. Boetius de Consolatione, lib. v. Boetius's Consolations of Philolophy, in five books. Dr Plot tells us, King Alfred translated it at Woodstock, as he found in a MS. in the Cotton Library. 5. Æsopi Fabulae, Æsop's Fables: which he is said to have translated from the Greek both into Latin and Saxon. 6. Paterium Davidicum, lib.i. David's Psalter, in one book. This was the last work the king attempted, death surprising him before he had finished it; it was, however, completed by another hand, and published at London in 1640, in quarto, by Sir John Spelman. Several others are mentioned by Malmesbury; and the old history of Ely asserts, that he translated the Old and New Testaments.

The life of this great king was first written by Alferius Mercensis; and first published by Archbishop Parker, in the old Saxon character, at the end of his edition of Hauntingham's history, printed in 1674, fol.