ALEXANDER. 
counfelling the prince to take the advantage of the night 
in attacking Darius, “No ((aid Alexander), I would not 
(leal a victory.” Darius owed his efcape from Arbela to 
the fwiftnefs -of hishorfe; and, while he was collecting 
forces to renew the war, was infidioufly (lain by Beffus, 
governor of the Badtrians. Alexander wept at the fate 
of Darius; and, afterwards procuring Belllis to be given 
up to him, punifhed the inhuman murderer according to 
his dcferts. From Arbela Alexander purfued his con- 
quefts eaftward; and every thing fell into his hands, even 
to the Indies. Here he was oppofed by king Porus, whom 
however he fubdued and took. Porus was a man of fpi- 
rit, and his fpirit was not deftr.oyed even by his defeat; 
for, when Alexander alked him, “ how he would be treat¬ 
ed,” he anfwered very intrepidly, “like a king;” which 
it is faid, fo pleafed the conqueror, that he ordered the 
greateft attention to be paid him, and afterwards reftored 
him to his kingdom. Having ranged over all the eaft, 
and .made a great part of the Indies provinces of his-em- 
pire, he returned to Babylon, where he died in the thir¬ 
ty-third year of his age. 
The character of this hero is equally compofed of very 
great virtues and very great vices. He had no mediocrity 
in any thing but his feature ; in his other properties, whe¬ 
ther good or bad, he was all extremes. His ambition rofe 
even to madnefs. His father was not at all mi (taken in 
fuppoiing the bounds of Macedon too fmall for his fon: 
for how could Macedon bound the ambition of a man, who 
reckoned the whole world too fmall a.dominion ? Pie wept 
at hearing the philofopher Anaxarchus fay, that there was 
an infinite number of worlds: his tears were owing to his 
defpair of conquering them all, fince he had not yet been 
able to conquer one. Livy, in a fhort digreiTion, has'at¬ 
tempted to enquire into the events which might have hap¬ 
pened, if Alexander, after the conqueft of Afia, had 
brought his arms into Italy ? Doubtlefs things might have 
taken a very different turn with him ; and all the grand 
projects, which fucceeded fo well againft an effeminate 
Perfian monarch, might eafily have mifearried if he had 
engaged with the rough hardy Roman armies. And yet 
the vaft aims of this mighty conqueror, if feen under ano¬ 
ther point of view, may appear to have been confined in 
a very narrow compafs; fince, as we are told, the utmoft 
wiflt of that great heart, for which the whole earth was 
not big enough, was, after all, to be praifed by the Athe¬ 
nians ; for it is related, that the difficulties he encounter¬ 
ed in order to pafs the Plydafpes forced him to cry out, 
“ O Athenians, could you believe to what dangers I ex- 
pofe myfelf for the fake of being celebrated by you!” 
But Bayle affirms, that this w'as quite confident with the 
vaft unbounded extent of his ambition, as he wanted to 
make all future time his own,"and be an object of admi¬ 
ration to the lateft pofterity; yet did not expeCt this from 
the conqueft of worlds, but from books. He was per¬ 
fectly in the right, fays Bayle ; “ for, if Greece had not 
furniflied him with good writers, he would long ago have 
been as much forgotten as the kings who reigned in Ma¬ 
cedon before Amphitryon.” 
Alexander has been much praifed upon the fcore of 
continency. Indeed, the fire of his early youth appeared 
fo cold towards women, that his mother fufpected him to 
be impotent; and, to fatisfy herfeif in this point, did, with 
theconfentof Philip, procure a very liandfome courtezan 
to lie with him,- whole careffes, however, were all to no 
purpofe. His behaviour afterwards to the Perfian cap¬ 
tives fhews him to have had a great command over him- 
felf in this particular. The wife of Darius was a finifhed 
beauty; her daughters likewife were all beauties; yet this 
young prince, who had them in his power, not only be¬ 
llowed on them all the honours due to their high rank, 
but managed their reputation with the utmoft delicacy. 
They were kept as in a cloifter, concealed from the world, 
and fecured from the reach of every difhonotirablq (not 
only attack, but) imputation. Darius, in his expiring 
moments, hearing the kind treatment they had met with, 
Vot. I. No. 17. 
