Mean while Ubba, the chief of the Danish commanders, carried terror over the whole land, and now ravaged the country of Wales without oppofition. The only place where he found refiftance was, in his re turn, from the castle of Kenwith, into which the earl of Devonshire had retired with a fmall body of troops. This gallant foldier finding himself unable to fiftain a fiege, and knowing the danger of furrendering to a perfidious enemy, was refolved, by one defperate effort, to fally out and force his way through the befiegers, sword in hand. The propofal was embraced by all his followers, while the Danes, fecure in their numbers, and in their contempt of the enemy, were not only routed with great flaughter, but Ubba, their general, was flain. This victory once more reftored courage to the difpirited Saxons; and Alfred, taking advantage of their favourable difpofition, prepared to animate them to a vigorous exertion of their fuperiority. He foon therefore apprized them of the place of his retreat, and inftructed them to be ready with all their strength at a minute's warning. But ftill none was found who would undertake to give intelligence of the forces, and posture of the enemy: not knowing, therefore, a person in whom he could confide, he undertook this dangerous task himself. In the fimple dress of a fhepherd, with an harp in his hand, he entered the Danish camp, tried all his mufical arts to please, and was fo much admired, that he was brought even into the prefence of Guthrum, the Danish prince; with whom he remained fome days. There he remarked the fupine fecurity of the Danes, their contempt of the English, their negligence in foraging and plundering, and their diffolute wafting of fuch ill-gotten booty. Having made his obfervations, he returned to his retreat, and detaching proper emiffaries among his fubjects, appointed them to meet him in arms in C 3 the the foreft of Selwood, a fummons which they gladly obeyed. It was against the most unguarded quarter of the enemy that Alfred made his moft violent attack, while the Danes, furprized to behold an army of English, whom they confidered as totally fubdued, made but a faint refiftance. Notwithstanding the fuperiority of their number, they were routed with great flaughter; and, though fuch as efcaped fled for refuge into a fortified camp in the neighbourhood, being unprovided for a fiege, in lefs than a fortnight they were compelled to furrender at difcretion. By the conqueror's permiffion, those who did not chufe to embrace Chriftianity embarked for Flanders, under the command of one of their generals, called Haftings. Guthrum, their prince, became a convert, with thirty of his nobles, and the king himself anfwered for him at the font. Alfred had now attained the meridian of glory: he poffelfed a greater extent of territory than had ever been enjoyed by any of his predeceffors; the kings of Wales did him homage for their poffeffions, the Northumbrians received a king of his appointing, and no enemy appeared to give him the least apprehenfions, or excite an alarm. In this ftate of profperity and profound tranquillity, which lafted for twelve years, Alfred was diligently employed in cultivating the arts of peace, and in repairing the damages which the kingdom had fuftained by war. His care was to polish the country by arts, as he had protected it by arms. He is faid to have drawn up a body of laws. His care for the encouragement of learning did not a little tend to improve the morals and restrain the barbarous habits of the people. When he came to the throne, he found the English funk into the groffeft ignorance and barbarifm, proceeding from the continued diforders of the government, and from the ravages of the Danes. He himself complains, complains, that, on his acceffion, he knew not one perfon fouth of the Thames who could fo much as interpret the Latin fervice. To remedy this deficiency, he invited over the most celebrated scholars from all parts of Europe; he founded, or at least reeftablished, the university of Oxford, and endowed it with many privileges, and he gave, in his own example, the strongest incentives to ftudy. He ufually divided his time into three equal portions; one was given to fleep, and the refection of his body, diet, and exercise; another to the difpatch of business; and the third to study and devotion. He made a confiderable progrefs in the different ftudies of grammar, rhetoric, philofophy, architecture, and geometry. He was an excellent hiftorian, he understood mufic, he was acknowledged to be the best Saxon poet of the age, and left many works behind him, fome of which remain to this day. To give a character of this prince would only be, to fum up thofe qualities which conftitute perfection. Even