irritation, Alexander conducted them to Opis, on the banks of the Tigris. He there told them that he intended to send the aged and the wounded among them to their homes, and to make their condition there such as would induce others of their countrymen to join him. The suspicious Macedonians saw in this offer only a device for filling their places with the barbarians, and a cry ran along the ranks; "He may dismiss us all, and go to war with the help of the god he boasts of as his father." Alexander immediately ordered his guards to lead away to execution thirteen men, whom he marked as leaders in this disturbance. His vigorous resolution subdued the whole army. He reminded them of what his father had done for Macedonia, and what he himself had done for them; and he ended by saying: "Go home; and tell them that, after triumphs such as no conqueror ever gained before, you have left your king to be guarded by the barbarians he subdued. You may be lauded by men, for your fidelity; and, for your piety, the gods may reward you. Away!" He hastily left them, and shut himself up for two days. On the third day, he sent for the principal Persian officers, and told them he intended for the future to be served only by the troops of Asia. The Macedonians rushed to the palace gates, and, with humble supplication, cast themselves on the clemency of their king. The king came out to them, and they were reconciled.

329. The disbanded veterans, ten thousand in number, were conducted home by Craterus, who was appointed to supersede Antipater, as the regent in Macedonia. After their departure, Alexander went through Media, partly, with a view to gratify the Medians, by residing for a while in their capital; but, at the same time, to gather information, and to settle grave affairs relating to the finances and the government of the country. Whilst celebrating an ancient festival with extraordinary splendour, he was thrown into violent grief by the death of Hephaestion. The honours paid to the memory of his deceased friend extended to the furthest limits of the empire. The signs of mourning were universal. The funeral at Babylon was on a scale of magnificence which astonished the beholders.

330. To rouse Alexander from his melancholy, his officers persuaded him to go out against the mountaineers, called Cossæans, who came from their strongholds, between Persia

and Media, to ravage the neighbouring countries. These wild men were hunted in the depths of winter, and cut to pieces. From these mountains Alexander took his last journey to Babylon. As he approached the city, he was met by a procession of priests, who sought, by superstitious omens, to discourage him from entering the city. But, believing that they were concerned for their own safety rather than for his, he disregarded their warnings. At Babylon, he continued his preparations for a new expedition to the Caspian; received ambassadors from all nations; improved the navigation of the Euphrates; and founded a new city on the shore.-In preparation for his intended expedition, he gave a banquet to his officers, and continued drinking till a late hour of the night. After a second night, spent in the same manner, he felt the symptoms of a fever. For six days, he continued apparently insensible of his danger, notwithstanding the numerous presages which had depressed his spirits. On the seventh day, he lost his speech; but he was able to make signs to the men of his army, as they passed in silent procession through his chamber. He drew a ring from his finger; gave it to Perdiccas; and then breathed his last.

331. On the character of Alexander many volumes have been written. He was one of the most ambitious of men; and he possessed the most marvellous powers of mind and body for gratifying that ambition. In prosecuting his objects, he was as just, liberal, and humane, as other great conquerors. His plans were laid with deep sagacity, and executed with promptitude and energy. His personal character was stained with the vices of his country, of his class, and of his age; and his rapid and dazzling career, while it inflicted on mankind the numberless evils and miseries of war, was, on the whole, beneficial to the interests of the human race. He diffused knowledge; he planted cities; he extended commerce; he encouraged art; and, in the brief space of thirteen years, he carried the lights of intellectual and social improvement through the fairest regions of the earth.-It is not easy to say how far he was competent to rule, in peace, the nations he had subdued by war. He established no institutions for securing any political rights to his subjects. The benefits which Greece derived from his prodigious conquests were slight in comparison with the loss of free

dom and independence, which reduced her to the level of an Asiatic province.

332. We may liken the history of Alexander to one of those great convulsions in nature which have occurred at distant intervals, covering the earth with ruins, but spreading the soil and the germs of many a harvest and vintage over the ruins they have made. That he was an agent in accomplishing the Divine purposes it would be impious to deny; but we are not to imagine that this truth has anything to do with his motives or with his character. With such a man it is scarcely possible to compare any other. In the order to which he belonged we do not know that history has shown his equal. While we trace his course from stage to stage, we are struck with the amazing amount of labour through which he passed; perhaps the most useful lesson we can gather from the record of those labours is, that it is only by order, patience, and entire devotion to the object, that anything great can be accomplished. There are objects as great, as difficult, as much demanding energy and perseverance, as the conquest of an empire: happily they may be effected without dealing a wound, or committing a crime; and, unlike the trophies of the Macedonian, which have nearly all vanished, they may last for ages. To such objects we are called by the religion which was unknown to Alexander, but whose light is shining upon us. Having become, by penitence and faith in Christ, the willing subjects of Him who alone has either the right, the power, or the wisdom to be the universal sovereign, the path marked out for us is that of obedience to commands which are always just, from motives of love to Him, who so loved us as to give his Son to die for us. In following that path, there is scope for the exercise of every kind of talent which is really excellent: there is scope, moreover, for affections which we can scarcely hope had any place, for the most part, in the bosom of Alexander,— compassion for the ignorant, sorrow for the mourner, and sympathy with the oppressed.

