i Chap. II. of the E A s 
;Was deftroyed, or, at leaft, weakened by long Sicknefs; 
: but rather to die while he had the full Ufe of his Faculties, 
and was capable of making his Death as ufeful to his Dif- 
ciples, as the DoCtrine^ and Example of his Life a . 
When Alexander faw, that his Refolution was not to be 
altered, he gave InftruCtions for performing his Requelt ; and 
i committed the Care of erecting the funeral Pile, to Ptolemy 
the Son of Lagus , who was afterwards King of Egypt. 
I When all things were ready, the King gave Orders, that 
i he fhould be preceded by his Guards of Horfe and Foot ; 
and caufed not only Spices and Perfumes to be fcattered 
3 over the Pile, but likewife directed it to be adorned with 
[ feveral Gold and Silver Veffels. Calanus , being very Tick 
and weak, was brought thither on Horfeback, with all 
imaginable Splendor : But, before he mounted the Pile, he 
ibeftowed the Horfe the King had given him, upon Lyji- 
machus, one of Alexanders Captains, who had been his 
conftant Difciple ; and, in like manner, diftributed all the 
‘ Gold and Silver Plate among his Friends; then, linging 
; Hyms of Praife to God, for the Bleffings bellowed upon 
ihim, he afcended the Pile; and, having decently compofed 
i himfelf on the Bed, which lay on the Top of it, he con- 
: tinned unmoved, and without varying his Pollute when the 
Fire re'ached him •, and fo was confumed in the Sight of the 
whole Army. Plutarch reports, that when he embraced 
and took Leave of the Macedonians , he defined them to 
pafs that Day in Mirth and good Fellowlhip, with the 
King, whom he doubted not to fee again, in a little 
Time, at Babylon b . 
Strabo obferves, that Writers differ very much, as to 
the Circu mllances attending this extraordinary FaCt ; but, 
as to the Fad itfelf, there never could be any Doubt about 
lit, becaufe it was done publicly, and in the Sight of the 
■whole Army; all their Trumpets founding, and the Sol- 
: diers, with the loudell Acclamations, commending the 
high Courage, and Heady Bravery, of the old Man. Alex- 
ander himfelf pronounced hisElogium, inthefe few Words : 
4 Calanus hath vanquilhed greater Enemies than I ; for, 
4 whereas I warred with Darius and Porus , Calanus hath 
4 overcome both Pain and Death c .’ 
Returning from the funeral Pile, Alexander invited many 
of his Friends, and principal Officers, to Supper; and 
propcfed a Drinking- match, in which the Vidor fhould be 
: crowned. Promachns drank eighteen Quarts of Wine, and 
won the Prize, which weighed a Talent, from them all: 
But he furvived his Vidory but three Days ; and was fol- 
lowed, as Chares fays, by one-and-forty more, who died of 
the fame Debauch, by reafon of the fevere Froft, which 
happened at that Time d . 
, This was certainly a very odd Conclufion of a Scene 
< fo folernn, as that of the Death of Calanus had been : And 
i one cannot help admiring the Inconllancy and Inconfiilency 
| of human Nature, when one reads fuch llrange Relations 
i-asthele, which would be certainly incredible, if daily Ex- 
perience did not ihew us, that Mankind are Hill the fame ; 
i and that the greateft Vices, and the greateft Virtues, the 
cmobleft Sentiments, and the weakeft Condud, are very 
: often obferved in the fame Man. 
13. The Llillory of Calanus is extremely famous, be- 
I caufe all the Writers of the Life and Adions of Alexander , 
have mentioned it. But with refped to others of the 
Brachmans, to whom he applied himfelf, they are more 
1 fiient ; and, even in what they do report, there is fuch 
1 Diverfity and Confufion, that it is extremely difficult, if 
not impoffible, to come at the Truth. As to one Fad, 
however, they all agree ; viz. that Dindamis , or Dan- 
: damis, was efleemcd the chief of all the Brachmans, as 
much excelling the reft in Years, and in Wifdom. He it 
.was, that when Oneficriius came to them, with a Meffage 
f fr° m Alexander , reproved Calanus for giving him fo rough 
l anAnfwer; and, having confered with the Greek Philo- 
Topher for fome Time, oil the Dodrines delivered by So- 
crates , Pythagoras , and Diogenes , the Indian readily con* 
jfeffed, that they appeared to him to be very wife Men : In 
one thing only, faid he, I blame them ; which is, that 
tney prefer Law and Cuftom to Nature, which if they 
t Indies. |7| 
did not do, they would never be afharned of going naked, 
as we do e * Yet this Dandamis was more fteady in his 
Refolution than Calanus ; for he abfolutely refilled to vifit 
Alexander , upon any Terms: And when his Meffenger 
told him, that their King was the Son of Jupiter ; that 
he was Mafter of the World ; and would reward him with 
great Gifts, if he liftened to his Propofal ; but would 
otherwife caufe him to be faftened to a-Crofs ; he an- 
fwered roundly, that he did not believe he was the Son of 
Jupiter ; neither did he conceive, that he really pofieffed 
any thing; for if he did, he would be fatisfied, and not 
give himfelf, or the reft of the World, fo much Trouble : 
That, as to his Gifts, he neither needed nor defined 1 them : 
And that even his Threats made no Impreffion ; for, faid 
he, if he fhould put me to Death, he will only releafe my 
Soul from this old decrepit Body, which will then pafs in- 
to a freer and purer State : So that I ftiall fuffer nothing by 
the Change f . 
