52 MEMOIR OF ARISTOTLE. 



of a Providence, and the consequent inutility of 

 prayers and sacrifices, these imputations are not only 

 not corroborated in any of his writings, but clearly 

 and uniformly contradicted. He enumerates the 

 priesthood as among the functions or offices essen- 

 tially requisite to the existence of every community; 

 and he has shown his veneration for religion in ge- 

 neral, by treating with tenderness even that distort- 

 ed image of it reflected in the puerile superstitions 

 uf his country. Truth, however, is always dreaded 

 by the interested supporters of popular errors ; and 

 the Athenian priests had more to apprehend from 

 his enlightened theology than to fear from his pre- 

 tended impiety. 



Aristotle was not unprepared for this persecution, 

 and, had his cause been tried before an impartial 

 tribunal, defeat and disgrace must have recoiled up- 

 on his accusers. He is said to have composed an 

 oration in his own defence, and to have inveighed 

 in a strong metaphor against the increasing degene- 

 racy of his fellow-citizens, by citing a verse from 

 the Odyssey, 



Pear withers after pear, 

 And fig on fig rots here, 



alluding to the swarms of informers (or sycophants) 

 and false accusers, which sprung up daily in Athens, 

 in as regular succession as the fruits in the rich gar- 

 dens of Alcinous. This discourse, the boldness of 

 which could only have inflamed the blind zeal of hia 



