er, and longer, and swifter than
those of the Northumbrians; and falling upon them, while they were
exercising their ravages in the west, he took twenty of their ships; and
having tried all the prisoners at Winchester, he hanged them as pirates,
the common enemies of mankind.

The well-timed severity of this execution, together with the excellent
posture of defence established every where, restored full tranquillity
in England, and provided for the future security of the government. The
East Anglian and Northumbrian Danes, on the first appearance of Alfred
upon their frontiers, made anew the most humble submissions to him;
and he thought it prudent to take them under his immediate government,
without establishing over them a viceroy of their own nation.[*] The
Welsh also acknowledged his authority; and this great prince had now, by
prudence, and justice, and valor, established his sovereignty over
all the southern parts of the island, from the English Channel to the
frontiers of Scotland; when he died, {901.} in the vigor of his age
and the full strength of his faculties, after a glorious reign of
twenty-nine years and a half,[**] in which he deservedly attained the
appellation of Alfred the Great, and the title of founder of the English
monarchy.

[* Flor. Wigorn. p. 598.]

[** Asser. p. 21. Chron. Sax. p. 95.]

The merit of this prince, both in private and public life, may with
advantage be set in opposition to that of any monarch, or citizen,
which the annals of any age, or any nation, can present to us. He seems,
indeed, to be the model of that perfect character, which, under the
denomination of a sage or wise man, philosophers have been fond of
delineating, rather as a fiction of their imagination, than in hopes of
ever seeing it really existing; so happily were all his virtues tempered
together, so justly were they blended, and so powerfully did each
prevent the other from exceeding its proper boundaries. He knew how to
reconcile the most enterprising spirit with the coolest moderation;
the most obstinate perseverance with the easiest flexibility: the
most severe justice with the gentlest lenity; the greatest vigor in
commanding with the most perfect affability of deportment;[*] the
highest capacity and inclination for science with the most shining
talents for action.

[* Asser. p. 13.]

His civil and his military virtues are almost equally the objects of
our admiration; excepting only that t