76 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING 



was pierced by Diomedes.&quot; 104 In logic, observe, in addi 

 tion to his power of detecting fallacies and confuting or re 

 torting arguments, his rebuke to Cassander, who ventured 

 to confute the arraigners of Antipater, his father, Alexan 

 der having incidentally asked, &quot;Do you think these men 

 would come so far to complain, except they had just 

 cause?&quot; Cassander replied, &quot;That was the very thing 

 which had given them courage, since they hoped that the 

 length of the journey would entirely clear them of calum 

 nious motives.&quot; &quot;See,&quot; said Alexander, &quot;the subtilty of 

 Aristotle, taking the matter pro and con.&quot; Nevertheless 

 he did not shrink to turn the same art to his own advan 

 tage which he reprehended in others; for, bearing a secret 

 grudge to Calisthenes, upon that rhetorician having drawn 

 down great applause by delivering, as was usual at ban 

 quets, a spontaneous discourse in praise of the Macedonian 

 nation, Alexander remarked, that it was easy to be eloquent 

 upon a good topic, and requested him to change his note, 

 and let the company hear what he could say against them. 

 Calisthenes obeyed the request with such sharpness and 

 vivacity, that Alexander interrupted him, saying, &quot;That 

 a perverted mind, as well as a choice topic, would breed 

 eloquence.&quot; As regards rhetoric, consider his rebuke of 

 Antipater, an imperious and tyrannous governor, when one 

 of Antipater s friends ventured to extol his moderation to 

 Alexander, saying that he had not fallen into the Persian 

 pride of wearing the purple, but still retained the Macedo 

 nian habit. &quot;But Antipater,&quot; replied Alexander, &quot;is all 

 purple within.&quot; 106 Consider also that other excellent meta 

 phor which he used to Parmenio, when that general showed 

 him, from the plains of Arbela, the innumerable multitude 

 of his enemies, which, viewed as they lay encamped in the 

 night, represented a host of stars; and thereupon advised 

 Alexander to assail them at once. The hero rejected the 

 proposition, saying, &quot;I will not steal a victory.&quot; As con- 



104 Iliad, iv. 340. 105 6A.o7rop0vpos. Apop. Reg. et Imp. 



