so AN HISTORICAL DISQUISITION

SECT. which he left in three cities which he had builtI. and fortified, and partly by his alliance with Taxilesand Lotus. These two Indian princes, won byAlexander’s humanity and beneficence, which, asthey were virtues seldom displayed in the ancientmode of carrying on war, excited of course ahigher degree of admiration and gratitude, hadcontinued steady in their attachment to the Mace-donians. Re-inforced by their troops, and guidedby their information as well as by the experiencewhich he had acquired in his former campaigns,Alexander must have made a rapid progress in acountry, where every invader, from his time tothe present age, has proved successful.

But this and all his other splendid schemes wereterminated at once by his untimely death. Inconsequence of that, however, events took place,which illustrate and confirm the justness of thepreceding speculations and conjectures by evidencethe most striking and satisfactory. When thatgreat empire, which the superior genius of Alex-ander had kept united and in subjection, no longerfelt his superintending controul, it broke into pieces,and its various provinces were seized by his prin-cipal officers, and parcelled out among them.From ambition, emulation, and personal animosity,they soon turned their arms against one another;and as several of the leaders were equally eminentfor political abilities and for military skill, thecontest was maintained long, and carried on withfrequent vicissitudes of fortune. Amidst the variousconvulsions and revolutions which these occasioned,