i 3 2 ADVANCEMENT OF LEARNING. [Book 



so perfectly contented with so little, he said to those that mocked at 

 his condition ; &quot; Were I not Alexander, I would wish to be Diogenes. 

 But Seneca inverteth it, and saith ; &quot; Plus erat, quod hie nolle! accipere, 

 quam quod ille posset dare.&quot; &quot; There were more things which Dio 

 genes would have refused, than those were, which Alexander could 

 have given or enjoyed.&quot; 



Observe again that speech which was usual with him, I hat he felt his 

 mortality chiefly in two things, sleep and lust ;&quot; and see if it were not 

 a speech extracted out of the depth of natural philosophy, and likev 

 to have come out of the mouth of Aristotle .or Democritus, than from 

 Alexander. 



See again that speech of humanity and poesy ; when upon the bleed 

 ing of his wounds, he called unto one of his flatterers, that was wont 

 to\iscribe to him divine honour, and said, &quot; Look, this is very blood ; 

 this is not such liquor as Homer speaketh of, which ra.i from Venus s 

 hand, when it was pierced by Diomedes.&quot; 



See likewise his readiness in reprehension of logic in the speech he 

 used to Cassander, upon a complaint that was made against his fathei 

 Antipater : for when Alexander happened to say, &quot; Do you think these 

 men would have come from so far to complain, except they had just 

 cause of grief?&quot; And Cassander answered, &quot;Yea, that was the 

 matter, because they thought they should not be disproved.&quot; Said 

 Alexander laughing : &quot; See the subtilities of Aristotle, to take a mattci 

 both ways, pro cl contra&quot; etc. 



But note again how well he could use the same art, which he repre 

 hended, to serve his own humour, when bearing a secret grudge to 

 Callisthencs, because he was against the new ceremony of his adora 

 tion : feasting one night, where the same Callisthenes was at the table, 

 it was moved by some, after supper, for entertainment sake, that Callis 

 thenes, who was an eloquent man, might speak of some theme or pur 

 pose at his own choice : which Callisthenes did ; choosing the praise 

 of the Macedonian nation for his discourse, and performing the same 

 with so good manner, as the hearers were much ravished : whereupon 

 Alexander, nothing pleased, said, &quot; It was easy to be eloquent upon so 

 good a subject. But,&quot; saith he, &quot;turn your stile, and let us hear 

 what you can say against us :&quot; which Callisthenes presently undertook, 

 and did with that sting and life, that Alexander interupted him, and 

 said, &quot; The goodness of the cause made him eloquent before, and de 

 spite made him eloquent then again.&quot; 



Consider farther, for tropes of rhetoric, that excellent use of a meta 

 phor or translation, wherewith he taxed Antipater, who was an im 

 perious and tyrannous governor : for when one of Antipater s friends 

 commended him to Alexander for his moderation, that he did not 

 degenerate, as his other lieutenants did, into the Persian pride in use 

 of purple, but kept the ancient habit of Maccdon, of black : True/* 

 saith Alexander, &quot; but Antipater is all purple within/ Or that other 



n Parmenio came to him in the plain of Arbela, and showed him 

 the innumerable multitude of his enemies, especially as they appeared 

 by the infinite number of lights, as it had been a new firmament pi 



