augmented the pleasure of a sojourn in his kingdom; from all parts of Germany, from the realm of the Franks, which was then suffering under bad princes, from jealous Scotland, from Wales, (then reconciled with Alfred,) from the industrious Low Countries, artists and professional men hastened to seek the protection of a recompensing monarch, from whom no unmerited disgrace nor undeserved expulsion was to be feared. England was soon filled with clever men, able to execute perfect works for the king, and to teach the Saxon youths the best manipulations, so as to be, thereafter, as perfect as themselves.41

Alfred knew that a king is a man; that he was unable to overlook all himself; that he could not select in all cases the best methods, and could not find out, for all purposes, the shortest means. He therefore consulted other men, who were fully instructed in the subject, and listened with great attention and patience to all who related to him the results of their experience; he compared the ideas of different wise men, and was then able to select the best advice given to him.41a Under Alfred, England obtained three regular chambers of senate, in which business was transacted. The great senate of the realm decided the most important concerns of the state, controlled the exist

ing management, and improved the laws. The bishops, the earls, the burgraves, and the judges had their seats in this council, and likewise the thanes, who had obtained hereditary fiefs from the crown, as a recompense for the services of war, which they had to fulfil. A more select council administered the business which required more secrecy or quicker expectations, and took into consideration the matters which the great senate should decide.42 Alfred selected for this purpose bishops, abbots, and other clergymen who were constantly around his person, whose virtues were known to him, and who were enlightened by science. In the unfortunate time in which Alfred reigned, noblemen, and often princes, were, by reason of their ignorance, excluded from the enjoyment of the use of books, and even from the transaction of important business. Most of them were not able to read, and thought all their duty to the country consisted in bravely fighting, and courageously dying, for it.

Alfred, nevertheless, neglected no opportunity of obtaining from every part of the country, and from every town, knowledge of that which required amelioration, or which, by negligence, might be dangerous to the general welfare. He created a perpetual law, that twice in every year

the great council of the whole kingdom, the bishops, and the nobles of the realm, should assemble near the king; and in this great union the laws, which the king himself gave, should be deliberated. They decided likewise the contests amongst the noblemen, and reflected upon the general welfare of the realm.

Notwithstanding the darkness of his times Alfred was enlightened enough to perceive how dangerous the importance of the earls was to him. They reached too near his power, and were considered much higher than the thanes; the wise king used several means to weaken the authority of these earls.43 He decided all great matters himself, amongst which was murder, and allowed his judges to pass sentence for attacks on the highway, and other minor offences which took place in the counties. The less important matters were brought before the justice of the tithing, then that of the hundred, and lastly that of the county court, in which the earls, the bishops, the burgraves, the judges, and the thanes, had their seats and voices. From this court they appealed to the king. The earls preserved the prerogative of the presidency, the command of the soldiers, and the duty of making known the king's orders to his subjects,44

THE FOURTH BOOK.

ALFRED THE SAGE.

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ORDER was once more restored throughout the realm. The military concerns, arts, sciences, and the constitution of the state were ameliorated, after which Alfred devoted his time in beautifying and improving of his realm, for which he had already prepared the means. The first of these occupations, strictly connected with the protection of the kingdom, was the re-establishment of the burnt towns, which were lying in ruins. London owes to him its rebuilding.45 From a fortified harbour of the Northmen it was raised to a town, and from these beginnings it successively became the immense seat of commerce, and the metropolis of the whole realm.

Winchester, which had been levelled to the ground under King Ethelred, was rebuilt with

more solidity and magnificence by King Alfred. The Saxon towns had been nearly wholly composed of huts, and the torches of the wandering Scandinavians could burn them to ashes in the course of one day. Winchester, the principal seat of his realm, Alfred built of hewn and squared stone.

The mouths of the great streams and the shores of the sea were protected by the king with new castles and fortifications, in which garrisons were constantly kept, who were able to keep off the first attack of the landing robbers, until the Saxons could be assembled and armed, to meet the pirates with sufficient force. This easy method of keeping off the sea robbers had been hitherto neglected by the Saxons, and they had paid for this negligence by their noblest blood.40

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Alfred lived in times when religion and sciences were only to be found with the monks; they were wise, and were regarded as saints. The king could not separate himself from the prejudices of his country; his heart, devoted to the fear of God, mistook the esteem which the word of God merits with the veneration which the servant of that word claimed. He was attached to the priests, who were his most secret and confidential counsellors. He therefore built convents, and founded places