History of Philosophy. 303 



mind ; but the definition that Plato has given of the Divinity is so 

 Christian (if we may pardon such a use of the word), that we shall 

 transcribe it : " God is perception and supreme reason : legislator 

 and judge, exempt from passions and from errors: source of good- 

 ness and truth, eternal and infinite, a star whose brightness and purity 

 enlightens all intellectual beings : the model to which every creature 

 endued with freedom of will and action should incessantly endeavour 

 to assimilate itself." Though principally occupied with the science of 

 mind, he has yet left some observations on matter, but which are 

 imbued with the same philosophic spirit : as, for instance, " Extent 

 in three dimensions constitutes body. Hence result figure and im- 

 penetrability. Bodies have two essential parts, matter and form the 

 first, inert and passive ; the second, impressing on the first peculiar 

 properties, and given to it by the Supreme Being." 



Speusippus, Xenocrates, Polemon, Crates, and Grantor, were the 

 most celebrated disciples of Plato, who derived their knowledge from 

 his oral instruction, and are the most distinguished members of that 

 school of philosophy, which is usually denominated the First Aca- 

 demy. 



ARISTOTLE. 



Among the disciples of Plato none was more diligent in his atten- 

 tion to the oral instruction of that great philosopher than Aristotle. 

 Endued himself with faculties of the highest order, having cultivated 

 them with most assiduous perseverance, and neglected no opportu- 

 nity of profiting by lessons of his master, we are not to be surprised 

 either at the multitude of his various attainments or the soundness of 

 his views, when compared with the limited number of observations 

 which at that period were in the possession of those who wished to 

 obtain the principles of science from the process of induction. Aris- 

 totle has made use of the errors of the system of Plato, as well as its 

 excellencies, and in avoiding the one and building on the other, has, 

 started from an elevation which not a little aided the soaring ambi- 

 tion of his genius. Among the other advantages enjoyed by Aris- 

 totle, we must not forget the patronage and countenance of Philip of 

 Macedon, and of Alexander the Great. The royal treasures placed 

 such means within his reach as the private fortune of a student and 

 philosopher rarely can compass, and the conquests of his pupil not 

 only introduced him to the skilful in science of the East, but fur- 

 nished him with geographical and historical data, which enabled him 

 to acquire that extensive information which he has liberally and so 

 skilfully imparted to the world in his celebrated treatises. The vast 

 accumulation of knowledge which would have crushed or confounded 

 an inferior genius, only aided the operations of his accurate and 

 penetrating mind, and enabled him to treat with more confidence in 

 his own ideas on each particular branch of science. When we con- 

 sider the number and variety of the subjects he has handled, the 

 comparative state of ignorance on each and all previous to his time, 

 and the permanence of the greater part of his reasoning, we are lost 

 in astonishment at the extent of his information and the brilliancy of 

 his attainments. 