This very plainly fhews, that they over-rate this Matter? 
who fuppofe, that Alexander's profefling himfelf the Son of 
Jupiter , was a Stroke of refined Policy, made ufe of for 
no other Reafon, than to facilitate the Conqueft of the 
Indies : Since there are two Things certain ; one, that he 
a {fumed this Title long before he thought of conquering the 
Indies ; the other, that the Indians never believed it. They 
fome of them, indeed, feemed to believe it ; and, by return- 
ing him Fable for Fable, faved themfelves, and their Ci- 
ties, from DeftruCtion. But we ftiall loon fee, that what 
the Greek Writers have reported, in relation to their No- 
tions of Divinity, is, in moft refpeCts, very fuperficial ; 
and, in many, abfolutely falfe. Alexander himfelf was fo 
thoroughly perfuaded of this, and had fo high an Opinion 
of the Wifdom of the Brachmans, that inftead of refenting 
the Anfwer which Dandamis had fent him, he admired the 
Courage and fteady Refolution of the Man : Nay, he carried 
his Admiration fo far, as to write to this Brachman, ac- 
quainting him, that he had heard fo many extraordinary 
Things, in relation to the Wifdom of their DoCtrine, and 
their fingular manner of Living, that he was defirous of 
learning, from him, what their Notions were, and what 
their manner of Life ; fince, if he found that Excellency in 
them, which was reported, he was content to become 
his Difciple. 
14. This Condefcenfion of Alexander , as it was very 
fingular, fo it had as remarkable an Effect ; for Dandamis 
no fooner received the King’s Letter, than he wrote him 
a long Epiftle, fo curious in itfelf, fo full of extraordinary 
Fa-fts, and withal fo agreeable to his Character, that, I con- 
ceive, the tranfcribing it will afford no {mail Satisfaction 
to the Reader, inafmuch as it contains a clearer and 
better Account of thofe Philofophers, than, for any 
thing I know, is yet extant ; and, therefore, though the 
Epiftle be long, I ffiall give it the Reader in tire, without 
the leaft Variation s : Thus then it runs. 
4 Alexander , the Defire youdifcover of being acquainted 
c with Wifdom, inclines me to think, that you ought to 
4 be already ranked among wife Men. There is nothino' 
4 that hinders me from regarding you as fuch, but your 
4 immoderate Paflion for fubduing Mankind, and com- 
4 manding the Univerfe. The true Philofopher learns to 
4 conquer himfelf, and fubmit to the Law of Reafon 
4 without Reluctance. But your Character, and, above 
4 all, your immoderate Ambition, is an invincible Ob~ 
4 ftacle to this. You defire to be inftruCted as to our 
4 Manners and Cultoms ; I dare not undertake this, be- 
4 caufe I am confcious to myfelf, that I have not a Ta- 
4 lent for fpeaking ; and that your Courfe of Life, and the 
4 continual Exercife of Arms, will not allow you Time to 
4 hear me. Yet I will not wholly refrain, fince you fo 
4 earneftly defire it. But do not expect, that I fhould 
4 flatter you ; we are a plain Sort of People, and know 
4 not how to colour or difguife Things. 
4 The Life of the Brachmans is equally pure and fim- 
4 pie. That Pleafure which feduces the reft of Mankind, 
4 has no Charms for us. Reafon is the foie Guide of our 
4 Defires : Always fatisfied with the State we are in, we 
Plutarch, in Alexandra. 
a Arrian, lib. vi. Bioddr. Sicul. lib. xvii. 
iarch. in Alexandra. e Strabo, lib. xv. It is alfo reported by Plutarch , , in the Life of Alexander, but not fo 
Mo, xv. ^J^Anonymus m Colledlione Londinen/e, i66d. 
JEliani ' varia Hiflaria, lib. v. cap. 6. 
iftinCtly* 
Numb. XXVIII. 
5 H 
d P/u- 
£ Strabo f 
t never 
