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, hut why he 
neglected to avail himself of it, or why he chose to 
abandon the scene of his studies, can only he 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 
