64 
MEMOIR OF ARISXOXl.fi. 
partment that the fertility and ingenuity of his intel- 
lect was most signally displayed. 
Some authors accuse him of having studied to be 
obscure for the sake of being thought original, and 
of being less anxious to discover truth than to ac- 
quire fame. “ His writings (says Dr Reid) carry 
too evident marks of that philosophical pride, va- 
nity, and envy, which have often sullied the charac- 
ter of the learned. He determines boldly things 
above all human knowledge, and enters upon the 
most difficult questions, as his pupil entered upon a 
battle, with full assurance of success. He delivers 
his decisions oracularly, and without any fear of mis- 
take. Rather than confess his ignorance, he hides 
it under hard words and ambiguous expressions, of 
which his interpreters may make what they please. 
There is even reason to suspect that he wrote often 
with affected obscurity, either that the air of mys- 
tery might procure greater veneration, or that bis 
books might be understood only by the adepts who 
had been initiated in his philosophy.” * That there 
may be some truth in the charge of vanity cannot 
be denied, and this “ infirmity of noble minds” was to 
be expected in a man who had the daring ambition 
to be transmitted to all future ages as the Prince of 
Philosophers — as one who had carried every branch 
of human knowledge to its utmost limit. But it is 
manifestly unfair to impute to him all the obscurities, 
errors, and contradictions, that are now to be found 
* 4>r Reid's Analysis of Aristotle’s Logic. 
