ALE 



prrr of tIntTiiiii;<luin, by the title cf Vlfcoiinl Stirling. In 

 M'lT, Ik- was rniktl to tlic dignity of Earl of Stirling-, at hi* 

 Majelly's coronation, in the paluce of HoIyrood-houk-.He 

 difehHrgcd the ottke cf fecrctar)' uf .late with great reputa- 

 tion till his death, in 1640. About tlirce years before liis death 

 was publiflicd a iiewcditioii of his poems, '.-iz. "The FoiirMo- 

 narchiek. Tragedies," "Dooms-day," " Tiie Parxnefis," and 

 " Jonathan," an heroie poem, which was now lirft piiblillicd. 

 The ftyle and vcdifieation, particularly of the plays, are 

 ponfhed, and the plans, as far as the fiibjccts arc eoneerned, 

 improved. The author's tragedies and other poems were 

 veil received at the time of their firll publication. King 

 James called the author liis " Pliilofopiiical Poet ;" and 

 Michael Drayton commends them ; calls the author " My 

 Alexander," and wilhes to be known as the friend of a 

 writer, " wliofe mufe was like his mind :" and John Da- 

 vies of Hereford, in a book of epigrams, publilhed about the 

 year 1 6 1 1 , pi-aifes the tragedies of the author; and fays, 

 " that Alexander the Great had not gained more glory with 

 his fword than this Alexander iiad gained b)- his pen." Mr. 

 Addifon, after perullng the feveral works of the author, tef- 

 tirttd his approbation of them, by faying, " That he had read 

 them over with thegreatell fatisfaction." " They compofc," 

 fays a biographer of unqueiliouable judgment, " a very re- 

 fpe<Aable portion of the literature of that age ; though their 

 gravity and prolixity are not much fuited to the talte of the 

 prefent." it does not appear that his plays were ever aAed. 

 ■ riiey are rather dramatic poems for perutal in the clofet. 

 Biog. Brit. Gen. Biog. 



Alexander Neckam, orNsquAM, an eminent Engliih 

 writer of the 12th and 13th centuries, was born at St. Al- 

 bau's, in Hertford fhire, and purluedhis lUidies, with fuccefs- 

 ful affiduity, in the univerlities of Italy and France. At Paris 

 he was eileemed a prodigy of genius and learning ; and 

 applauded as an excellent philofopher, a profound divine, 

 and a good rhetorician and poet, confidering the age in 

 which he lived. His fchool at Paris, where he read lec- 

 tures in 1180, was thronged with fcholars. About the 

 year 1 1 86 he returned to England ; and, having become a 

 canon-regular of the order of St. Auguftin, he was made 

 abbot of Exeter in 1215, and died in 1227. His epitaph, 

 written after the old monkilh manner, in Latin rhyme, is as 

 follow^ : 



" Eclipfm patitur fapientia, Sol fepelitur ; 

 Cui C par unus, minus eflet ficbile fanus : 

 Vir bene difc:etus, et in omni more facetus, 

 Didlus erat Nequam, vitam duxit tameii xquara." 



Tlie feufe is this : — 



" Learning's eclips'd, the Sun himfilf 's obfeur'd ; 

 Our lofs vfere lefs, had he left one fuperior : 

 Accomplifhed was his mind, his manners plcafmg, 

 And though his name was ill, his life was good," 



He wrote feveral works, which are preferved in MS. in the 

 libraries of England and other countries ; fuch as " Coni- 

 mentaria fuper quatuor Evangelia ;" " Expofitio fuper Ec- 

 clefiaften ;" " Expofilio fuper Cantica ;" " Elucidarinm 

 Bibhothecx," in which are fome exprefuons inconfiftent 

 with the doctrine of tranfubftanlialioa ; " I^audes divina 

 Sapisntise," which is the fame witli the work, " De Na- 

 turis rerum ;" and contains, amongit a variety of other 

 matter, a large account of the three cities moft celebrated 

 for learn ng, Athens, Rome, and Paris. Gen. Dic^. Cave. 

