Page:A new and general biographical dictionary; containing an historical and critical account of the lives and writings of the most eminent persons in every nation v1.djvu/200

 iC 4 A L E X A N D E R. Scotland ; created him a peer of that kingdom in 1630, by the title of vilcount Stirling ; and in lefs than three years after made him earl of Stirling, by his letters patent, beting date the i^th of June, 1633. He difcharged the office of fecretary of ftate with great reputation near fifteen years, to the time of his death, which happened on the I2th of Fe- bruary, 1640 [E]. [B] About three years before Mr. 3. " The Paransefis, to prince Altx^rider'sdeceafe, a new edi'icn of his " Henry." poetical works, or the gieateft part of 4. " Jonathan," an heroic poem in- them, was publfthed, containing the tended, the firfl book, now firft publtffi- four Monarchic Trap-dies, ed. The author's ftyle and verfification 2. " Doomfday ;" with feme verfes are much polifhed in this edition, efpe- prefixed by William Drummond. daily of the plays. ALEXIS, a Piedmcntefe. There is a book of " Secrets," MerckHn.in which for a long time has gone under his name; it was nf ea !f r V printed at Bafil i c?6, in 8vo, and tranflated from Italian IJOvaiO ; P,2a, f T ir i -i ir i n i into Latin by Wecher : it has alfo been tranilated into French, and printed feveral times with additions. There is a preface to the piece, wherein Alexis informs us, that he was born of a noble family j that he had from his moft early years applied himfelf to iludy ; that he had learned the Greek, the Latin, the Hebrew, the Chaldean, the Arabian, and feveral other languages; that having an extreme curiofity to be acquainted with the fecrets of nature, he had colledled as much as he could during his travels forfifty-feven years ; that he piqued himfelf upon not communicating his fecrets to any perfon: but that when he was eighty-two years of age, hav- ing feen a poor man who had died of a ficknefs which might have been cured had he communicated his fecret to the fur- geon who took care of him, he was touched with fuch a re- morfe of confcience, that he lived almoft like a hermit : and it was in this folitudethathe ranged his fecrets in fuch an order, as to make them fit to be publilhed. The hawkers generally carry them, with other books, to the country fairs ; thele however contain only the felect remedies of feignor Alexis of Piedmont : the entire collection would make too large a vo- lume for them. _ ALEYN (CHARLES), an Englifh poet who lived in the reign of Charles I. He received his education at Sidney col- lege in Cambridge ; and going to London, became afliftant Wood's to Thomas Farnaby the famous grammarian, at his great ol.il. fchool in Goldfmith's-rents,. in the parifh of. St. Giles's ' Cripple-gate, In 1631, he published two poems on the famous