which should only be taught by word of mouth, and learns in reply that his metaphysical theories would be unintelligible save to those whom he had himself instructed in philosophy[58]. It is evident, therefore, that the great mass of Alexander’s subjects, whether Asiatics, Egyptians or Greeks, would require something more than the sublime theorizing of the philosophers before their religious ideas could be turned in the direction of monotheism. Nine hundred years before, Amenhotep IV of Egypt had indeed been led by his adoration of the material sun to put forward a religious reform which had as its principal feature the proclaiming abroad that there was only one God, in whose sight all mankind was equal; but the sole effect of this premature attempt to elevate the religion of his people was the loss of the external possessions of Egypt, and the posthumous branding of his own memory as that of a criminal. Possibly, too, the Hebrew Psalmists and Prophets had formed a like conception of the Deity when they asserted that among the gods there was none like unto Yahweh[59]; but that this idea seldom penetrated to their hearers is plain from their incessant denunciation of these last for “whoring after” other gods. The mere announcement of the unity of God had therefore in itself an insufficient attraction for the masses, and for the doctrine to be popular they had to be led to it by other ways than those of argument or authority. Now Aristotle noted with his usual shrewdness of observation that the form of religion in a state generally follows with fair closeness that of its temporal government[60], so that men will be more inclined to believe in what the Greeks called “monarchy,” or the active rule of One First Cause, if they live under a despot or absolute king than if they are members of a democracy. But when did the world either before or after his time see such a beneficent and godlike despot as Alexander? The robber-kings of Assyria had been accustomed to sweep across Western Asia leaving behind them, as they boasted in their inscriptions, a trail of vassal rulers impaled or flayed alive, of burnt cities, and of plundered peoples. The Persians, as has been said, had more idea of the rights of their inferiors, and did not regard their subject territories as mere fields for exploitation; but the life of sensual luxury into which their kings sooner or later subsided had its natural outcome in harem intrigues and assassinations which deprived the central power of a great part of its otherwise effective control over its satraps. But Alexander was in this, as in all other respects, the perfect type of the benevolent master who thinks more of his servants’ welfare than of his own personal gratification. Neither his mother Olympias, domineering and masterful as she was, nor his first mistress Barsine the widow of Memnon, nor his wife Roxana of whom he is said to have been enamoured,