re, pertained only to the earliest periods of his career, before the
time of his seclusion. Through all the middle and latter portions of
his life, the sole motive of his conduct seems to have been a desire
to lay broad, and deep, and lasting foundations for the permanent
welfare and prosperity of his realm.

It resulted from the nature of the measures which Alfred undertook to
effect, that they brought upon him daily a vast amount of labor as
such measures always involve a great deal of minute detail. Alfred
could only accomplish this great mass of duty by means of the most
unremitting industry, and the most systematic and exact division of
time. There were no clocks or watches in those days, and yet it was
very necessary to have some plan for keeping the time, in order that
his business might go on regularly, and also that the movements and
operations of his large household might proceed without confusion.
Alfred invented a plan. It was as follows:

He observed that the wax candles which were used in his palace and in
the churches burned very regularly, and with greater or less rapidity
according to their size. He ordered some experiments to be made, and
finally, by means of them, he determined on the size of a candle which
should burn three inches in an hour. It is said that the weight of wax
which he used for each candle was twelve pennyweights, that is, but
little more than half an ounce, which would make, one would suppose, a
_taper_ rather than a candle. There is, however, great doubt about the
value of the various denominations of weight and measure, and also of
money used in those days. However this may be, the candles were each a
foot long, and of such size that each would burn four hours. They were
divided into inches, and marked, so that each inch corresponded with a
third of an hour, or twenty minutes. A large quantity of these candles
were prepared, and a person in one of the chapels was appointed to
keep a succession of them burning, and to ring the bells, or give the
other signals, whatever they might be, by which the household was
regulated, at the successive periods of time denoted by their burning.

As each of these candles was one foot long, and burned three inches in
an hour, it follows that it would last four hours; when this time
was expired, the attendant who had the apparatus in charge lighted
another. There were, of course, six required for the whole twenty-four
hours. The system worked very