Page:Catholic Encyclopedia, volume 1.djvu/339

ALEXANDER definitions and principles laid down in the "Ethics". God, he teaches, is the highest Good; man's duty is through knowledge and love of God to attain possession of Him. He defines virtue, in the Aristotelean, not in the traditional Augustinian sense. Alexander, being the first of the great thirteenth century schoolmen in point of time, naturally exercised considerable influence on all those great leaders who made the thirteenth century the golden age of Scholasticism. Within his own order he was the model of other great Summists as to method and arrangement of matter. Gerson says that Alexander was a favourite teacher (doctor) of St. Thomas. This, however, need not mean, as it is sometimes taken to mean, that St. Thomas frequented his lecture hall. The influence was exerted chiefly, if not exclusively, through Alexander's "Summa Universæ Theologiæ," which St. Thomas followed very closely in the arrangement and method of his "Summa Theologica".

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Alexander of Lycopolis, the writer of a short treatise, in twenty-six chapters, against the Manichæans (P. G., XVIII, 409–448). He must have flourished early in the fourth century, as he says in the second chapter of this work that he derived his knowledge of Manes' teaching (from the man's friend). Despite its brevity and occasional obscurity, the work is valuable as a specimen of Greek analytical genius in the service of Christian theology, "a calm but vigorous protest of the trained scientific intellect against the vague dogmatism of the Oriental theosophies". It has been questioned whether Alexander was a Christian when he wrote this work, or ever became one afterwards. Photius says (Contra Manichæos, i, 11) that he was Bishop of Lycopolis (in the Egyptian Thebaid), but Bardenhewer opines (Patrologie, 234) that he was a pagan and a platonist.

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Alexander of Neckam. See.

Alexander Sauli,, Apostle of Corsica, b. at Milan, 1533, of an illustrious Lombard family; d. at Pavia, 11 October, 1592; declared Blessed by Benedict XIV, 23 April, 1742. After some years of study under capable masters, he entered the Congregation of the Barnabites at an early age, and became teacher of philosophy and theology at the University of Pavia, and later Superior-General of the Congregation (1565). In 1571 he was appointed by Pius V to the ancient see of Aleria, Corsica, where faith was all but extinguished, and clergy and people were in a state of deplorable ignorance. With the aid of three companions, he reclaimed the inhabitants, corrected abuses, rebuilt churches, founded colleges and seminaries, and despite the depredations of corsairs, and the death of his comrades, he placed the Church in a flourishing condition. In 1591 he was made Bishop of Pavia, where he died the following year. He left a number of works chiefly catechetical.

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Alexander Severus. See ;.

Alexandre, a learned Benedictine monk of the Congregation of St. Maur. b. at Orleans, France, 24 January, 1653; d. at Bonne-Nouvelle, 23 June, 1734. He made his profession in the abbey of Vendôme, 26 August, 1673, and after completing his philosophical and theological studies, was sent to the monastery of Bonne-Nouvelle, where he spent the remainder of his life. He died sub-prior of the monastery. Though somewhat delicate in health, he was a man of great industry and all his leisure was devoted to the study of mathematics and physical and mechanical science. He wrote much, though apparently without thought of publication, for most of his writings were merely transcribed into a large folio volume which was preserved in the library of Bonne-Nouvelle.

Alexandre is known chiefly by his two works, "Traité du flux et du reflux de la mer" and the "Traité général des horloges." The former had already been written when the Academy of Bordeaux proposed the cause of the tides as the subject of a prize essay. He submitted an extract which was deemed worthy of the prize and his success led him to publish the entire work at Paris, 1726. This treatise, based as it is upon the supposed rotation of the earth about the moon, is of interest only from an historical point of view, as a contribution to the solution of a problem which has engaged the attention of the most skilful analysts since the time of Newton. The "Traité général des horloges", Paris, 1734, as its name indicates, is a general treatise on the history and the art of constructing time-pieces. It contains a catalogue of writers on the subject with a brief account of their principal works. Besides his manuscript works on subjects in mathematics, mechanics, etc., Alexandre added a sixth part to Huyghen's treatise "De horologio oscillatorio", in which he describes a clock the length of whose pendulum was automatically varied to enable it to indicate apparent solar instead of mean solar time. A description of the pendulum mechanism, which never came into practical use, may be found in Berthoud's "Essai sur l'horlogerie", Paris, 1786, I, xvii, where some of its defects are pointed out.

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Alexandria.—An important seaport of Egypt, on the left bank of the Nile. It was founded by Alexander the Great to replace the small borough called Racondah or Rakhotis, 331 The Ptolemies, Alexander's successors on the throne of Egypt, soon made it the intellectual and commercial metropolis of the world. Cæsar who visited it 46 left it to Queen Cleopatra, but when Octavius went there in 30  he transformed the Egyptian kingdom into a Roman province. Alexandria continued prosperous under the Roman rule but declined a little under that of Constantinople. When, after the treaty of October, 642, the Byzantines abandoned it to Amru, the Arab invaders hastened its ruin owing to the conqueror's impatience to build a new town, Cairo, and to transfer to it the government of Egypt henceforth a Mussulman province. The ruin had been great under the Arabians, but it became worse under the Turkish rule when the victories of Selim had subjugated the valley of the Nile in 1517. Bonaparte on the 2d of July, 1798, did not find more than 7,000 inhabitants in the town. Since then, thanks to the efforts of Mehemet Ali and to the great political and commercial events of the nineteenth century, the city of Alexandria has become once more the first port of the Eastern Mediterranean with 235,000 inhabitants. Christianity was brought to Alexandria by the Evangelist St. Mark. It was made illustrious by a lineage of learned doctors such as Pantænus, Clement of Alexandria, and Origen; it has been governed by a series of great bishops amongst whom Athanasius and Cyril must be mentioned. Under Dioscurus, successor of Cyril,