ALE 



he fcertis to Iinve kept liis eye too clofcly on the latter fcenes 

 of Ilia lift, when his fortune, not his merit, was at its grcatell 

 height. It is jidUy obfervcd by I, ivy (lib. ix. e. l8.), that 

 Alexander iippears very diiTerent, according to the times or 

 feafons in which we confidtr him. He difcovcrcs in him a 

 kind of double Alexander ; the one wife, temperate, judi- 

 cious, bnive, intrejjid, but at the fame time prudent and 

 circumfped ; the other immcrfed in all the v/antonnefs of an 

 haughty profperity ; vain, pioud, arrogant, fiery ; foftencd 

 by delights, and abandoned to intemperance and exccffes ; 

 in a word, refembhng Darius rather than Alcxandei", and 

 having made the Macedonians degenerate into all the vices of 

 the Perfians, by the new turn of mind, and the new manners 

 he affumed after his conquefts. M. RoUin, guided by this 

 clue, contemplates him in two different periods of his life, 

 and correfponding afpefts of his charafier : firll,' from his 

 youth to the battle of Iffus and the iicge of Tyre ; and 

 I'econdly, from that victory to his death. In the firlT: period, 

 we acknowledge and admire a happy difpofition, cultivated 

 and improved by education. He had a great, noble, and 

 generous ioul, which was dehghted in bellowing favours and 

 doing fervice. He was alio actuated by a high degree of 

 emulation and love of glory ; he was betimes accullomed to 

 exercilcs of body and mind, and to a fober and temperate 

 mode of living. No prince in the world had a nobler edu-* 

 cation than Alexander; fo that he was convcrfant in elo- 

 quence, poetry, pohte learning, the whole circle of arts, 

 and the moll abllracted and fublimc fcicnccs ; and in the 

 progreis of his years he was a favourer and promoter of li- 

 terature and the arts, and attached to his train poets, orators, 

 and philofophers. Under Arillotle he enjoyed fingular ad- 

 vantages of inftruftion ; nor was heinfentible of their value ; 

 and he rendered clfential fervice to fcience by the prefcnts 

 which he conferred on his preceptor, for en;ibling him to 

 purfue his enquiries in natural hillory. He alfo employed 

 men of talents of eveiy defcription, and hbcrally rewarded 

 them. In the early life of Alexander we perceive and ad- 

 mire the judgment manifefted in his converfation with the 

 Perfian ambaffadors ; the wifdom with which he acted as 

 regent during ins father's abfence, and by which he pacified 

 the feuds that had broken out in Macedonia ; and the valour 

 by which he dilliiiguifhed himfelf in the battle of Chxronea. 

 The firft years of his reign were, perhaps, all circumftances 

 confidered, the mod glorious of his life. At 20 years of 

 Kge, he appeafcd inteiline feuds, fubjecled foreign enemies, 

 difarmed Greece, when moll of its flates were combined 

 againft him ; and in three years accomplilhed the plan which 

 his father had projefted. For effecting thefc purpofes in- 

 trepidity and prudence, courage and prefence of mind, thofe 

 qualities which form the charafter of the true hero, were 

 indifpenfable. In the former part of his expedition againll 

 Darius, the fame qualities arc manifeft. When he was fcarce 

 20 years old, with dangers, domeftic and foreign, threaten- 

 ing him, with a treafury not only exhaufted but encumbered 

 with debts, with an army much inferior to that of the 

 Perfians, Alexander turns his eyes towards Babylon and 

 Sufa, and projctls the conquefl of a vaft empire. The 

 fwiftnefs of the execution correfponded to the wifdom of 

 the project. Having gained the affeftion of his officers by 

 an unparallelled liberality, and the attachment of his foldiers 

 by condefcenlion and aifability, he aftonifhed his enemies by 

 bold cnterprlzes, terrified them by examples of feverity, and 

 won them by afts of humanity and clemency. The pafTage 

 of the Granicus, followed by a famous vitloiy ; the two 

 celebrated lieges of Miletus and HalicarnafTus, exhibited to 

 Alia a young conqueror, to whom no part of military id- 



A h E 



ence was unknown. When he allowed to thofc whom he 

 conqueitd, and who readily fubmitled, the tiijoynient of 

 their liberties and ancient laws, obfervers were ltd to believe, 

 that the conqueror had no other view than to make nations' 

