A L F - A L G 507 ones raised in suitable localities. The fleet was brought into a state of greater efficiency, and it was Alfred indeed that laid the foundation of England s naval greatness. He cleared the land of the bands of robbers that infested it, and took care that justice was impartially administered to all his subjects, severely punishing any wilful perversion of it on the part of the judges. In his code of laws, which is a compilation from those of his predecessors, he wisely abstained from introducing much of his own, giving as his reason that he was afraid it might not be accepted by posterity. He greatly encouraged commerce, and took a lively interest in geographical discovery. We have from his pen a minute account of two voyages of Ohthere, especially of the one round the North Cape into the White Sea, and also of a voyage of Wulfstan to the Baltic. And it is to Alfred that we are indebted for the best account that has reached us of the Germany of the 9th century. Alfred s devotion to learning, and his exertions in the cause of education are among the most remarkable features of his reign. So deep was the popular ignorance when Alfred ascended the throne that, according to his own testimony, hardly any one south of the Thames could under stand the ritual of the church or translate a Latin letter. It was one of the strongest and most cherished of his purposes that this state of matters should be entirely changed, and that every free-born English youth who had the means should qualify himself to read English correctly. In order to accomplish this, he rebuilt the monasteries which had been cast down in the late wars, and which were the great centres of education in those days, invited learned men from all quarters to his court, and by their assistance completed a number of works for the diffusion of knowledge throughout his dominions. These were not original compositions but free translations of Latin authors that were held in much esteem at the time, and the fact that Orosius and Bede are two of the works he selected, shows the high value he set upon an acquaintance with history and geography. A copy of his version of Gregory s Pastoral Care was sent to every diocese for the benefit of the clergy. It is in the preface to that work that Alfred gives his touching account of the decay of learning, and expresses his desire for its revival. But the work which seems to have had the greatest attraction for him was The Consolations of Philosophy by Boethius. In his translation of this work Alfred gives us more of his own original composition, and a deeper insight into his thoughts and feelings, than in any other of his works. His Manual or Handbook, which is known to have been in existence in the 12th century, is lost, and this is the more to be regretted since, besides the extracts from Latin authors which it contained, it is believed that he had inserted in it not a few compositions of his own. In occupations such as these fifteen years of comparative tranquillity, disturbed now and then by troubles with the Danes, passed away. A fresh swarm from abroad had landed in Kent in 885 and besieged Rochester, but on the king s approach they raised the siege and returned to their ships. The next eight years were years of uninterrupted peace; but the Danes, suffering a severe defeat at the hands of Arnulf, king of the East Franks, sailed for England in two divisions in 893. One of these divisions was under the command of the terrible Hastings. Their arrival was a signal to the Danes of Northumbria and East Anglia, who rose in great numbers to aid their kinsmen. Alfred, however, was better prepared to meet the danger than he had formerly been. His towns were so strong that the Danes seein studiously to have avoided them. A body of the enemy was routed by Alfred at Farnham in Surrey. Another great host, moving to the west in the line of the Thames, was followed by three of Alfred s alder men to Buttington in Montgomeryshire and completely defeated. Those who escaped made their way to Essex. Leaving their wives and children there, and receiving con siderable additions to their numbers, they crossed the country once more and established themselves within the fortifications of the old Roman town of Chester, which was then uninhabited. There they remained for the winter, when, provisions failing them, they removed to Wales, and with the harvest of plunder they gathered there they retreated into Essex by way of the friendly districts of Northumbria and East Anglia. So rapid had their movements been that Alfred s army was unable to keep up with them. The same year (895), before winter set in, the Danes sailed up the Thames into the Lea, and selecting an advantageous position on the banks of the latter stream, constructed a fortress about 20 miles above London. As this proved a considerable annoyance to the citizens, they attacked it the following summer, but were repulsed with great loss. During harvest the king was obliged to encamp in the neighbourhood of the city to protect the reapers while gathering in their crops. He afterwards raised two forts on each side of the Lea, and so effectually blocked up the passage of the river that the enemy abandoned their vessels and proceeded to Bridgenorth on the Severn. In the summer of 897 the great Danish host broke up, and part of them returned to the continent. The rest dis persed through Northumbria and East Anglia, and for some time gave Alfred no little trouble by their piratical excursions. By means of vessels formed after a model of his own, of unusual length and speed, he succeeded at last in curbing his Danish foes, but not till after a desperate encounter with them on the south coast, in which the advantage was not all on his side. The war was, as usual, accompanied by pestilence, and great numbers perished, many being persons of the highest rank in the state. The rest of Alfred s reign, about which we know almost nothing, seems to have been passed in peace. He died in the year 901, at the age of fifty-two, and was buried at Winchester. The memory of Alfred has ever been gratefully cherished by his countrymen. There never perhaps was a monarch so highly esteemed ; and traditional stories of the most fascinating description cluster around his name, in which he appears almost to as much advantage as in real histoiy. Institutions that existed long before his time, but whose origin it is impossible to trace, have erroneously been attributed to him; and in the times of Norman oppres sion, when the people were groaning under the burden of slavery, they fondly called to mind the " Darling of the English/ to whom they ascribed all those rights and privileges which they so highly valued, and of which they had been unjustly deprived. Time but adds to Alfred s praises. With one consent our historians agree in char acterising him as the wisest, best, and greatest king that ever reigned in England. The following is a list of Alfred s works : 1. Manual or Handbook, of which no copy is known to exist. 2. Laws (see Wilkin s Leges Anglo-Saxoniccc, 1721, and Thorpe s Ancient Laws and Institutes of England, London, 1840). Transla tions into Old English (Anglo-Saxon) of the following : 3. Bede s Ecclesiastical History, edited by Wheloc, Cambridge, 1643-4, and by Smith, Cambridge, 1722. 4. The Universal History of Orosius, edited by Thorpe, London, 1857. 5. The Consolations of Philosophy, by Boethius, edited by Fox, London, 1864. 6. Gregory s Pastoral Care, edited by Sweet for the Early English Text Society, London, 1871-2. For further information about Alfred see Pauli s Life of Alfred and Freeman s Old English History and History of the Norman Conquest. ALG^E, or HYDROPHYTA, a large order of cellular, flowerless, cryptogamic plants, found in the sea (seaweeds), in rivers, lakes, marshes, hot springs, and moist places, all
over the world. They consist of a brown, red, or green,
