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 298 ALFOET ALGJE ees, critical commentary, &c. (5 vols., 1841 -'61 ; new and abridged edition by B. H. Al- ford, 1869) ; and by " The New Testament for English Readers," consisting of the authorized version, with notes, marginal references, and commentary (4 vols. 8vo, revised ed., 1867). ALFORT, a village of France, department of Seine, 5 m. S. E. of Paris, on the Marne, op- posite Charenton, forming with the village of Maisons the commune of Maisons-Alfort ; pop. 2,500. It is the seat of a famous national veteri- nary school established by Bourgelat in 1766, having courses of instruction in anatomy, bot- any, pharmacy, and the diseases and training of animals, a library of zoological works, lab- oratories, a pharmacy, a botanic garden, rich cabinets of specimens, a collection of living ani- mals, and a sheepfold in which merino sheep are raised for the improvement of breeds. A certain number of scholars are admitted at the national expense, and others pay their own fees. The course of study lasts eight years. ALFRED THE GREAT, king of the West Sax- ons, born at Wantage in Berkshire in 849, died probably in 901 (Oct. 26 or 28). lie was the fifth and youngest son of Ethelwulf, king of the West Saxons, and seems to have been his fa- vorite child. He was sent in his fifth year to Rome, where Leo IV. (according to the Saxon chronicles) " consecrated him king." However, the throne was first occupied by three of his brothers in succession. In the reign of Ethel- red, the last of them, an unusually formidable invasion of the Danes occurred, and Ethelred was slain (871). Alfred, who had been his brother's most efficient general, was thereupon, at the age of 22, declared king by the earls and chiefs, with the consent of the whole nation. He succeeded in making a temporary peace with the invaders, which left them free to over- run the other provinces of the island. Tins truce lasted till 876. Alfred, meanwhile, find- ing it impossible to raise an army able to cope with them in the field, fitted out a naval force, with which on the commencement of hostili- ties he worsted them in several engagements, and in the spring of 877, according to Asser, drove 120 Danish ships on shore, causing the destruction of all on board. The next January they invaded the kingdom in greater numbers . than ever. The king, with a few followers, sought safety in the woods and among the hills, and for a few months found shelter in the hut of a cowherd .at Athelney, a secluded spot surrounded by marshes and accessible only by a single bridge. Here after a while he was joined by a band of fighting men, and, fortify- ing his position, made occasional inroads upon the possessions of the enemy. In May, 878, having been joined by an armed body of his subjects, he attacked the main army of Danes at Eddington, and routed them with great slaughter. It was on the day before this bat- tle that he is said to have entered the enemy's camp disguised as a harper. The defeated king Godrun or Guthrun and his followers were made to embrace Christianity, and re- ceived the modern counties of Norfolk, Suffolk, and Cambridge as a place of residence. They became the subjects of Alfred, who in the course of six years seems to have made himself the virtual ruler of all England, though never formally recognized as such. His conduct be- fore his misfortunes seems to have been haugh- ty and selfish ; but after his restoration his rule was wise and beneficent. The few years of tranquillity from 886 to 893 were employed by him in restoring the cities and fortresses which had been destroyed during the war, improving the navy, of which he is esteemed the founder, systematizing the laws, and in literary labors. The last invasion of the Northmen in his reign took place in 894, under a leader named Hast- ings, and after a struggle which lasted three years, of which every part of the country was in turn the theatre, they were once more driven out. He established an elaborate system of coast defences, erecting some 50 fortresses at various points, and regulated the military service so as to keep only one half the population capable of bearing arms in the field at a time, leaving the remainder to cultivate the soil. It is prob- able that the code of laws which bears his name is chiefly compiled from the enactments of his predecessors. He made great improve- ments in the administration of justice, caused the rights of property to be respected, and made great efforts for the advancement of lit- erature and education. Although he is said to, have been 12 years of age before he was taught the alphabet, he afterward became possessed of extraordinary learning. He invited literary men to his court from all parts of Europe, and although the prevailing tradition that he found- ed the university of Oxford is doubtful, he cer- tainly did much for the improvement of the monastic school which had previously existed in that place. He made numerous translations from the Latin of works which he considered adapted to the wants of his countrymen, among which are the Liber Paatoralis Gurce of Pope Gregory the Great, Boethius's De Consolatione Philosophic, and Bede's " History of England." He married Elswith, the daughter of a Mercian nobleman, by whom he is said to have had four sons. His disposition was gentle and amiable, and his bearing frank and affable toward all. He was merciful and forgiving toward his ene- mies. His health was never good; in his youth he suffered from piles ; and at the age of 20 he was attacked by an undetermined internal disease causing terrible pangs, which he bore with stoical serenity, never suffering his labors to be interrupted. U. K. a large family of cellular flowerless plants, in which there is a, complete series of forms, from plants of merely one or two cells to most complicated and extensive growths, as seen in many seaweeds. Alga} live for the most part entirely in water, fresh, salt, or brackish, and take their food by their whole surface from the medium in which they grow.