ALP 



piety, cliiefly on account of a faying of his, that u very 

 wtU known, and that has been often repeated to his diU 

 honour ; viz. that " if he had been of God's privy-council, 

 when he created the world, he could have advifcd him 

 better." If we admit the faft, that he ufed this cxprclTion, 

 of which there is fume reafon for doubt, as it has been va- 

 rioufly ftated by different writers, it unqueflionably indicates 

 a deg^ree of prefumption and arrogance not very (uitable to 

 the charadcr of a true philofopher. Candidly interpreted, 

 it is to be coniidcred as a kind of jeu d'efprit, or pleafant 

 farcafm on that perplexing variety of eccentric cycles and 

 epicycles, with which the fvRcm of Ptolemy was embar- 

 raffed ; but the reflexion might have been diftated in tenns 

 more decorous, and more confiftent with that reverence of the 

 Creator, which an enlarged contemplation of his works has 

 a tendency to produce. " An indevout aflronomeris mad." 

 Young. Modern Vn. Hift. vol. xvi. p. 343 — 365. 



Alphonso, or Alonso V., defervedly called the J\I.7g- 

 nvtimoui, king of Aragon and Naples, fucceeded his father, 

 Ferdinand the 'Jtijl, as fovereign of Aragon, in the year 

 1416. The tranquillity of his reign was difturhed, foon 

 after his accc.Tion, by the infoler.ce of pope Benediii XIII, 

 and by a confpiracy of feveral nobles among his own fubjefts 

 againil his life. The difcovery of this trealon was made juft 

 before its execution, and the king had an opportunity of 

 exhibiting a fignal difplay of magnanimity by tearing a paper 

 in which the names of the confpirators were infcribed without 

 reading it ; declaring at the fame time, " that he would at 

 leail force them to acknowledge that he had a greater regard 

 for their lives ihan they had for his." 



