A L F 



eftablifh a tyranny, nor to infrinpre the lllicrtics of hi-s peoplf, 

 for the welfare of wlioin he prorcd his concern by the mea- 

 fiires which he took to promote it. To him (as we liavc 

 laewn from Bl.ickftonc) wc owe many of thofe advantages 

 vhieh render our conilitution dear to us; but, above all, we 

 owe to him, as it lias been commonly fiippofcd, the trial by 

 jury (lee JuRv) ; and it is obvious to remark, what a fpnit 

 of mercy difeovei-s itfelf throughout all his lawf, aid h< w 

 preat a re<^ard is paid to the lives of liis people ; for in them 

 recourfe u not had to bloodfhedding for ever)- minute offence : 

 a particular well worthy of notice and imitation ! 



" So ftran^'e and fudden a change (fays Sir John Spclman) 

 did Alfred's inditutions produce in the kingdom, that 

 wliereas before there was no travelling without arms, there 

 was foon not only fafe palfagc, but all places became fo 

 lecnre, that when the king (for experiment's fake) caufed 

 golden bracelets to be hung up in the crofs-ways, they 

 lecmed to deride the patlenger, for no man duril lay his 

 hands on them. Virgins miglit fafely travel any where 

 alone. Nay, faith hjgulphus, if one left his money all 

 night in the highway, he might come the next morning, and 

 be fure to find it whole and untouched." 



This glorious monarch fcemed deligned by providence for 

 the period in which he hved, whether we view him in a mi- 

 litary or a civil capacity, to refcue from total ruin a nation 

 on the brink of dellniction, aiTailed from without by power- 

 ful enemies, and within by floth, ignorance, and the want 

 of almoll every virtue. He wa? not deficient in any qualifi- 

 cation that might render him beloved by his fubjefts, and 

 di-eaded by his enemies. Though of a weak bodily confti- 

 tution, his mind was aftive, vigorous, and enterpriling, and 

 fitted to animate every branch of good government. He it 

 wa* who firft taught us to defend ourfelves by a naval force, 

 now the glory of our country and the terror of the world ! 

 His pubhc virtues (fays Mr. Wife) were worthy of the imi- 

 tation of princes, and his private life was not ftained with 

 any vice ; he was a tender hulband and parent, the friend 

 and companion of men of letters, lesrned himfelf, affable, 

 generous, and, to conclude the whole, eminently pious. 

 He erefted public fehools in different parts of tlie kingdom ; 

 founded, or at lead repaired, the univerfity of Oxford, gave 

 preferment to none but fuch as had made fome proficiency in 

 knowledge ; and having thus reigned upwards of 28 years, 

 the dehght of his own fubjcft-i, and the admiration of all 

 Europe, he died the 28th October, A. D. 900, as fome 

 killorians Rate; but the variations are many between this and 

 the following year. 



That fo great and good a prince (hould not have had his 

 aftions recorded by any one among the learned of his own 

 fuhjedls muil appear furprifing. This talk, however, was 

 left to be performed by a ftranger (Affer), taken as it were 

 from among his enemies, a people whofe hatred to the 

 Saxon name was notorious ; for fuch at that time were the 

 Welfh. This hillorian has not, perhaps, written with the 

 tlegance of more modern times ; yet his life of Alfred is 

 certainly far above what could be expected from the rudtnefs 

 of the age in which he lived. His dtfcriptions are nervous 

 and fpinted ; and he conveys to us an image of the moll 

 perfect and accomplilhed monaich tliat ever graced the 

 Englilh throne. 



It has been obferved of Alfred, that, had he not been a 

 king, he would have been eminently diltinguilhcd as a gram- 

 marian, a rhetorician, a philofopher, an hillorian, a mufician, 

 and architeiS. Of his original writings and tranflationj the 

 following account has been collefted ; 



ALT 



I. The firft bonk, mentioned by Bale, is " Brevian'um 

 quoddam col!ccT;um ex legibns Trojanonim, lib. i. A bre- 

 viary collefted out of the laws of the Trojans, Greeks, 

 Britons, Saxons, and Danes, in one book." Leland faw 

 this book in the Saxon tongue, at ChrMl-church in Hamp- 

 fl)n-e. Comment, de fcript. p. 150. — 2. " Vifi-faxonum 

 leges, lib. i. The laws of the Weft-Saxons in one book." 