 H. L. torn. ii. p. 286. 



Alexandkr 1. king of Scotland, was the fon of Mal- 

 eulm m. and fucceeded his brother Edgar in 1107. His 



ALE 



cTinra(fter was dirtinguifhed by a degree of vigour and in-.pe- 

 tuofity, which gave hini the appellation of " the fierce ;" 

 and which, though previoudy concealed by his piety and de- 

 votion, diicvivered themfelves on his acceflion to the throne. 

 His condutt both iji the northern andfoutliern parts of the 

 kingdom was fo fevere, tliat he awcdtlie infurgcnts into fub- 

 mifhon ; but a confpiracy was at length tormed againft hi» 

 life, and the traitors, who were engaged in the execution of 

 it, obtained adniitlion into his bcd-chambtr at night, whilll 

 he lodged at a calUe in tiie Carfe of Gowrie. Alexander, 

 after having killed fix of them, made his efcape. Having 

 reduced Ins own kingdom to order, he vifited his brother-in- 

 law Heurv I. of England, and aflliled him in terminating a 

 difference between him and the Wcllh. He doled his reign 

 in enabling and enforcing civil and eecleiiaftical regulations, 

 ditd a bachelor in the 17th year of it, and was fucceeded by 

 his younger brother, David. Mod. Un. Hili. vol. xli. 

 p. 45. 



ALr.xAND>;R n. king of Scotland, fucceeded his father 

 William the Lion, in 12 14, in his 16th year. His attempt! 

 to recover the pofieflion of Northumberland was retaliated 

 by a deftruftive expedition into Scotland, conducted by John, 

 king of England. Whilft John was thus employed, Alex- 

 ander reduced Northumberland ; and, being forced to dlf- 

 continue his purfuit of the Englifh king, who was burning 

 the towns, ravaging the countiy, and advancing towards the 

 capital, he entered England by the way of Carhile, which 

 he took and fortified, and proceeded as far as Richmond, in 

 Yorklhire, retaliating upon the adherents of John leverities 

 fimilar to thofe which his own fubjeftshad fuffered. But his 

 progrefs was impeded, and he was compelled to return 

 through Wcftmoreland to his own kingdom. 



In 1 22 1, he married the princefs Joan, eldeft filler of 

 Heniy III. of England, who contributed to preferve peace 

 between the two kingdoms. After her death in 1239, they 

 were again embroiled ; but by the mediation of the carl of 

 Cornwall, Henry's brother, and the archbilhop of York, 

 they were again reconciled. Alexander, in his voyage to 

 quell fome commotions that were excited in Argylelliire, fell 

 iick, and being put on (liore on an ifland called Kernercy, oa 

 that coaft, died, in the 5 ill year of liis age, and 35th of his 

 reign. His fucceffor was his fon by his lecond. queen, the 

 daughter of Egelrand de Coury, one of the moll powerful 

 of the French nobility. Mod. Un. Hift. vol. xh. p. 77. 



Alexander HI. king of Scotland, was fon ol the pre- 

 ceding, and fucceeded his father at the age of nine years, in 

 1249. Flis marriage with Margaret, the daughter of Henry 

 HI. of England, was foon after foleir.nizcd in the prefence 

 of the two courts at York. On this occafion Alexander 

 paid homage to Henry for his Englifn pofl'cfGons ; and, on 

 being preilcd to perform his homage for the crown of Scot- 

 land, he declined it. Alexandtr, upon his return to Scot- 

 land, found that the Cummins, a family of very great influ- 

 ejice, had formed a ilrong party againll his Euglilh connec- 

 tions, under the plea that Scotland was never any better than 

 a province of England ; and both the king and queen were 

 committed to clofe cuttody in the caltle of Edinburgh, where 

 they were debarred from feeing any company, or alTociating 

 with each other, and proliibited from all concern in the go- 

 vernment. When Henry heard of their fituation, he deter- 

 mined to relieve them, and for this purpofe affembled his mi- 

 litary tenants at York, and marched to the borders ; and by 

 his emilfaries, whom he difpatched to the cattle of Edin- 

 burgh, releafed the royal pair, and afterwards dilpofiefled 

 the uliirpers. The king then afliimed the exercile ol the 

 regal power ; and, as foon as he was of age, pardoned the 

 Cunimms acd their adherents, upon their fubmitting to his 



authority. 



