pointed to him, and the Northmen who would not engage themselves to the Christian faith, shipped over to France, and there destroyed the badly defended provinces; but avoided beginning a new war with the Saxons, over whom they could not hope to obtain any advantage.

Alfred continued his efforts to form a navy, which would enable him to keep off the foreign robbers from his country; for it was not unknown to him that every bay in the northern regions issued armed vessels with freebooters, who considered every property that could not resist their weapons as their own. Alfred vanquished in the next year a northern fleet, sunk the largest vessels, and compelled the remainder to fly to the other shores, where the weak Carlovingians reigned powerless and without consideration, and left their people a prey to foreigners. Nevertheless another northern army reached near the Thames, and besieged Rochester, but the vigilant Alfred soon came to its assistance, when the Northmen fled without venturing a battle, and their plunder fell into the hands of the Saxons. Another squadron was attacked by Alfred at the mouth of the Stour; 16 he burned a part of the ships, and obliged the remainder to a treaty, which was again broken by the treacherous Northmen as soon as

the presence of the king no longer restrained

them.

Alfred immediately afterwards rebuilt and fortified the destroyed city of London, and to him this immense town owes its rise.17 The prudent prince likewise fortified many other towns, foreseeing that the northern robbers could not so easily ruin his subjects if those towns were protected by walls and towers, as they did in the defenceless villages, before any assistance could arrive; but another still more important foresight occupied the king.

A storm awaited him, which he averted by his wisdom and prudence. Arnulf had united the whole power of his realm with the Franks, and forced the Northmen to leave the Seine, after they had besieged the populous island of Paris without success. Three hundred vessels filled with these martial robbers surprised Appledore, near the port of Rye, and fortified themselves at Beamfleet. 18 Many of the Scandinavians, who had sworn allegiance to Alfred, took weapons, and united themselves, to acquire booty, with the newly-arrived Northmen. Alfred hastened forward to the assistance of the distressed East-Saxons, and the citizens of repopulated London joined him. The walls of

Beamfleet were scaled, and the wife and children of Hastings, the Northern commander, fell, with all their booty, into the hands of the Saxons. Alfred acted with his usual dignity, and expressed himself in these generous words, "I carry no war with women;" and sent back to the astonished Hastings his spouse, with all the other wives of the Northmen. But even this noble action made no impression on the barbarians; they robbed and destroyed in England from the Thames to mountainous Wales, and fortified themselves a second time at Buntington, in Shropshire. The starving Northmen were, however, forced to abandon the castle, from which all provisions had been cut off, and hastened to the Thames. They took their ships to the little river Lea, 19 where it flows into the noble Thames, surrounded them with bulwarks, and in that state awaited the watchful Alfred.

King Alfred regarded these fortifications as insurmountable; but, on an occasion of reconnoitring the enemy's camp on horseback, a scheme occurred to him, which was once executed by Cyrus; he drained off, by his army, the water from the Lea river, and the northern ships were wrecked on the shallow banks. The muddy valley was changed into a fertile meadow, and the distressed Scandinavians were forced to leave their

fortified encampment. Many of them were annihilated by the swords of the Saxons, and the remainder found ships in the country of the East Saxons, wherewith they tried to injure the British by sea; but even on this element the prudent Alfred was too powerful; and being informed that the vessels of the Normans were very small and badly manned, he built larger ones, and armed them with a great number of mariners. The boats of the Northmen could not resist the superiority of the Saxon ships-of-war; many of them were shoaled, others were taken; and they avoided, during Alfred's life-time, to approach the island, where the wisdom of the king was constantly watching over his people.

Wearied at seeing his kindness thus abused, Alfred invested two Saxon earls with the government of Northumberland and of the country of the East Saxons, and by these means withdrew every influence from the Scandinavians who had settled in England. The Princes of Wales, whom the great Egbert had been unable to subdue, were forced to throw themselves on the mercy of Alfred, and seek his protection. He was created the general king of the south of Britain, which, a long time afterwards, assumed the name of England. His power was unlimited, because it

C

was

founded on the esteem and love of his

people.20

Alfred's fame also spread beyond the sea. Victorious in war, generous to the vanquished, and a father to his people, he enjoyed the admiration of his times. The Saxons, who had escaped from their oppressed country, and dispersed themselves through various parts of Europe, reassembled under the protection of a beloved king. The Northmen, who were still in possession of some parts of the British islands, willingly submitted to his just laws. The earth, which had long lain uncultivated and waste, was soon covered with grain and fruits. Peace and abundance were spread over the impoverished land.

Godwin, a Saxon nobleman, being a handsome youth, had been many years previously carried away by northern pirates and taken to Scandinavia. He gained, by his faithfulness and bravery, the favour of his robbers, and finally, as the Northmen ceased to attack England, his liberty. After having travelled over a great part of the island, he arrived at Winchester, and was presented to the king.

The affable king heard with patient interest the narrative of the sufferings which the noble Saxon