He was of a very calm, quiet, and placid temper of mind.  The crosses and vexations which disturb and irritate ordinary men seemed never to disturb his equanimity.  He was patient and forbearing, never expecting too much of those whom he employed, or resenting angrily the occasional neglects or failures in duty on their part, which he well knew must frequently occur.  He was never elated by prosperity, nor made moody and morose by the turning of the tide against him.  In a word, he was a philosopher, of a calm, and quiet, and happy temperament.  He knew well that every man in going through life, whatever his rank and station, must encounter the usual alternations of sunshine and storm.  He determined that these alternations should not mar his happiness, nor disturb the repose of his soul; that he would, on the other hand, keeping all quiet within, press calmly and steadily forward in the accomplishment of the vast objects to which he felt that his life was to be given.  He was, accordingly, never anxious or restless, never impatient or fretful, never excited or wild; but always calm, considerate, steady, and persevering, he infused his own spirit into all around him.  They saw him governed by fixed and permanent principles of justice and of duty in all that he planned, and in every measure that he resorted to in the execution of his plans.  It was plain that his great ruling motive was a true and honest desire to promote the welfare and prosperity of his people, and the 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: