84 
MEMOIR OF 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, Diodes ; 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 bis knowledge is 
not more remarkable than the soundness of bis 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 