virtues feemingly oppofite, were happily blended in his difpofition; perfevering, yet flexible; moderate, yet enterprizing; juft, yet merciful: ftern in command, yet gentle in converfation. Nature alfo, as if defirous that fuch admirable qualities of mind fhould be fet off to the greatest advantage, had bestowed on him all bodily accomplishments, vigour, dignity, and ́an engaging, open countenance. He His fecond fon, Edward, fucceeded him on the throne. To him fucceeded Athelftan, his natural fon, the illegitimacy of his birth not being then deemed a fufficient obftacle to his inheriting the crown. died at Gloucefter, after a reign of fixteen years, and was fucceeded by his brother, Edmund, who, like the rest of his predeceffors, met with disturbance from the Northumbrians on his acceffion to the throne; but his activity foon defeated their attempts. The resentment this monarch bore to men of an abandoned way way of living was the cause of his death. He was killed by Leolff, a robber, at a feast, where this villain had the infolence to intrude into the king's prefence. His brother, Edred, was appointed to fucceed, and like his predeceffors, this monarch found himfelf at the head of a rebellious and refractory people. Edred implicitly fubmitted to the directions. of Dunftan the monk, both in church and state; and the kingdom was in a fair way of being turned into a papal province by this zealous ecclefiaftic; but he was checked in the midst of his career, by the death of the king, who died of a quinfey, in the tenth year of his reign. Edwy, his nephew, who afcended the throne, his own fons being yet unfit to govern, was a prince of great perfonal accomplishments and a martial difpofition. But he was now come to the government of a kingdom, in which he had an enemy to contend with, against whom all military virtues could be of little fervice. Dunfcan, who had governed during the former reign, was refolved to omit nothing of his authority in this; and Edwy, immediately upon his acceffion, found himself involved in a quarrel with the monks; whofe rage, neither his accomplishments, nor his virtues could mitigate. Among other inftances of their cruelty, the following is recorded. There was a lady of the royal blood, named Elgiva, whofe beauty had made a ftrong impreffion upon the young monarch's heart. He had even ventured to marry her, contrary to the advice of his counsellors, as the was within the degrees of affinity prohibited by the canon law. On the day of his coronation, while his nobility were giving a loofe to the more noify pleasures of wine and feftivity in the great hall, Edwy retired to his wife's apartment; where, in company with her mother, he enjoyed the more pleafing fatisfaction of her converfation. Dunftan no fooner perceived his abfence than than conjecturing the reafon, he rushed furiously into the apartment, and upbraiding him with all the bitterness of ecclefiaftical rancour, dragged him forth in the most outrageous manner. Dunftan, it seems, was not without his enemies, for the king was advised to punish this infult, by bringing him to account for the money with which he had been entrusted during the laft reign. This account, the haughty monk refused to give in; wherefore, he was deprived of all the ecclefiaftical and civil emoluments of which he had been in poffeffion, and banished the kingdom. His exile only ferved to encrease the reputation of his fanctity with the people; among the reft Odo, archbishop of Canterbury, was fo far tranfported with the fpirit ofthe party, that he pronounced a divorcebetween Edwy and Elgiva. The king was unable to refift the indignation of the church, and confented to furrender his beautiful wife to its fury. Accordingly, Odo fent into the palace a party of foldiers, who feized the queen; and, by his orders, branded her on the face with an hot iron. Not contented with this cruel vengeance, they carried her by force into Ireland, and there commanded her to remain in perpetual exile. This injunction, however, was too diftreffing for that faithful woman to comply with; for being cured of her wound, and having obliterated the marks which had been made to deface her beauty, fhe once more ventured to return to the king, whom the ftill regarded as her husband. But misfortune continued to purfue her. She was taken prifoner by a party whom the archbishop had appointed to ob ferve her conduct, and was put to death in the most cruel manner; the finews of her legs being cut, and her body mangled, fhe was thus left to expire in the inoft cruel agony. In the mean time, a fecret revolt against Edwy became almoft general; and Dunstan put himself at the head of the party. The malcontents at last proceeded to open rebellion; and having placed |