333. It is a proof of our fallen nature that history is so much made up of facts which foster the admiration of the great, rather than the imitation of the good. The imagination is thus entertained; while the heart is in danger of being made worse.-Yet such is not the neces

sary effect of knowing where men have been, and what they have done. We may apply sound principles: we may judge of men, and of their actions, coolly, impartially, and with the practical determination to benefit by the conclusions to which we are led. If we thus judge, from the materials before us, of Alexander and of his actions, we shall not refuse to his memory the praise that is due to so illustrious a man; at the same time, we can see that, in the midst of splendour, he was not happy: that, with all his self-command in war, he was rendered miserable by his private passions; and that he degraded his rank, and shortened his life, by the degrading vice of drunkenness. We can lament what we must not admire, and what we dare not imitate. The miseries of princes and their faults may reconcile us to the obscurity which defends us from many of their temptations. By following the light of Divine truth, we may wield a power more resistless than the Macedonian phalanx, and wear a brighter crown than Alexander's. To beat down armies is not so truly grand as to impart the knowledge which leads to perfect happiness. Henry Martyn did more for Persia than Alexander the Great.

CHAPTER XXVII.

GREECE UNDER ALEXANDER'S SUCCESSORS.

Division of government-Antipater-Craterus-Trial of Ctesiphon-Orations of Æschines and Demosthenes-Antipater's attempt on Leosthenes, near Platæa, Samia-Munychia-Archias-Antipater returns to Macedonia-Death-Phocion-Demades - Polysperchon-Cassander-War between Antigonus and Cassander-Treaty of peace-Murder of young Alexander and his motherDemetrius-Siege of Munychia-Ptolemy-Return of Demetrius to AthensLysimachus-Siege of Athens by Demetrius-Defeats the Spartans-Subdues Thessaly-Death-War between Antigonus and Pyrrhus-Revival of the Achæan League-Aratus-Cleomenes-War declared against Sparta-Changes made by Cleomenes-Surrender of Argos-Invasion of Argolis-Accession of Philip the Third-Death of Cleomenes-Aggressions of the Ætolians-Engagement at Caphyæ-Victorious adventures-Treaty with the CarthaginiansCycliades-Philip's ambition-Results-Flamininus-Battle of Cynocephalæ -Antiochus-Capture of Gythium-Attack on Nubias-Encounter with the Romans-Death of Philopomon-Antigonus put to death-Perseus-Dissolution of the Boeotian League-Perseus defeats the Roman army in ThessalyFollowed by several acts of rapacity against the Greeks-Roman invasion of Macedonia-Æmilius Paulus-Plutarch's Description of Perseus-Ten Commissioners-Death of Perseus-Last of the Macedonian monarchs-And fall of that empire-Moral observations-Prophecy of Daniel-Explanation.

334. On the death of Alexander, the government of this vast empire was divided among his generals. In this dis

tribution, Macedon and Greece devolved on Antipater, whom Alexander had left as his regent; and on Craterus, who had been sent by Alexander to supersede him. During Alexander's eastern expedition, Antipater had defeated the Spartan king, Agis, and his confederates of Achaia, Eleia, and Arcadia, in their attempt to deliver the Peloponnesians from the government of Macedonia. It was but a short time before Alexander's death that Craterus was sent by Alexander to take Antipater's place.

335. At Athens, it has been seen, there were two parties; one, favoured by Eschines, the friend of Philip and of Alexander; and the other led by Demosthenes. We have seen, in a former chapter, that, notwithstanding the failure of the plan of Demosthenes by the battle of Charonea, he still retained his influence at Athens. Even so early as before the death of Philip, Eschines had brought charges against Demosthenes, which had slept for seven or eight years; but these charges were revived, at the time when Alexander's glory was at its greatest height. The trial assumed the form of a charge against Ctesiphon, who had procured a decree in the Athenian assembly, that Demosthenes should have a golden crown, as a mark of their approval of his public conduct. Eschines accused Ctesiphon of breaking the law-in the manner of procuring this decree; but especially-in assigning false reasons for it. This accusation led to the famous orations of Eschines and Demosthenes for the crown. Demosthenes gained the cause; and Æschines left Athens.-The spirit of opposition to Philip was maintained against Alexander, and, likewise, against Antipater. Before Alexander's death, the Athenians had, for various reasons, made preparations for war. They were disgusted with what they regarded as the arrogance of Alexander, in demanding that they should render divine honours to him. They were, moreover, offended and alarmed by his decree, permitting all the Greek exiles to return to their several homes. Some of the disbanded Greek mercenaries from the east, brought home by the Athenian Leosthenes, increased the dissatisfaction.

336. The death of Alexander opened to the Athenians, on the one hand, the hope that, in the dismemberment of his vast empire, they might recover their freedom; and to Antipater, on the other hand, it opened the prospect of establish

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