128 THE LIFE AND LEGEND OF MICHAEL SCOT 



of Michael Scot. For undoubtedly the opinions to 

 which Albert took such exception were those of 

 Averroes, and not of the translator. But if so, 

 then what becomes of the censure passed upon 

 Scot? The truth is that if he was more original 

 than Bacon gave him credit for, on the other hand 

 he escapes the force of Albert's blame by proving 

 to have been less original than the latter critic had 

 supposed. His was indeed a hard case. He could 

 not form versions from the Arabic but either he 

 was accused of plagiarism or else held up to the 

 indignation of Christianity as if he had been the 

 author of the opinions he rendered into Latin. 

 This steady determination to find fault overreaches 

 itself. We begin to discover in it the bitter fruit 

 of some odium philosophicum, and of that envy 

 which even a just reputation seldom fails to excite. 

 Some curiosity may be felt with regard to the 

 doctrine contained in the Quaestiones Nicolai Peri- 

 patetici which gave ground for such adverse opinions. 

 M. Kenan's resume of this treatise is clear and 

 sufficient,^ and we may reproduce it here, as it will 

 afford a useful supplement to the account already 

 given of the philosophy of Averroes. ' As to the 

 origin of the different kinds of being,' says Averroes, 

 ' there are two exactly opposite opinions, as well as 

 others occupying an intermediate position. The 

 one explains the world by a theory of development, 

 the other by creation. Those who hold the former 

 say that generation is nothing but the outcome and 

 in a sense the multiplication of being ; the Agent, 

 according to this hypothesis, doing no more than 

 extricate being from being and make a distinction 



^ Averroes, p. 108. 



