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lowers apo(lat«, enemies of Chrift, and impious ; and adds, 

 t!iat tlicy had done tlieir iitinotl to exceed all paft lierefies, 

 and to approach nearer to Anliclirill ; accordingly he excom- 

 municated them from the church. He is called, however, 

 byThcodoret (Eccl. Hirt. p. 7. ed. Valcf.) the "Great 

 Alexander," and " a verj- excellent defender of the evan- 

 gelical docirinc." Alexander was prefent at the council of 

 Nice in 32 j, and died at Alexandria, before the end of that 

 year, or fome time in 326, within five months after the 

 breaking up of the coui.cil, or after his return home from 

 it. His writings confilled of epillles fent to bifhops in 

 feveral parts of the world, which, according to Epiphanius, 

 (H. Ixix. n. 4.) amounted to 70 in number, and were extant 

 in his time. Of thel'e two now remain ; one in Socrates 

 (Hill. Eccl. hb. i. c. 6. p. 10. ed. Valef.) addrefled to the 

 bilhops of Alexandria, and another in Theodorct (H. E. 

 lib. i. c. 4. p. >>. ) to Alexander, bifhop of Byzantium, with 

 fragments of fomc others. Fabr. 15ib. Grec. torn. viii. p. 341. 

 InthefeepiftlesfcvcralbooksoftheNewTertamcnt,particularly 

 St. Paul's epillles, arc frequently quoted, and the eplille to 

 the Hebrews was received by Alexander as Paul's. He 

 expreffcs a high rcfpeCl for the fcriptures, which lie calls 

 " divine ;" and though he profcffcs great regard to the wif- 

 dom and piety of ancient writings, near the days of the 

 apolUes, he feems not to have confidcred them as dccilive 

 and of authority in matters of religion, as he has not fre- 

 quently cited them. Lardner's Works, vol. iv. p. 103 — 

 105. Cave H. L. torn. i. p. 173. 



Alexander, of Lycopolis, a city of Thebais, was, as 

 Fabricius (Bib. Grxc. torn. v. p. 290.) fuppoles, firll a 

 Heathen and Manichee, and afterwards a Catholic Chrlllian, 

 in which opinion Cave (De Scriptoribus Eccl. incertae setatis, 

 p. 2. H. L. torn, ii.) concurs, and a writer, probably of the 

 fourth century. Photins calls him archbifhop of Cyropolis ; 

 but Beanfobrc argues, that he was a mere Heathen or Pagan 

 philofophcr, and Tillcmont adopts the fame opinion. Dr. 

 Lardner obfenes, that if he was ever a Manichee, he muil 

 have been at that time a Chriftian, as the Manichees were 

 Chritlians ; but it is not eafy to detennine what he was 

 afterwards, when he wrote agaiuft them. This excellent 

 writer inclines to think that he was a Gentile, and places him 

 at the year of Chrill 350. He feems to have been well ac- 

 quainted with the Manichees and other Chriftians ; and to 

 have had fome knowledge of the fcriptures of the Old and 

 New Tcftament, to which lie occafionally refers. He ex- 

 prcffes himftlf, with rcfpeft and commendation, concerning 

 Chriit and the Chridian philofophy, which he reprefents as 

 ** fmiplc, and intended, by plain precepts, witliout nicedif- 

 quifitions and intricate reafonings, to promote virtue among 

 all forts of men, and es-en among the lower ranks, and com- 

 mon people." He was evidently, fays Lardner, a learned 

 and rational man. His work, intitled, " irfo; la,: Mctvi^^aia 

 3eja:-," " againft the opinions of the Manichees," was pub- 

 lifhed in Gr. and Lat. by Combcfifius, in tom. ii. Auftarium 

 Patr. Ghec. Novifllmum, at Paris, in 1672, fol. It is extant 

 alfo in M.S. in the Ca;farcan library. Fabricius, uHfupra, 

 Cave. H. L. ubi fupra. Lardner's Works, vol. iii. p. 384. 

 vol. viii. 349—351. 