 happy, and to procure them an eafy and lalling peace. The 

 two battles of Illus and Arbtla, with the liege of Tyre, 

 proved, that Alexander poffetred the qualities of a gitat 

 foldier ; Ikill in chuling the field of battle ; prefence of mind 

 in ifluing proper o'ders even in the heat of aftioa ; courage 

 animated by prclTing dangers ; impetuous adlivity, tempered 

 and guided by caution and cirtumfpeftion ; and an invintiblc 

 lirmnefs and coiiftancy, neither difconcerted by unforeftcn 

 obHacles nor difcouragtd by difliculties. The circumllance 

 which raifes Alexander above moll conquerors, and, as it 

 were, above himfelf, was his conduit toward the mother, 

 wife, and daughters of Diriu$ ; all of them princcfrcs, 

 whofc beauty was not to be parallelled through the whole 

 of Afia. If this conduft towards the family of Dariuo had 

 been accompanied with the gTant of a peace, which he fap» 

 plicated on terms fo humiUating to himfelf, and fo advan- 

 tageous to Alexander, the conqueror would have rifen ilill 

 higher m our ellecm, Alexander, it is fa!d, had a foul ca- 

 pable of friend Hiip ; he endeared himfelf to his offieers and 

 foldiers, by his attci tion and far.iiharity ; he grieved for 

 thorn when they were lick, rejoiced in their recovery, and 

 participated in whatever betel them. 



If we follow Alexander to the fecond period of his hif- 

 tory, after the battle of IlTus, we (hall fee the virtues and 

 noble qualities of this prince degenerate on a fuddcn, and 

 make way for the greatelt vices and the moll brutal pairions. 

 Was ever enterprifc more wild and extravagant than that of 

 crofling the deferts of Libya, and interrupting the courfe 

 of his victories, in order to purchafe a title, that of the fon 

 of Jupiter Amnion, which, in reality, only ferved to render 

 him contemptible. The drunkenncfs and debauchery to 

 which he addicted himfelf, and the follies and crimes of 

 which he was guilty in his feafons of intoxication, degrade 

 his charader, and expofe it tojufl abhorrence and contempt. 

 What ihall we fay of his marking hi j footfleps with fire and 

 blood, of his burning cities and flaughtering their inha- 

 bitants ? of his burning Perfepolis,murdering Clytus, putting 

 Philotas to the torture, difgracing Parmenio, an old, tried, 

 faithful friend, and putting both father and fon to death, 

 and of permitting Calliflhenes, the philufopher, to die in a 

 dungeon, or in a worfe mode ? what apology can be made 

 for his wanton cruelties ? the devaitation of whole countries, 

 the Haughter of millions of inhabitants, the crucifixion of 

 an Indian prince, and the punifliment of many Brahmins,, 

 whofe only crime had been that of encouraging their coun- 

 trymen to defend their liberties againll a lawlefs invader ? 

 well might the Gentoo annals call him " a moll mighty 

 robber and murderer." How jullly docs the author of the 

 firll book of Maccabees charafteriy.e liim, by faying that 

 " he butchered kings," so-Jals /3ao-iX!i.; th,- y>i,-. His debau- 

 cheries, his abominable revellings, his more than Aliatic 

 luxury, his Sardanapalian effeminacy, were fo flagrant, that 

 his warinell encomiafts have not been bold enough to deny 

 nor even to palhate them. 



As to his magnanimity and gcnerofity, which have been 

 wonderfully extolled, thefe, upon clofe examination, would 

 probably appear to be the fruits of that lame vain-glorious 

 ambition, which was the main fource of all his adlion!".. 

 Plis liberal prefents tovvriters and artills were the price of 

 the groHell adulation; the mod pitiful fcribblcr, if he wag 

 lavifh in his flattery, was as lavilhly rep.iid for his grateful 

 iiicenfe ; and a Chserilus, a Cleo, and an Agis, (the very 



dregs- 



