84 MEMOIR OP ARISTOTLE, 



of the other ; for it was the current notion of ancient 

 philosophy, that the laws of the State, and the in- 

 stitution of rewards and punishments, were the great 

 instruments for bringing mankind to that course of 

 action in which their real interest consisted. On 

 this imperfect principle, Aristotle, in common with 

 other Greek philosophers, constructed his theory of 

 politics, which embraces three very important sub- 

 jects, viz. the origin of society and government, the 

 distinctions of rank in a commonwealth, and a com- 

 parison of the best plans of political economy. In 

 the prosecution of this task, besides examining and 

 criticising the systems of others, as Plato, Hippoda- 

 mus, Phaleas, Diocles ; and the polities of Sparta, 

 Lacedaemon, Athens, Crete, Carthage, &c. he dis- 

 cusses all the great leading questions both in civil 

 and economical science ; the duties of citizens and 

 magistrates ; the different orders of priests ; the best 

 plans of education ; naval and military force ; causes 

 of sedition ; unions and combinations ; monopolies ; 

 commerce and manufactures ; slavery ; freedom ; na- 

 ture of property ; accumulation of stock ; and many 

 other topics, in which the extent of his knowledge is 

 not more remarkable than the soundness of his views. 

 Of the various kinds of government, the monarchical, 

 the aristocratical, the republican, and the democra- 

 tic, he considers the most " perfect polity" to be a 

 mixture of oligarchy and democracy, so blended, that 

 both appear, yet neither preponderate ; and in which 

 no one of the component elements of society has an 



