24 MEMOIR OF ARISTOTLE. 



A sufficient reason for his resorting to the Academy, 

 may be found in the celebrity of Plato, whose school 

 at that time was the most famous in the world, and 

 long continued to be the centre of attraction for all 

 the learning and genius of Greece. The master was 

 not slow to discover and appreciate the extraordinary 

 talents of his pupil. He admired his acuteness of 

 apprehension, and often applauded his unwearied ap- 

 plication to study. In compliment to his superior 

 abilities, he called him the " soul of his school ;" and 

 when he happened to be absent, he used to com- 

 plain that his lectures were addressed to a " deaf 

 audience/' His industry in perusing and copying 

 manuscripts, was unexampled and almost incredible. 

 From this circumstance he was called, by way of 

 eminence, the " student," and his house was styled 

 the " house of the great reader." As he advanced 

 in years, his penetration was as remarkable in.cjm- 

 vasaing opinions, as his diligence had been unrivalled 

 in collecting them. His capacious mind, we are 

 told, embraced the whole circle of science ; and not- 

 withstanding his pertinacity in rejecting every prin- 

 ciple or tenet which he could not on reflection ap- 

 prove, his singular merits failed not to secure the 

 love and admiration of his venerable instructor, with 

 whom he continued to reside for twenty years, until 

 their friendship was dissolved by the death of the latter. 

 Such was his eagerness in the acquisition of knowledge, 

 that he devoted to it the best part of his life, alike 

 careless of the honours and emoluments of a court, 



