nave not been mistaken; Hephæstion 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 and a half feet 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.

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.

URING his second campaign, Alexander the Great visited Gordium, and cut the knot invented by its celebrated king Gordius. Gordius was, originally a Phrygian husbandman, whose sole possessions were a small plot of ground, and two yokes of oxen. As he was one day

ploughing, an eagle perched upon the yoke, and continued there till he retired homeward in the evening. Such an unwonted event excited his wonder, and he became anxious to

Years

learn what it omened. To satisfy his curiosity, he journeyed to Telmissus, for the purpose of consulting the diviners of that city. On approaching one of the Telmissian villages, he met a maiden who had gone forth to draw water at a spring, to whom he told his errand. She was herself of the soothsaying race, and declaring that the omen was predictive of his being invested with royalty, she advised him to return directly home, and offer sacrifice to Jupiter the king. Anxious to perform the ceremony rightly, he invited her to accompany him as his wife, and the maiden yielded her consent. A son, named Midas, was the fruit of this union. passed by without the omen being verified; but at length Phrygia was harassed by civil dissensions, and the Phrygians consulted the oracle as to the means of putting an end to them. The oracle responded, that "a cart would bring them a king to terminate their internal broil" Gordius was the first person who approached the assembly in a cart while they were deliberating on this reply, and he was hailed as the sovereign who had been announced by the gods. In remembrance of this event, Gordius dedicated to Jupiter the king, the cart and its appendages, and deposited it in the citadel. The yoke was fastened with a rope formed of corneltree bark, which was tied in such an intricate knot, the ends being also artfully concealed, that to unknit it seemed an impracticable task. It was universally believed, that whoever could unloose this knot would become lord of Asia.

To examine this wondrous knot was one of the first acts of Alexander after his arrival at Gordium. Many eminent men had failed in attempting to disentangle it, and this alone would be sufficient to stimulate him to surpass them. Nor would his success be productive merely of barren admiration; among a superstitious people it would naturally contribute to smooth his progress, as to oppose would appear, in their eyes, to be acting in opposition to the will of the celestial powers, who had decreed the sovereignty of Asia to him who should untie the knot. Alexander therefore adventured to fulfil the condition which was imposed by the oracle. Accounts dif

fer as to the manner in which he accomplished his purpose It is reported by some, that, after having vainly endeavoured, by the usual means, to effect his object, he resorted to violence. To retire, foiled, from this undertaking, might, he found, throw a damp upon the spirits of his soldiers, and raise those of his enemies; and to avoid this dangerous result, he drew his sword and severed the knot, at the same time exclaiming, that it was now unloosed. This method of solving the difficulty accords with the character of Alexander, and is generally believed to be that which he adopted; but Aristobulus, who was one of his generals, and was probably present upon this occasion, declares that the monarch forced out the pin from the beam, discovered the secret of the tie, and removed the yoke. In whichever way he succeeded, it is certain that he was considered as having complied with the terms, and was hailed by his followers as the lord of Asia. An opportune thunderstorm, which occurred during the night, seemed to ratify his claim, and, on the following morning, he offered to the gods a magnificent thanksgiving sacrifice, for the favour which they had granted to him