Having compofedadifturbance in Sardinia, hewas preparing 

 to advance to Sicily, when Joan of Naples offered to adopt him 

 for her Ton and heir, if he would affift her againft the pope, the 

 duke of Anjou, and the conftable Sforza, who had formed 

 a confederacy to depofe her. The king accepted the pro- 

 pofal, raifed the fiege of Naples by his army, and was im- 

 mediately inftalled, by proxy, heir apparent of her kingdom 

 and duke of Calabria. The queen afterwards proving falfe 

 to her engagement, flie v,'as expelled from Naples, which was 

 taken polfeffion of by Alphonfo ; but when the duke of 

 Anjou made himfelf mafter of the grcatcft part of the king, 

 dom, the queen renewed her application to the king of 

 Aragon, and he prepared for a new expedition. In 1434 

 he again renewed his attempt for the conqueft of Naples, 

 and befieging Ga:ta, he involved himfeli in a' quarrel with 

 the duke of Milan and republic of Genoa. In an engage- 

 ment with the -Genoefc fleet, which was fent to relieve tiie 

 place, Alphonfo loft all his fliips, and was himfelf taken 

 prifoner. At Milan, whither he was condufted, he fo far 

 ingratiated himfelf with the duke, that he became his friend 

 and ally ; and whilft his own hereditary ftates were liberal 

 in their fupplies, his power was greater than ever. In 1443 

 he made himfelf complete mafter of Naples, and in an af- 

 Itii-ibly of the ftates held firft at Beneventum and transferred 

 to Naples, his fovereignty was acknowledged, his fon Don 

 Ferdinand, whom he had created duke of Calabria, was 

 recognized as fuccefior to the crown, and he was efteemed 

 the great arbiter of peace and war through all Italy. Al- 

 phonfo continued in Naples till the clofe of his hfe and 

 reign ; but his declining years were difquieted by political 

 intrigues and diffenfums. Reftlefs and uneafy, he was re- 

 moved from one caftle in Naples to another, and at length 

 expired on the 2 2d of June, 1468 ; leaving to his natural 

 foil Ferdinand the kingdom of Naples, which he had ac- 

 ^un-ed by arms, and to his brother Don Juan, king of Na- 

 ■parrc, the crowns of Aragon, Valencia, Majorca, Sardinia, 



A L P 



and Sicily, and the principality of Catalonia, with all their 

 dependencies. Alphonfo was, without doubt, the greatefl 

 prince that ever fat on the throne of Aragon, and he was 

 accounted the ablcft ftatcfman and the moil renowned military 

 commander of the age in which he lived. He was in an 

 eminent degree the patron of learning, and afFurded an 

 afylum to tlie Greek literati when they were expelled from 

 Conft;'.ntinople ; his device was a book opened, and it was 

 his common faying, " that an unlettered prince was but a 

 Clowned afs." Tlie perufal of Quintus Curtius cured him 

 of a diforder with which he was attacked at Capua ; hewas 

 brave and liberal, and in all his negociationa he dildained the 

 mean aitifices of intrigue and difllmulation. He Uved in 

 familiar intcrcourfc with his fubjefls, whom he loved. " A 

 father," he faid, when walking uiianned and unaccom.panied 

 about his capital, " has nothnig to fear in the midft of his 

 children." When he was befieging Gxta, he relieved and . 

 difmifted without injury the women and children that were 

 turned out of the town, alledging, " that he had ratl'crlofe 

 any city in his dominions than the reputation of humanity." 

 When one of his galleys, with its jvhole crew and a number 

 of fo'diers, was ready to ptrilh, he leaped into a ftiallop for 

 its relief, faying, " I had rather fliare than witnefs their 

 calamity." * Upon hearing an officer, who faw his treafurer 

 bringing him 10,000 ducats, exclaiming, " I lliould only 

 wifli that fum to make me happy ;" " you (hall be fo," faid 

 Alphonfo ; and caufedthe money to be given to him. He 

 exprefled an extraordinary diflike of dancing, which he confi- 

 dcrcd as a kind of infanity. Hisgreateft failing was an at- 

 tachment to women ; and it was produtlive of feveral im- 

 proprieties of conduct and pernicious confequences. Lu- 

 cretia Alana was one of his miftrefles, and his fondnefs for 

 her in an advanced period of life scry much fullied his repu- 

 tation ; and conncftions of this kind hd him to neglect his 

 wife, who was faithful and affeftionate, and veiT zealous 

 and active in his interefts. Mod. Un. Hift. vol. xvii. p. 240 

 —254. 



Alphonso's IJlcinJ, in Geography, an ifland of the In- 

 dian Ocean, nearly fouth of the Alnirante iflands, lying in 

 a tracl of the fea, little traverfed by European vcffels. S. 

 lat. 7° 30'. E. long. 52° 40'. 



St. Alphonso's IJland, is an ifland on the coaft of Terra 

 del Fuego, in the South Pacific Ocean. S. lat. 55° Ct'. 

 W. long. 69° 33'. 



ALPHONSUS, Petrus, in Biography, a Spanidi Jew, 

 was converted to Chriftianity, A.D. iic6, baptized at 

 Huefca, and had Alphonfus, king of Portugal, for his 

 godfather. He compofed a treatife by way cf " Dialocrue 

 between a Jew and a Chriftian," concerning the truth of the 

 Chriftian religion, in which the arguments of the author 

 againft the Jews are arranged m.ethodically and urged with 

 clcarnefs and folidity of reafoning. This work was pub- 

 lifhed at Cologne in IJ36. Dupin, 12th centurj-, vol. iv. 

 p. 170. 



Alphossus TosTATUs,a learned Spaniard and volumi- 

 nous writer, fluuriflied in the middle of the 15th century. 

 He (iniflied his iUidies in the univerfity of Salamanca at the 

 age of 2 2 years, and made great proficiency in thofe branches 

 of knowledge that were in principal eftimation at that period. 

 He attended the council of Bafil, became biftiop of Avila, and 

 was advanced to the chief offices in the kingdom of Spain. 

 He died at the age of 40 years, A.D. 1454, and was in- 

 terred in the church of Avila, witii this epitaph : 



" Hie ftupor eft mundi qui fcibile difcutit omne." 



His works, written during lijs comparatively ftiort life, 



amoiiht 



