



ALEXA11 



ALEXANDER III. 



... ___ > 'Ei*rlopeVlK > s& as Diderot and VolUiro. When 

 we blame the two latter. it ie not for the opinion* they held (for which 

 they are not answerable to any nun*. but for their offensive manner 

 /xpresalnc "". and th odious intolerance of ell opinion* except 

 Umr owtTwLch run* through their writings. Men of the best and of 

 Uw wont lirr. appeared to be equally offensive to than, if they pro- 

 fc*dChri^;rTb. publiaW writing. of D-AlembsTt contain 

 no rxpc~in. ooVnaive to religion ; th.yli.To ncrer been forbidden 

 on that account, a* La llarpa observes, in any country of Euro]*. 

 Had it Dot been for hi* private oorrespondeuoe with Voltaire and 

 D^fctn which wa* published after hi* death, the world would nut 

 bar* known, except by implication, what the opinion* of D'Alembert 

 wmi On this pourt we will oiU two respectable Catholic authorities 

 The Bi*hop of Limoges aaid, during the life of D'Alembert, " I do not 

 know him personal!* ; but I hare alway* heard that hi* manner* are 

 simple, and hi* conduct without a stain. A* to hi* work*, I read them 

 over and over again, and I find nothing there except plenty of talent, 

 great information, and a good ystm of moral*. If hi* opinions are 

 not a* aound a* hi* writing*, ho it to be pitied, but no one ha* a right 

 to interrogate hi* wiffifi^i" La Harpe *ay of him, " I do not 

 fhUfc that he ever printed a sentence which mark* either hatred or 

 contempt of religion ; bnt we may cite a great many passages where, 

 apparently drawn into enthusiasm by the heroes of Christianity, he 

 ipeak* of them with dignity, and, what in him is even more strange, 

 with sentiment," " I knew D'Alembert well enough to be able to 

 ty, that be wa* sceptical in everything except mathematics. He 

 would no more bare said poaitirely that there was no religion thau 

 that there mi a God: he only thought the probabilities were in 

 favour of theism, and against revelation. On this subject he tolerated 

 ail opinion*, and thia disposition made him think the intolerant 

 arrogance of the alheuU odiou* and unbearable." " Ho has praised 

 MaasilloD, Fcnc'lon, liuuuet, Flechier, and Fleury, not only as writers, 

 but a* priests. He was ju*t enough to be struck with the constant 

 and tHmir*"* connection which exiited between their faith and their 

 practice, between their priestly character and their virtues." To these 

 terliirmnit* we need add nothing, except to desire the reader to turn 

 to the part of the letter of the Empress Catharine which we have 

 quoted, and then to recollect that it was the same Empress Catharine 

 who refused a visit from Voltaire, saying, " that she had no Parnassus 

 in her dominions for those who (poke disrespectfully of religion." 



The ctyle of D'Alembert a* a writer is agreeable, but he is not placed 

 by the French in the first rank. His mathematical works show that 

 be wrote a* bo thought, without taking much trouble to finish. His 

 expression was, " Let u* find out the thing, there will be plenty of 

 people to pot it into ahape ;" an assertion abundantly verified since 

 his time. He aaid of himself that he had "some talent and great 

 facility." He liked the mathematical part of natural philosophy 

 better than any other, and took but little interest in purely experi- 

 mental reeesrcbe*. Hence he remained in ignorance of some of the 

 most striking frets discovered in his day ; and when laughed at on 

 the subject, be alway* laid, " I (hall have plenty of time to learn all 

 these pretty thing*." The time however, a* Boesuct remarks, never 



Those readers who would know more of D'Alembert should consult 

 the ftnt volume of Butien'i edition of hi* works. 



ALEXANDER. [PARIS,] 



ALEXANDER L, son of Amyntai L, aaid to be the tenth king of 

 Macedon, wa* alive at the time of the great Fenian invasion of Greece, 

 aux 480. Hi* history, a* far a* it is known, and his share in the 

 troubUe of the Persian wan, are contained in the last five books of 

 Herodotus. 



ALEXANDER IL, the sixteenth king of Macedonia, was tho son 

 of Amyntai IL, and ascended the throne about B.C. 370. 



ALEXANDER III., lumamed the -Great, king of Macedonia, wa* 

 the son of Philip and Olympias, and born at Pella in the autumn of 

 the year B.C. 3i. On hi* father's side he wa* descended from 

 Cannu* the Heraclid, who was tho first king of Macedonia; his 

 other belonged to the royal house of Epirui, which traced iU 

 pedigree up to Achilles, the most celebrated hero of the Trojan War. 

