trace the movements of the king's army in this rapid and glorious campaign. There is nothing better established in history than the identity of Ethelingeye, where Alfred's fortress in the marshes was constructed, with the modern Athelney. Capricious fortune has mercifully spared the antiquary the greater mortification which a doubt on this point would have produced. A beautiful jewel was found many years ago on the spot; and the original is still preserved in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford. Did the king drop this gem in the hurry of his frequent sallies on the enemy, and equally hasty retreats to his fortress? or, was it deposited in the monastery, which Alfred afterwards constructed there, as a precious personal relic of the great king, and of the heroic stand which he there made to defend the rights of his throne and the liberties of his people? These are questions which we cannot answer; for the speechless relic tells us no more than that it is as old as the time of Alfred, which is evident from the style of workmanship, and the Saxon writing, "ALFRED HAD ME WORKED," with which it is inscribed. An engraving of the reverse of this jewel, with the above sentence, will be found in p. 186, and the face on the embossed cover of this book.

16. River Stowe.

This river is called by Asser "Sture," and is remarkable, inasmuch that Zocrin, who lived shortly after the death of Brutus, and married Guendolæna, the daughter of Corineus, was killed there by the shot of an arrow, and his wife afterwards took upon her the government of the whole kingdom.

17. London Rebuilt, and Erection of Castles.

"In 868," says Asser, "after the burning of cities and the slaughter of his people, he honourably rebuilt the city of London, and made it again habitable. He gave it into the custody of his son-in-law, Ethelred, Earl of Mercia; for all the Angles and Saxons, who had before been dispersed everywhere, or were in captivity with the Pagans, voluntarily turned and submitted themselves to his dominion."

The king's ministers had previously neglected and partly refused to fulfil their master's commands, concerning the erection of castles, and preferred, with true Saxon blood, to face their enemies in an open field of battle, rather than retire for safety behind the walls of a fortress. The king himself zealously discharged such of these duties which

came under his own immediate care, and restored the towns and cities that were dilapidated, to more than their former condition; but when they beheld the king's talent, they with one voice praised the royal wisdom, and tried with all their power to fulfil what they had before refused, namely― the erection of castles, and other things useful to the whole kingdom.

Spelman seems to have thought that Alfred was the first to construct buildings of hewn stones, which can be judged by the following passage:-" Neither was the reparation notable in regard of the greatness and universality only, but it was also of an extraordinary kind, both in regard of the materials, and of the new manner; for, when the walls of towns and castles were but wood, and combustible, (as we may see by those of York and Rochester, that they generally then were,) stone buildings were very rare, till Alfred made them more frequent."

According to Hearne, he was the founder of Middleton, and Barfoot in Kent, of Devizes in Wilts, and of Alfreton in Derbyshire. Malmesbury, and the city of Norwich, were also restored, and some additions made to them.

18. Various Conflicts with the Danes in 893-94. "In the year 893, one year after the barbarians fought against King Arnulf, they go to Boulogne, and there build a fleet, and pass over into England. There they station their fleet in the Limnean port, at a place called Apoldre [Appledore, in the eastern part of Kent,] and destroy an ancient castle, because there was but a small band of rustics within, and there they make their winter camp. In the course of this year, a large fleet belonging to Hasten arrives on the banks of the river Thames, and found a citadel on the coasts of Kent, at a place called Middleton [Milton]: they encamp there the whole winter; and the number of years that had elapsed from the glorious nativity of our Saviour was nine hundred all but seven."

The Monk of Malmesbury says, that "with his usual activity, the king was present in every action, ever daunting the invaders, and at the same time inspiring his subjects with the signal display of his own courage. He would oppose himself singly to the enemy; and by his personal exertions rally his forces whenever they were wavering; the very places are still pointed out by the inhabitants, where he felt the vicissitudes of his good or evil fortune." "Undismayed at the intelligence which arrived from

Devonshire, the king divided his forces into two bodies, one of which he despatched against the Danes in Bemfleet, whilst he hastened with the other to raise the siege of Exeter. The party which was detached eastward arrived at London, where they were reinforced by a body of the citizens and others from the west of England, after which they pursued their march to Bemfleet The great army which had been at Appledore was now within the Danish lines, but Hasting was absent on a plundering excursion, which he was making for the second time, in breach of his treaty with the brave Ethelred, in Mercia. The English stormed the fortress, and took all the spoil that was therein, besides all the women and children; they broke in pieces or burnt many of the Danish ships: the rest they carried into Rochester or to London, together with all the prisoners and booty. Among the captives were the wife and children of Hasting: and this calamity having its due effect upon the mind of the haughty Dane, a second treaty was entered into, hostages for its observance were given, and the wife and children sent back unhurt to the Danish camp.

"In the mean time Alfred arrived at Exeter, where he found the enemy laying siege to the city: the Danes decamped at his approach, and fled to their ships. The king was thus at liberty to return into the eastern parts of the kingdom, but from some circumstances which have not been handed down to us, we find that he remained some weeks longer in Devonshire. During this delay in the west, the broken armies of the enemy had rallied from their late defeats, and again entrenched themselves at Shobury in Essex, but soon after being reinforced by a large body of East-Anglian and Northumbrian Danes, they marched inland, following the course of the Thames; from thence crossing to the Severn, they marched up the banks of that river to Buttington, probably the small town which is still so called, and is situated on a stream of the same name in Gloucestershire. But their progress through Mercia was not effected without rousing its inhabitants to arms. The brave Ethelred, its ruler, together with the aldermen, Ethelm and Ethelnoth, and the king's thane, who were in custody of the fortresses in those parts, assembled their troops from all the towns of the river Perrot, and joined by some forces from Mercia and North Wales, they shut the Danish army up in their fortified camp. Here they besieged them several weeks, during the time the king's army was still at Exeter. At length the besieged began to be in want

of food, and were compelled to eat their horses. Some of them died of starvation; the rest, taking courage from despair, sallied out upon the English, who lay upon the eastern side of the Severn, and engaged them in battle. The contest was fierce and bloody; Orthelm and many other king's thanes were slain, but the Danes were entirely defeated, and, having lost a large number of men, sought safety in flight. Those who survived this defeat, took refuge at the fortress in Essex; where before the winter they received such reinforcements out of East Anglia and Northumberland, that they were again able to move, and pursue their ravages as before. Committing their ships, their wives, and all their effects to the guardianship of the friendly East Anglians, they "went at one stretch"-such is the expression of the Saxon Chronicle-" day and night," until they arrived at Chester, at that time uninhabited. This march was conducted with such speed, that the English were unable to come up with them: the Danes were already safe within the city, and the troops of Alfred slew all they found without the walls, took all the cattle, and burnt or consumed all the corn in the fields. This happened at the end of 894, not much more than twelve months after Hasting first came over from France."-" Life and Times of Alfred the Great," by Dr. Giles.

19. Capture of the Danish Fleet on the River Lea.

"In the beginning of the year 896, the Danes, sailing up the Thames, turned to the right, and followed the course of the river Lea, until they came to the neighbourhood of the modern towns of Hertford and Ware, about twenty miles from London. Here they constructed their fortifications as usual; and the citizens of London, alarmed at their proximity, marched out at the approach of summer to attack them. In the battle which ensued the Londoners were worsted, and, with the loss of "some four king's thanes," obliged to retreat. The king now arrived with his troops, and encamped near London, to protect the reapers as they were gathering in the crops. One day the king, riding along the banks of the river, observed a place, where the river might be so obstructed that the ships of the Danes would not be able to pass. The idea was immediately put into effect, and two fortresses constructed on the opposite banks of the river. The English had hardly set themselves down to accomplish this work, before the Danes saw the evil which would inevitably ensue to their shipping. Abandoning

these to their fate, they hastily left their position on the Lea, and crossing the country, arrived at Quatbridge, (supposed to be the modern Bridgenorth,) or Quatford, on the Severn. Here they speedily entrenched themselves, and the third year of the campaign passed away with, apparently, little prospect that a war against so active and vivacious an enemy would ever come to an end.

His

"But, in reality, the strength of the Danish invaders was now departed from them. Though often reinforced by their friends, the old Danish settlers, the tide of success was evidently setting against them, and the policy or the mercy of Alfred was directed to separate the interests of the Danes located in the island from those of the new comers. armies, too, were more than a match for the whole united army, which, by its frequent defeats, were lessened in numbers, and dispirited in courage. Their fleet, also, by Alfred's stratagem on the river Lea, was now lost to them. The citizens of London took possession of the ships in the Lea, whilst Alfred's army gallopped westwards after the enemy: some of the best of the vessels were towed to London, others were destroyed, and the enemy's main dependence in all enterprises, their fleet, was entirely annihilated."—Ibid.

20. Alfred and Hasting.

Alfred can be regarded with impartiality as the champion of a settled society, of equal rights, and of civilized life, while his opponent, Hasting, represents the barbarian roving over the world with no law but that of his sword; he may inflict for a time the greatest woes upon mankind, but will assuredly fall at last the victim of a ferocious system which engulphs all that enter into it.

21. Flattery.

But

We here perceive, that princes have, at all times, been surrounded with flatterers, to whom they could not resist lending a too willing ear. That intoxicating poison FLATTERY-had fortunately no effect upon Alfred. even our author was not free from it; for although he has not, we are glad to see, employed it in the narrative of Alfred's life, almost wholly founded upon historical factsyet, in his dedication to George III., he has used a no small dose of that drug, wherefore we have altogether omitted it.