ALES or ALESIUS, ALEXANDER, a Scot tish divine, whose proper name was probably Hales.* He was born at Edinburgh, April 23, 150o ; was educated at the University of St. Andrews ; and ultimately became one of the canons of the priory or cathedral church in that city. Having imbibed the doctrines of the reforma tion, he was obliged to flee to the continent in 153i, though to what part is not certainly known. In 1533 we find him in Cologne ; some years later (probably in 1535) he went to Cambridge by order of Henry VIII. `to read a lecture of Scripture there,' but finding the feeling strong against him he relinquished his appointment, and set himself to study medicine under one Dr. Nicolas. Whilst thus engaged, he was met one day on the street by Cromwell, who carried him with him to the meet ing of convocation in 1536, and presented him to the assembled bishops as ' the King's Scholar.' In the dispute upon the sacraments he, at Crom well's request, took part, and advocated the Pro testant view of the sacraments, supporting his opinions with much ability and learning. He gave so much offence by his boldness, and his views were so much in advance of those of the king and his adherents, that it was needful for him to leave England and again return to the continent. This
time he settled at Wittenberg, and shortly after he was appointed Professor of Divinity at Frankfort on the Oder. In 1537 he was called to a chair in Leipsic, and there he remained and laboured till his death, which took place on the r7th March 1565. Ales deserves a place in a work devoted to Biblical literature, partly on account of his noble defence of vernacular translations of the Holy Scriptures, in his letters addressed to James V. of Scotland, partly on account of his exegetical comments on parts of Scripture. He wrote Dis putatio in utrumque .Ep. ad Tinzotheum et ad Titum Leip. 1550, Svo ; Conznzentarizes in Evang. 7oan nis, Basle 1553, Svo ; .Disputationes in Ep. ad Romans, Wittenberg 1553, 8vo. He was the author also of a commentary on a portion of the book of Psalms. (Bayle, Dictionnaire, s. v., M `Crie's Life of Knox, Note I. Anderson, Annals of the English Bible, i. 49S, ii. 427 ff. )—W. L. A.