length, is in the 'Muses' Interpreter,' 1647; and a third, by J. Goddard, in the 'Continuation of Raleigh's History,' fol. 1652.
Ross wrote many books, mostly very small, in English and Latin. His favourite subjects were theology, history, and philosophy, and he produced a considerable amount of verse. He is now remembered best by Butler's couplet (Hudibras, pt. i. canto ii.):
There was an ancient sage philosopher
That had read Alexander Ross over.
In the preface to the 'History of the World,' Ross said that, from his youth up, he had been 'more conversant among the dead than the living.' Unfortunately for himself, he was wont to pit himself against greater writers, including Sir Thomas Browne, Sir Kenelm Digby, Hobbs, and Dr. Hervey; and he often indulged in scurrility in his arguments. His most ambitious work, 'The History of the World,' the second part, in six books, being a continuation of Sir Walter Raleigh's 'History of the World,' 1652, fol., inevitably invited comparison, not to Ross's advantage, with Raleigh's book.
Ross's works not already described were: 1. 'Rerum Judaicarum Memorabilium libri tres,' 1617-19, 12mo. 2. 'Tonsor ad cutem rasam,' 1627, 8vo. 3. 'Three Decades of Divine Meditations, whereof each one containeth three parts, (1) History, (2) an Allegory, (3) a Prayer. With a commendation of the private Country Life,' 1630, 12mo. 4. 'Rerum Judaicarum Memorabilium libri quatuor,' 1632, 4to. 5. 'Commentum de Terrsa Motu Circulari,' 1634, 4to. 6. 'Virgilius Evangelizans ' (Christ's history in Virgil's words), 1634, 8vo; Lauder accused Milton of plagiarising from this book. 7. 'Poemata' (in Johnston's 'Deliciae Poetarum Scotorum'), 1637, 12mo. 8. 'Mel Heliconium, or Poetical Honey gathered out of the Weeds of Parnassus; with Meditations in Verse,' 1642, 12mo. 9. 'The Philosophical Touchstone, or Observations upon Sir Kenelm Digby's Discourses,' 27 June 1645, 4to. 10. 'Medicus Medicatus,' 1645, 12mo. 11. 'A Centurie of Divine Meditations upon Predestination and its Adjuncts,' 1646, 12mo. 12. 'The Picture of the Conscience drawn to the Life,' 20 Oct. 1646, 12mo. 13. 'Colloquia Plautina Viginti,' 1646, 12mo. 14. 'The New Planet no Planet,' 1646-7, 4to. 15. 'Gnomologicon Poeticum,' 1647, 12mo. 16. 'Mystagogus Poeticus, or the Muses' Interpreter,' 1647, 8vo. 17. 'Isagoge Grammatica,' 1648, 12mo. 18. 'The Alcoran of Mahomet translated (from the French version of André du Ryer, 1649) ... [at end] A needful Caveat or Admonition,' by Ross, 1649, 4to. 19. Wollebius's Abridgment of Christian Divinity, translated by Ross, and enlarged, 1650, 8vo. 20. 'Morellus's Enchiridion duplex. Hoc ab A. Rossseo . . . concinnatum,' &c., 1650, 8vo. 21. 'The Marrow of History, or an Epitome of Sir Walter Raleigh,' 1650, 12mo. 22. 'Arcana Microcosmi, or the hid Secrets of Man's Body; with a Refutation of Dr. Browne's Vulgar Errors,' 3 June 1651, 12mo; enlarged edit., with replies to Hervey, Bacon, &c., 31 May, 1652, 8vo. 23. 'Leviathan drawn out with a Hook,' 26 Jan. 1653, 12mo. 24. 'Animadversions on Sir Walter Raleigh's "History,"' (1653), 12mo. 25. 'Pansebeia, or a View of all Religions in the World . . . together with a Discovery of all known Heresies,' 7 June 1653; often reprinted. 26. 'Huish's Florilegium Phrasicon, or a Survey of the Latin Tongue,' enlarged by Ross, 1659, 8vo. 27. 'Virgilius Triumphans,' Rotterdam, 1661, 12mo, with dedication to Charles II by Ross's brother, George Ross. The exact dates of publication are often given in the copies in the British Museum.
The author is sometimes confused with Alexander Ross, D.D. (d. 1639), an episcopal minister at Aberdeen.
[Authorities cited; James Bruce's Lives of Eminent Men of Aberdeen, 1841, pp. 225-51; Lowndes's Bibl. Man.; Granger's Biogr. Hist.; Park's Censura Literaria, vol. iv.; Thomson's Dict. of Eminent Scotsmen; Notes and Queries, 2nd ser. viii. 344, x. 112.]
ROSS or ROSE, ALEXANDER (1647?–1720), bishop of Edinburgh, second son of Alexander Ross (d. 1678), afterwards minister of Monymusk, Aberdeenshire, was born at Kinnairney, Aberdeenshire, about 1647. His father, the elder brother of Arthur Ross [q. v.], married Anna, second daughter of John Forbes of Balfling Corsendae, by whom he had ten children. Rose graduated M.A. at King's College, Aberdeen, on 2 July 1667. He then seems to have gone to Glasgow, where his uncle Arthur was beneficed. Here he attended (1669–1670) the divinity lectures of Gilbert Burnet [q. v.] He was licensed by Glasgow presbytery in 1670, and, having been ordained in October 1672, he was admitted on 14 Dec. to the second charge in the Old Church of Perth. In 1678 he was translated to the first charge. He was poor, and had to aid in the support of his father's family, seven of whom were unprovided for. On 7 May 1683 he was demitted from Perth, having been elected to the divinity chair at Glasgow. From this point his preferments were rapid. He was soon promoted to be principal of St. Mary's College, St. Andrew's, and made D.D. On the