Alexander was the name of one ef the martyrs of 

 Lyons, A. D. 177. He was a Phrygian by nation, and 

 by profefTion a phyfician ; he had lived many years in Gaul, 

 and was known almoft to all men for his love of God and 

 boldnefs in preaching the word. When he flood before the 

 tribunal, to which he was cited, he boldly confefled that he 

 was a Chrillian ; upon which the enraged prcfident con- 

 <lemned him to the wild bcafts. When he had undergone 



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ail tlie inflnimcnts of torture in the aiTipliithcatre, which 

 were invented to torment him, and his aflbciatc Aualus, they 

 were both run through with a fword. Alexander neither 

 fighed, nor faid any thing at all : but in his heart converfed 

 with God. Such is the account given by Eufcbius, Eccl. 

 Hill. lib. v. c. I. p. 163. ed. Valefii. 



Alexander, BENtDicrus, of Verona, phyfician to the 

 emperor Maximilian, taught anatomy and medicine with 

 great reputation, et maxima frequentia auditornm, Caftal- 

 hmus fays, at Padua, towards the end of the 15th centuiy. 

 Of him wc have the following, " Alexandri Ecnedicliphyfici 

 Aiiatomia;, five Hilloria Corporis Humani, ejufdem coUec- 

 tiones feu aphorifmi,i527." The dedication to the emperor 

 is dated 1503. This work has been feveral times reprinted. 

 See Bibllog. Anat. Specimen Jacobi Douglas, p. 6o. Alfo, 

 Pet. Cailallani \'ita; lUullr. Mcdicorum, p. 159. 



ALrxAXDKR, Massarias, of Viccuza in Italy, prac- 

 tifed medicine there for twenty-five years. In 1578, ho 

 was made principal of the college of medicine at Venice. 

 Having held this office, witli great reputation, nine years, 

 he went to Padua, ubi fenio confeftus, Douglas fays, obiit, 

 1598. This phyfician was ufed to fay, " fe malle cum 

 Galeno errare, quam cum recentioribus vera dicere." He 

 left a treatife, " Dc Urinij et pulfibus," publiflied 1608, at 

 Frankfort, and " Opera Medica," publiihed at Lyons, 

 1634. Douglas Bibhog. Spec. p. 197. 



Alexakder, bifhop of I^incoln, in the 12th century, 

 was by birth a Norman, educated under his uncle, bifiicp of 

 Salifbuiy, and by his intereil promoted to the epiicopal fee 

 in 1 123. Having been accuftomed in early life to a fpiendid 

 mode of living, he affected a degree of flate, and indulged 

 to expences which were fuitable neither to his charatler nor 

 fortune. Henry of Huntingdon, in the dedication of his 

 hiilory to him, which is penned in the language of fervile 

 adulation, calls him " the flower and top of the kingdom 

 and nation ;" and he infomis us, that at the court of Rome 

 he was llylcd " the Magnificent." St. Bernard, in a letter 

 addreffed to him about a year before his death, a£ts the part 

 of a more honeft friend, and cautions him " not to be dazzled 

 with the luHre of fecular grandeur, nor to look upon any 

 worldly advantage as permanent ; nor value his fortune more 

 than himftlf; to guard againfl the flattery of profperity, for 

 fear of a turn of misfortune, which will lall longer ; not 

 to be charmed with the tranfient fatisfaiftions of life ; for 

 that fcene will quickly be fhut up, and make way for another 

 both lafling and uncomfortable." He alfo .idvifes him 

 " not to deceive himfelf with any diflant profpeA of death ; 

 for fuch dclufive hopes lead direftly to danger and furprife, 

 and are the likcliell way to hurry a man into the other world 

 without preparation." In the courfeof his life tliefe prudent 

 and falutary lefTons did not feem to have been duly regarded 

 by the oflentatious prelate. In imitation of the barons and 

 fome of the billiops, he built three cailles ; one at Banbury, 

 another at Sleaford, and a third at Newark. He hkewife 

 founded two monalleries. King Stephen was, not without 

 reafon, offended by thefe flately edifices and flrong for- 

 trefTes ; and when he determined to take the caflles from 

 the barons, he felzed that at Newark ; iu confequencc of 

 which the bifhop was imprifoned for feven months, and with 

 difficulty obtained his liberty. From this time he employed 

 his thoughts and time in ornamenting his church, which he 

 had rebuilt with a flone roof the year after his confecration ; 

 increafing the number of its prebends, and augmenting its 

 revenue with feveral manors and eftates ; and at length he 

 rendered it the moil flately and flourifhing of any in the 

 kingdom. He went twice to Rome, w'.i. in 1142 and 



IJ44; 



