AL

TRUE STORIES.

ABOUT ALEXANDER THE GREAT.

son

his

his

LEXANDER the Great was the of Philip, king of Macedon; mother's name was Olympias, and tutor was the great Aristotle, a man as much celebrated for his wisdom, as Alexander was for his conquests. You must read both their histories at large; and when you have done so, perhaps you will think Aristotle the greater man of the two. I cannot pretend to give you an account of all the exploits of this victorious king. Pray look into a map of the world; for a map of any one quarter of it will not do. Alexander carried his triumphant arms into Europe, Asia, and Africa. America, you know, had not then been discovered.

Look at Greece; he made himself master of it. Run your eye over Persia; he was its conqueror. See Egypt; he subdued it. Trace the course of the Ganges in India; to the banks of that river he led his victorious bands. Behold Babylon; there he closed his life. After years of successful war on the human race, there was one conquest he never obtained, a conquest over himself; he died the victim of folly and self-indulgence the conqueror of the world lost his life by excessive drinking!

The very day on which Alexander was born, the temple of Diana, at Ephesus, a city of Ionia in Greece, was burned. This temple was one of the seven wonders of the world. Alexander had other very good masters besides Aristotle; and he early showed a desire to distinguish himself. He read a great deal: Homer's Iliad he especially studied. He was of a cheerful temper; a little positive in his opinion, but always ready to give it up, if reasonably convinced of its impropriety.

When very young, he managed the fiery war-horse Bucephalus, which no one else dared to mount; and afterwards he built a city in honor of this noble steed calling it Bucephalia after him. When he attended his father to battle, he showed as much skill as valor, and once had the happiness to save his parent's life, when it was in great danger from an enemy.

He was only twenty years old when the death of Philip raised him to the throne; and, so high were his abilities rated, that he was soon after declared generalissimo, or chief commander, of the Greeks, against the Persians. He once proudly asked some ambassadors, who he supposed were afraid of him, ' What do you dread most? They replied, ‹ We are afraid of nothing but the falling of the

sky and stars ;'-a neat way of telling him that they feared neither him nor any other man.

6

At Corinth, he saw Diogenes of Sinope, surnarned the Cynic, because he affected great dislike of wealth and rank, and lived in a strange rude manner. Alexander asked whether he wanted any thing? Yes,' said Diogenes, 'I want you to stand out of my sunshine, and not to take from me what you cannot give me.' He said this, I imagine, to show Alexander that there were things which, great as he was, he could neither govern nor bestow; for certainly he could not rule. or give the sunshine. Alexander admired this speech, and directly remarked, Were I not Alexander, I would be Diogenes.' As much, I suppose, as to say, Had I not all things as Alexander, I would desire to scorn all things as Diogenes.'

This Diogenes, of whom many ludicrous stories are related, though a mere churl in his manners, was a philosopher of acute genius, with some learning, and more skill in the knowledge of mankind. He was born at Sinope, a city of Pontus, where his father was what in modern times would be called a banker being accused of coining false money, Diogenes fled to Athens, and became a pupil of Antisthenes, whose disposition corresponIded with his own.

In the streets of Athens, Diogenes was to be seen in a coarse double cloak, which served him for clothing by day and for a covering by night. He boasted that the

porticoes and public buildings were erected for his use, and there he would dine, sleep, and lecture. He carried a wallet for such food as was given him; and was accustomed to endure the extremes of heat and cold. A friend had promised to build him a small hut; but, as it was not finished as soon as the philosopher wished, he took up his abode in an open vessel, which has been called his tub. This vessel, or others of a similar kind, he is represented as making his constant resi dence; but, more probably he only lived in it while indulging his angry fit.

In his old age, Diogenes, making a voyage to Ægina, was taken by pirates to Crete, and sold as a slave. The eccentricity of his manners induced Zeniades, a rich Corinthian, to purchase him: Zeniades took him to Corinth, where, after some experience of his talents and charac ter,he gave him his liberty and his children to educate. He also committed his household concerns to his care; and was so well satisfied with his conduct, that he often declared he had brought a good genius into his house.

It was here that the interview just spo ken of, between Diogenes and Alexander, took place; and here he died, in the year 324 beforeChrist, after a life of the greatest indigence, about the 96th year of his age.

