his genius the defects and imperfections
of the arts in that rude period. By his indefatigable application the
first English navy was in a very short time in readiness to put to sea.
At that time the Danish fleet of one hundred and twenty-five ships stood
with full sail for Exeter; they met; but, with an omen prosperous to the
new naval power, the Danish fleet was entirely vanquished and dispersed.
This success drew on the surrendry of Exeter, and a peace, which Alfred
much wanted to put the affairs of his kingdom in order.

This peace, however, did not last long. As the Danes were continually
pouring into some part of England, they found most parts already in
Danish hands; so that all these parties naturally directed their course
to the only English kingdom. All the Danes conspired to put them in
possession of it, and bursting unexpectedly with the united force of
their whole body upon Wessex, Alfred was entirely overwhelmed, and
obliged to drive before the storm of his fortune. He fled in disguise
into a fastness in the Isle of Athelney, where he remained four months
in the lowest state of indigence, supported by an heroic humility, and
that spirit of piety which neither adverse fortune nor prosperity could
overcome. It is much to be lamented that a character so formed to
interest all men, involved in reverses of fortune that make the most
agreeable and useful part of history, should be only celebrated by pens
so little suitable to the dignity of the subject. These revolutions are
so little prepared, that we neither can perceive distinctly the causes
which sunk him nor those which again raised him to power. A few naked
facts are all our stock. From these we see Alfred, assisted by the
casual success of one of his nobles, issuing from his retreat; he heads
a powerful army once more, defeats the Danes, drives them out of Wessex,
follows his blow, expels them from Mercia, subdues them in
Northumberland, and makes them tributary in Bast Anglia; and thus
established by a number of victories in a full peace, he is presented to
us in that character which makes him venerable to posterity. It is a
refreshment, in the midst of such a gloomy waste of barbarism and
desolation, to fall upon so fair and cultivated a spot.

[Sidenote: A.D. 880.]

[Sidenote: A.D. 896.]

When Alfred had once more reunited the kingdoms of his ancestors, he
found the whole face of things in the most desperate condition: there
was no observance of l