native town, Philip provided a school and the accustomed grove for instruction, in which the philosopher moulded the mind of Alexander the future Conqueror. The king of Macedon was more than satisfied with the results; and the royal pupil owned his indebtedness to his teacher, exclaiming, Philip only gave me life, but Aristotle has taught me the art of living well!" When, on the assassination of Philip, Alexander mounted the throne and embarked on that expedition which extended the sway of Macedon over half the known world, he showed his gratitude by making his instructor a munificent present equivalent to nearly $1,000,000, and employed two or three thousand men to fill his cabinets with specimens. Thus supplied with material and funds, Aristotle, established in Athens since 335 B.C. as a distinguished teacher despite his traditional lisp and insignificant appearance, vigorously prosecuted his scientific labors. At the Lyce'um, Apollo's temple, he gave instruction to his disciples, walking up and down in the covered paths (peripatoi) about the buildingwhence the name of his school, Peripatetic. He mastered all existing knowledge, regarding learning as "an ornament to men in prosperity, a refuge in adversity;" and for thirteen years divided his time between his pupils and his literary work. The news of Alexander's sudden death was the signal for Aristotle's enemies, no longer restrained by fear of his royal friend, to show their hand. Impiety was alleged against him; but mindful of the fate of Socrates, and, as he said, to prevent the Athenians from sinning a second time against philosophy, he retired to Chalcis on the island of Eubœa, where he died within a year. PHILOSOPHY AND WRITINGS OF ARISTOTLE.—While to some extent following his master, from several of Plato's doctrines Aristotle felt compelled to dissent; truth, he said, ARISTOTLE'S PHILOSOPHY. 249 was dearer to him than any friend.* He did not accept the Ideal theory, but inclined to materialism or to pantheism, making reason divine and omnipresent. He doubted his own. immortality, holding that the soul could not exist apart from the body, and that there is "nothing good or bad beyond to the dead." His style was dry, elliptical, and full of technicalities; if we compare it with Plato's, we have the opposite poles of the magnet. Plato was all imagination, Aristotle was thoroughly practical. The inspiration of the one was a passionate love of wisdom; the forte of the other was power of analysis, a wonderful faculty of systemizing knowledge. The master captivated the heart; the pupil convinced the reason. philosophy of Plato," says Dr. Draper, "is a gorgeous castle in the air; that of Aristotle is a solid structure laboriously founded on rock." "The Aristotle's style is devoid of ornament, and his subjects. are too abstruse for the general run of readers; but he was a keen observer and a close reasoner. A few paragraphs from his Rhetoric, in which he analyzes the peculiarities of old age, will show how well he understood human nature. THE DISPOSITION OF THE OLD. "Those who are advanced in life, having been deceived in a greater number of instances, err in everything more on the side of defect than they ought. And they always suppose, but never know certainly; and, questioning everything, they always subjoin a perhaps, or a possibly. And they are apt to view things in an unfavorable light; for a disposition thus to view things, is the judging of everything on the worse side. Moreover, they are apt to be suspicious from distrust, and they are distrustful from their experience. And on this account they neither love nor hate with great earnestness; but, conformably to the remark of Bias, they both love as though about to hate, and hate as though about to love. And they are pusillanimous, from their hav * Hence probably the origin of the proverb, "Amicus Plato, sed magis amica veritas "-" Plato is dear, but truth is dearer." L ing been humbled by the course of life; for they raise their desires to nothing great or vast, but to things only which conduce to the support of life. And they are illiberal; for property is one of the necessaries; and they are at the same time aware, from their experience, of the difficulty of its acquisition, and of the ease with which it is lost. They are timid and apprehensive of everything; for their disposition is the reverse of that of the young; for they have been chilled by years, but the young are warm in their temperament; so that their age has paved the way to timidity; for fear is a certain kind of chill. And they are attached to life, and particularly at its last closing day, from the circumstance that desire is of some object which is absent, and that men more especially desire that of which they stand in need. They have self-love more than is fitting; for this too is a kind of littleness of spirit. And they live in a greater degree than they ought by the standard of expediency, and not of what is honorable, by reason of their self-love: for what is expedient is good relatively to one's self, but what is honorable is good absolutely. Again, they are not easily inspired with hope, on account of their experience; for the majority of things are but paltry; wherefore the generality turn out inferior to the expectation; and once more, on account of their timidity they are apt to despond. And they live more in memory than in hope; for the remnant of life is brief, but what has passed is considerable; and hope indeed is of what is to come; whereas memory is of things gone by. The very reason, this, of their garrulity; for they never cease talking of that which has taken place, since they are delighted in awakening the recollections of things. And their anger is keen, but faint. And some of their desires have abandoned them. Others are faint; so that neither are they liable to the influence of desire, nor apt to act in conformity to it, but with a view to gain; on which account men of this age appear to be naturally temperate, for both their desires have relaxed, and they are enslaved to gain. The old have moreover a tendency to pity, but not on the same principle with the young; for the latter are thus disposed from their love of human nature; the former from their imbecility. Whence they are querulous, and neither facetious nor fond of mirth; for querulousness is the very reverse of fondness for mirth. Such is the disposition of those in advanced life.”—THEODORE BUCKLEY. The writings of Aristotle exhausted the fields of art and science; 400 treatises, most of which have perished, at one time bore his name. Rhetoric, psychology or mental sci ARISTOTLE'S MODE OF REASONING. 251 ence, and natural history, owed to him their origin. In his "Organon" was first presented the method of deduction,-the process by which the mind reasons down from general propositions to particular cases, by means of the syllogism, the organ or instrument of reasoning. Men had thus arrived at conclusions for ages, without any knowledge of Aristotle's formulæ, just as they had talked correctly though ignorant of analytical grammar. It was reserved for the Stagirite to discover the laws by which they drew conclusions, and thus at once to found and perfect LOGIC. This was the science of reasoning, as contrasted with Plato's dialectics or method of discussing. Nor was Aristotle unacquainted with Induction, the great lever of modern philosophy. This process, which reverses the steps of deduction,* and reasons from particular cases up to general laws, was employed in his researches, but was not fully developed till twenty centuries later in the "Novum Organon" of Lord Bacon, opening the way to a new era in scientific investigation. Aristotle willed his writings to his disciple Theophrastus, whom we shall next consider; and for many years they were kept from the world, while numerous imitations and forgeries gained the popular ear through the prestige of Aristotle's name. It was not till 50 B.C. that a complete edition of the genuine works was published, and then at Rome. Meanwhile the Lyceum had waned; its later heads were men of mediocre ability, * The difference between reasoning by Deduction and by Induction may be made clearer by the following examples: DEDUCTION.-Dogs are quadrupeds. Tray is a dog. Therefore, Tray is a quadruped. INDUCTION.-Tray is a quadruped; Carlo is a quadruped; Fan is a quad- and the Peripatetic School was superseded in popular estimation by the Epicurean and the Stoic. Theophrastus, of Lesbos (374-287 B.C.), a pupil of Plato and afterward of Aristotle, succeeded the latter, by his appointment, as head of the Lyceum. During his time, he maintained the high reputation of the school, attracting many to it from all parts of Greece by his eloquence. That he might address a still larger audience, he wrote numerous treatises on philosophy and natural history. His "Moral Characters," which have descended to us, show up in lively colors such representative personages as the Gabbler, the Niggard, the Noodle, the Grumbler, the Swell, the Poltroon, the Slanderer, the Newsmonger, the Clown, etc., from whom, it seems, that Greek society was not exempt any more than our own. These were the first character - sketches ever made; they served as models to La Bruyère in French, to Sir Thomas Overbury and others in English literature. As specimens, we cull the most pointed portions of the sections on the Flatterer and the Unseasonable Man. THE FLATTERER. "Flattery may be considered as a mode of companionship, degrading but profitable to him who flatters. The Flatterer is a person who will say as he walks with another, 'Do you observe how people are looking at you? This happens to no man in Athens but you. A compliment was paid to you yesterday in the Porch. More than thirty persons were sitting there; the question was started, Who is our foremost man? Every one mentioned you first, and ended by coming back to your name.' Then he will request the company to be silent while the great man is speaking, and will praise him, too, in his hearing, and mark his approbation at a pause with 'True;' or he will laugh at a frigid joke, and stuff his cloak into his mouth as if he could not repress his amusement. He will request those whom he meets to stand still until 'his Honor' has passed. He will buy apples and pears, and bring them in, and give to the children in the father's presence; adding, with kisses, 'Chicks of a good father.' Also, when he assists at the pur |