MEMOIR OF ARISTOTLE. 29 



ed no diminution ; and in some of his latest writings, 

 he speaks of him with a degree of admiration ap- 

 proaching to reverence. 



The demise of his master gave Aristotle an op- 

 portunity of founding a separate school, but why he 

 neglected to avail himself of it, or why he chose to 

 abandon the scene of his studies, can only be mat- 

 ter of conjecture. Perhaps the connections which 

 he had formed with some of the most eminent, as 

 well as the most extraordinary, personages of his 

 own or any age, might have inspired him with the 

 design of leaving Athens, after he had lost the phi- 

 losopher and friend whose reputation had first drawn 

 him thither, and whose instructive society had so 

 long retained him in that celebrated capital. 



Among his condisciples at the Academy, was a 

 eunuch named Hermias, with whom he maintained a 

 close and uninterrupted correspondence, and whose 

 history forcibly illustrates the capricious vicissitudes 

 of fortune. He was originally the slave of Eubulus, a ' 

 prince and philosopher of Bithynia ; but his spirit 

 was unbroken by servitude, and he possessed a mind 

 far above the humble condition of his birth. Through 

 the bounty of his indulgent patron, he was enabled 

 early to gratify his natural taste for learning, by re- 

 sorting to Athens, where he formed an acquaintance 

 with the young Stagirite, which soon united them 

 in the bonds of mutual esteem, and finally settled 

 down into a cordial and unalterable friendship. But 

 the calm retreats of science were abandoned for the 



