internal peace, and order, and happiness of his realm, without any
selfish or sinister aims of his own.

In fact, it seemed as if there were no selfish or sinister ends that
possessed any charms for Alfred's mind. He had no fondness or taste
for luxury or pleasure, or for aggrandizing himself in the eyes of
others by pomp and parade. It is true that, as was stated in a former
chapter, he was charged in early life with a tendency to some kinds
of wrong indulgence; but these charges, obscure and doubtful as they
were, 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