 Pitts tells us, that it is in Bene't college library, at Cam- 

 bridge. — 3. " Inilituta qitid.'.m, lib. i. Certain Inflitutes." 

 This is mentioned by Pitts, and feems to be tiie fecond ca- 

 pitulation with Guthrum. Brompt. chr. col. 819. — 4. 

 " Contra judices iniquos, lib. i. An inveftive againft unjuft 

 judges, in one book." — 5. " Afta magiftratuum fuorum, 

 hb. i. A(its of his magiftratcs, in one book." This is 

 fuppofed to be the book of judgments mentioned byKorne; 

 and was, in all probability, a kind of reports, intended for 



the ufe of fucceeding ages 6. " Regum fortune varix, 



hb. i. The various fortunes of kings, in one book." — 7. 

 " Difta fapientum, lib. i. The fayings of wife men, in one 

 book." — S. " ParaboljE et fales, lib. i. Parables and 

 pleafant fayings, in one book." — 9. " Collectiones chro- 

 nicorum ; CoUeftions of chronicles." — to. " Epillola; ad 

 Wulfsigium epifcopum. Epiftles to bifhop Wulf'-'g, in- 

 one book." — 1 1. " Manuale ineditationum. A Manual of 

 meditations." 



As to his tranflations, they were thefe : 12. " Dlalogns 

 D. Gregorii. A Dialogue of St. Gregory." — 13. " Paf- 

 torale ejufdem Gregorii. Tiie Paftoral of Gregory." — 

 14. " Hormeftam Pauli Orofii, lib. i." Of this work an 

 Englilh trandation was publifhed by Mr. Barrington iii 

 1772, with TElfred's Anglo-Saxon. — 15. " Boetius De 

 Confolatione, lib. v. Boetius's CoTifolations of philofophy, 

 in five books." Dr. Plot tells us, king jElfred tranllated 

 it at Woodftock, as he found in a MS. in the Cotton li- 

 brary. Nat. Hifl. of Oxfordihire, chap. x. fee. 118. — l6t 

 " AiTerii fententia:, lib. i. The fayings of Afferius, in one 

 book." — 17. " Martians Leges, lib. i. The laws of queen 

 Martia, widow of Guithehnus, in one book." — 18. " Mal- 

 mutinx Leges, hb. i. The laws of Malmutius, in one 

 book." — 19. " Gefta Anglorum Beds, lib. v. Tlie Deeds 

 of the Englifli, in five books, by Bede :" a copy of which 

 is in the public library at Cambridge, with the following 

 diftich. (Spelman's Life of jEIfred, p. 21 1.) 



Hiftoricus quondam fecit me Beda latinum, 

 .Alfred rex Saxo tranftulit ille prius. 



20. " iEfopi fabulte. iEfop's fables :" which he is fald 

 to have tranflatcd from the Greek both into Latin and 

 Saxon. — 21. " PfiJteriuni Davidicum, hb. i. David's Pfal- 

 ter, in one book." This was the laft work that the king at- 

 tempted, death furprifing him before he had finilhed it ; it 

 was however completed by another hand, and publilhed at 

 London in 1640, in quarto, by Sir John Spelman. 



Befides all thefe, Mahneihury mentions his tranflating 

 many Latin authors ; and the old hiftory of Ely aflerts, 

 that he tranflated the Old and New Teftaments. Malmfb. 

 De Geft. Reg. Ang. p. 45. Hill. Elien. lib. ii. 



The foregoing article has been chiefly compiled from 



Biog. Brit. — Hume, — Blaekftone Spelman. — And Wile's 



Annales .(Elfrcdi Magni. 



Alfrkd, an Englilh bifhop, was a monk of Malmef- 

 biry, of the order of St. Bennet, and preferred to the 

 fee of Exeter. He flourifhed in the loth centur)-, and 

 was one of the mofl learned men of his time. He 

 wrote a treatifc, " De Naturis Rtrum.;" " The Life 



of 