We must now return to Alexander, who resolved, before he marched into Asia, to consult the Oracle at Delphi ; but, as he visited the temple on a day on which consultations were forbidden, the priestess refused to go into the temple..

Alexander, unaccustomed to denial, seized her by the arm, and drew her forward; 'Ah, my son! you are irresistible!' exclaimed the priestess. These words, he said, were a sufficient answer, and he went away, well pleased with the speech of the holy woman.

He was of a generous disposition, if giving largely constitutes generosity; and once, after having made splendid presents and given away all he was worth, Perdiccas asked him, My lord, what have you kept for yourself? Hope,' replied the king. Then that hope ought also to satisfy us,' replied Perdiccas, and refused the gift appointed for him.

:

But intoxication was the bane of Alexander in one drunken fit, he killed his kind friend Clitus; in another, he consented to the wishes of the wicked woman Laïs, and with his own hand set fire to the beautiful palace of Persepolis.

His behavior to the family of Darius, king of Persia, after he had taken away the life and the crown of that unfortunate monarch, is better worth remembering. He married Statira, the daughter of Darius, and treated his widow and her other children with tenderness and humanity.

He loved his friend Hephestion faithfully and warmly, and mourned his death with sincere feeling; he allowed him to speak to him with freedom and honesty, and never was offended at anything he said. Sisygambis, the mother of Darius, with his wife and family, fell into the hands of Alexander after the battle of Íssus. He visited them, attended by his

friend Hephestion, who, being the taller and handsomer man, the queens took him for the conqueror, and fell at his feet. When informed of their mistake, they were much confounded; but Alexander kindly said- Good mother! you have not been mistaken; Hephestion is only another Alexander.' A neat way of saying, that his friend was his other self.

Whilst he was dangerously ill at Tarsus, owing to his imprudently bathing in the river Cydnus when he was extremely hot, he received a letter from Parmenio, bidding him beware of his physician Philip, for Philip had been bribed by Darius to poison him. Alexander, when he had read this letter, put it under his pillow. When Philip came in with some medicine, Alexander took the cup and drank off the draught, having first given Philip the letter to read, and fixing his eyes upon him as he did so. Philip proved worthy of the confidence of his sovereign; for Alexander soon after recovered, to the inexpressible joy of his army.

He behaved very kindly to his mother, listening to her reproofs with mildness and patience; and when Antipater, whom he left to govern Macedonia in his absence, wrote a long letter complaining of. Olympias, the king said with a smile,

Antipater does not know that one tear shed by a mother will obliterate ten such letters as this."

In India, he conquered a king named Porus, who was seven feet and a half high this singularly tall man, when introduced to Alexander, was asked by him

how he would be treated. Like a king,' replied Porus. Alexander was so much pleased with this answer, that he restored his kingdom to him, and ever afterwards treated him with kindness and respect.

But I cannot go on any longer speaking of Alexander; you must read his life in Rollin, and then you will know all the good and all the evil of his character. He died—and what then became of his mighty conquests! His successors quarrelled about the division of the immense territory he had subdued. They murdered his infant son, his mother, and his two wives, Roxana and Statira; and in a very few years the countries he had intended to form into one vast empire, were split into many small kingdoms. Alexander died at Babylon, aged 33, B.C. 323.

I ought to make you acquainted with two actions of Alexander the Great, because they are both often spoken of. Just before his dangerous illness, he took the city of Gordium, in Phrygia. In this

city was a chariot, to the pole of which a knot was so curiously tied, that it was thought impossible to untwist it. There was also a saying in the city, that whosoever should untie this knot would possess the empire of Asia.

Alexander was confident that the saying related to him; but, as he tried in vain to untwist the well-concealed strings, his patience failed, and with his sword he cut asunder the knot he could not untie.

6

In the midst of the deserts of Libya, in Africa, Alexander found the temple of Jupiter Ammon; and he persuaded the priests to declare that he was the son of this heathen god. From that time, therefore, he always called himself Alexander the king, son of Jupiter Ammon.' Not satisfied with this preposterous folly, he even desired that his courtiers and subjects should adore him, as if he were really something more than mortal: but we have already seen how this self-styled immortal god died at Babylon.