 Hbe wa* the daughter of Neoptoleiuus, prince of the Moloesiana. and 

 the aider of Alexander of Epirus, who lost hi* life in Italy. The 

 historians of Alexander regard it a* a significant coincidence that 

 Philip on the same day received the intelligence of tho birth of his 

 son, of the victory of Us General Parmenio over the Illyriaus, and of 

 hi* own victory at the Olympic games; on the same day also the 

 magnificent temple of Diana at Epbesus was burnt down. Occur- 

 like then were afterwards thought to bo indications of the 

 of Alexander, and various marvellous stories were 



Ubrioaud, which were believed and eagerly spread by the flattery 

 the upentition of the Greeks, and readily listened to by Alexand 

 hiOMelf a the midst of hi* wonderful career of conquest Ma 



or 



Alexander 

 conquest Many 



in the early education of Alexander, but the 

 : was minuted to Leonid**, a relation of Olympias, 

 character. Lysimachus, an Aoamanian, appears 

 himself into the favour of the royal family of 

 taod of bis pupil by vulgar flattery; be is reported to have 

 osader always by tie name of Achilles, and Philip by that 

 of Pelem About the time when Alexander had reached his thirteenth 



year, Philip thought it advisable to procure for hi* son the best 

 tnitrnctor of tho age, and hi* choice fell upon Aristotle, A letter 

 which Philip is said to have written to this philosopher on the occa- 

 sion is preserved in Gelliu*. Under the instruction of such a master 

 the powerful mind of Alexander was rapidly developed, and enriched 

 with store* of practical and useful knowledge. With the view of 

 preparing hi* pupil for his high station, Aristotle wrote a work on 

 the art of government, which i* no longer extant. No royal pupil 

 ever had the advantage of such a muter. His short life was spent in 

 gigantic undertakings, and in the midst of war; but the results of 

 Aristotle's teaching are apparent in all Alexander's plans for consoli- 

 dating his empire : his love of knowledge manifested itself to tho 

 last months of his life and in the midst of all his labours. His 

 physical education also was not neglected. In horsemanship he is 

 said to have excelled all his contemporaries ; and it is a well-known 

 story, that when tho celebrated horse Bucephalus was brought to the 

 Macedonian capital, no one but young Alexander was able to manage 

 him. His alleged descent from Achilles, and tho flattery of those by 

 whom ho was surrounded, made a deep and lasting impression upon 

 his youthful mind ; tho ' Iliad ' become his favourite book, and its 

 hero, Achilles, his great model. Ambition was his ruling passion; 

 ererything which appeared to limit the sphere within which he hoped 

 to gain distinction, seemed to him an encroachment upon his own 

 rights. When intelligence was brought of his father's victories, he 

 would lament that nothing would be left for him to do : he refused 

 to contend for the prize at the Olympic games because he could not 

 have kings for his competitors. In the same spirit he regretted that 

 Aristotle published one of his profound works, because the wisdom 

 which he wished "to possess alone was thus communicated to many. 

 He would always pardon and honour on enemy whose resistance had 

 added to his own glory, but a cowardly opponent was the object of 

 his contempt 



Head of Alexander tbo Great, enlarged, from a coin In the Bodleian Library, 

 Oxford. The head is repeated beneath, with the reverse, showing the size of 

 the coin. 



When Alexander had reached his sixteenth year, Philip was obliged 

 to leave his kingdom to carry on a campaign against Byzantium ; and 

 as his son had already shown extraordinary judgment in public affairs, 

 I'hilip intrusted him with the administration of Macedonia. During 

 the absence of his father, he is said to have led an army against 

 some revolted tribe, and to have made himself master of their town. 

 The first occasion on which he specially signalised himself was two 

 rear* later, in the battle of Chnronea (ao. 338), and the victory on 

 ;hat day i* mainly ascribed to his courage ; he broke the lines of the 

 enemy, and .crushed the sacred band of the Thebans. Philip was 

 iroud of such a son, and was even pleased to hear the Macedonians 

 call him their king, while they called Philip their general. But the 

 food understanding between him and his father was disturbed during 

 .he last years of Philip's life, owing to his father repudiating Olym- 

 >ias, and giving his band to Cleopatra, the niece of Attalus. A 

 conciliation took place, but on the very day that it was to be sealed 

 >y the marriage of Philip's daughter with a brother of Olympias, 

 i'hilip was assassinated (B.C. 336), and it was even reported that 

 Altifndtr was compromised in the conspiracy. There is however no 

 evidence to prove the truth of this report, though it is possible that 

 Alexander at least knew of the plot, notwithstanding tho severe 

 lunishinent which he inflicted on most of the guilty persons. 



