44 
MEMOIR, OP ARISTOTLE. 
whole, it may be safely asserted, that if this extraor- 
dinary prince, with all his faults, was distinguished 
beyond others for the love of knowledge and virtue, 
he was mainly indebted for this superiority to the 
lessons of his teacher. The seeds of his haughtiness 
and ambition were planted before Aristotle was in- 
vited to take the direction of his education. The 
passion forwar, — the infirmity of noble minds, — could 
neither be restrained nor moderated ; but to counter- 
act that overruling propensity, his breast was inspired 
with still more pure and exalted sentiments, which 
placed him as far above the other conquerors of an- 
tiquity, as they were themselves distinguished beyond 
the common herd of mankind. If his loftiness could 
not be subdued, it was made to combat as much as 
possible upon the side of virtue ; his excellencies, 
therefore, may fairly be ascribed to Aristotle, — his 
defects to nature, and the example of a court, — his 
mi-fortunes to himself, and the intoxicating effects 
of unbounded prosperity. 
At the age of twenty, Alexander succeeded to a 
kingdom torn in pieces by dangerous factions and 
implacable animosities. In a short time events cad- 
ed him to a distant scene of action ; and, after an 
affectionate intimacy of eight years, the pupil and 
the preceptor separated for ever, to pursue, in a ca- 
reer of almost equal duration, the most opposite 
paths to the same immortal renown; — the one by 
his victorious arms — the other by the gentle wea- 
pons of philosophy; — the one by gratifying the most 