269 
could not help lifting up his dying hands towards heaven, 
and wifhing fuccefs to fo wife and generous a conqueror, 
who could govern his paffions at fo critical a time. Plu¬ 
tarch informs us more particularly, that the princeffes 
lived fo retired in the camp, according to their own defire, 
that they were not feen by any perfon, except their own 
attendants; nor did any other perfon dare to approach their 
apartments. After the firft vifit, which was a refpeftful 
and ceremonious one, Alexander, to avoid expofmg him- 
felf to the dangers of human frailty, made a folemn re- 
folution never to vifit Darius’s queen any more. He, him- 
felf, informs 11s of this memorable circumftance, in a 
letter written by him to Parmenio, in which he command¬ 
ed him to put to death certain Macedonians, who had 
forced the wives of fome foreign foldiers. In this letter 
was the following paragraph.: “ For, as to myfelf, it will 
be found, that [ neither faw, nor would fee, the wife of 
Darius ; and did not fuller any one to fpeak of her beauty 
before me.” 
The Amazon queen Thaleftris could not obtain from 
him a compliance with Iter gallant requeft till after a delay 
of thirteen days. In the mean time, what are we to con¬ 
clude from his caufing his favourite miftrefs Pancaffe to 
be drawn naked by Apelles, though it is true he gave her 
to the painter, who fell in love with her? What of that 
immoderate love of boys, which Athenseus relates of 
him? What of that prodigious number of wives and 
concubines which he kept? 
It was a cuflom with Alexander the Great to oblige 
the captive women whom he carried along with him to fing 
fongs after the manner of their country. He happened 
among thefe women to perceive one who appeared in deep¬ 
er -affiifftion than the reft; and who by a modeflt, and at 
the fame time a noble, confulion, difeovered a greater re¬ 
luctance than the others to appear in public. She was a 
perfect beauty ; which was very much heightened by Her 
bafhfulnefs, whilft fhe threw her eyes on the ground, and 
did all (lie could to conceal her face. The king foon ima¬ 
gined, by her air and mein, that (lie was not of vulgar 
birth; and, enquiring into it, the lady anfwered, that fhe 
was grand-daughter to OCtius, who not long before had 
fwayed the Perfian feeptre, and daughter of his foil; that 
fhe had married Hyftafpes, who was related to Darius, 
and general of a great army. Alexander being touched 
with companion, when he heard the unhappy fate of'a 
princefs of the blood royal, and the fad condition to which 
fhe was reduced, not only gave her her liberty, but re¬ 
turned all her poffellions; and caufed her hufband to be 
fought for, in order that fhe might be reftored to him. 
This prince fhewed fometimes fo tender and humane a 
difpofition, as to be fenftble of the afflictions of perfons 
in the lowed: rank. A poor Macedonian foldier was one 
day driving before him a mule, laden with gold for the 
king’s ufe; the bead being fo tired that he was not able 
either to go or fuftain the load, the mule-driver took it up 
and carried it, but with great difficulty, a conffdeiable 
way. Alexander feeing him juft finking under the bur¬ 
then, and going to throw it on the ground, in order to eafe 
himfelf from it, cried out, “ Friend, do not be weary 
yet; try and carry it quite through to thy tent, for it is all 
thy own.” 
Olympias, Alexander’s own mother, was of fuch an 
unhappy difpofition, that he would never let her have any 
concern in the affairs of the government. She tiled fre¬ 
quently to make very fevere complaints on that account; 
but he always fubmitted to her ill-humour with great 
mildnefs and patience. Antipater, one of his friends, ha¬ 
ving one day written a long letter againft her, the king, af¬ 
ter reading it, replied, “Antipater does not know that 
one fingle tear fhed by a mother will obliterate ten thou- 
fand fuch letters as this.” A behaviour like this, and 
fuch an anfwer, (hew, at one and the fame time; that Alex¬ 
ander was both an affectionate fon and an able politician. 
As Alexander drew near the city of Perfepolis, heper- 
ceived a large body of men, who exhibited a memorable 
3 Z example 
