PART Vll

m Laerf.
left manifeftly appear to have proceeded from Malice, raifed, it is likely, by the Authors of the other Scandals and Imputations, wherewith they fought to blaft his Memory.
*” Some affirm that Alexander ^ upon the Trea- fon of Califthencs^ took a great difpleafare againlf Arijhtle^ for having recommended him to him. For tho’ at firff. Writing to Cr/rm/T, talus^ and Alcetas immediately upon this acci¬ dent, he fent them word, that the Youths had confcffcd the Plot proceeded only from them- n Tht. vit. felves, nor by the intf igation of any other. " Yet Alex. afterw'ards, in an Epiifle to Amipaier.^ he im
putes the fame Crime to Califihenes.^ not without this fharp Reflection upon Arijhtle ; The Touihs^ faid he.jrvere Stoned to Death by the Macedonians, hut as for the Sophif ^ 1 voili pumf him tny felf and ihofe who fent him, and thoj'e who entertain in their Cities fuel) as are Traitors to me. Here¬ upon they Interpret the Bounty of Alexander to Xenocrates, and Favour to Anaximenes, as not proceeding from the Magnificence of his Difpo- eit ten ^ ° difpleafure he had conceiv’d
againlf Arifotle, whom he endeavour’d to Vex, by obliging his Adverfaries and iEmulators.
Upon this fuppofed Difpleafure was grounded p; . .. another report, that p AAftotle Confpiring with Cafjander againft Alexander, fent him, by Anti¬ pater, fome of the Water of iSryjc-, wherewith he poifoned Alexander. But the Relators hereof differ not a little amongft themfeives : Diodorus Siculus and Suidas affirm, that Alexander was poifoned by CaJJander Son of Antipater -, Arianus by Jolla hisy ounger Son .• Eorphyrim faith , That nothing but the hornof an Afs, fuch as the Afles of Scythia had, would contain the poyfon : Ju- flin and Faufinius, the Hoof of a Horfe -, Fliny and Arrian, of a Mule, Plutarch and Zonaras, of an AIs. They differ no lefs about the place whence dre Vfater w^as fetch’d. Neither indeed can it be expefted there fhould be a better har¬ mony among!! theRelators of this Fable, when, there is fo great Diflehtion and variety of Rela¬ tions concerning the occafion and manner of his Death. But the mof! credible is that oi Ephippus qP . (eked, hy' Aihenccus) ‘ Orofius, * Jujiine, and
r Lib f 1, 21. otherers, who aver, that Alexander died of a s Lib. 12. Fever, caufed by excefs of Drinking.
C H A P. IX.
\Jpon what Occafion he left Athens, and went to Chalcis*
a > I 'Welve years profeffed Phllofophy
X in the Lyceum, not molefted by any j for tho’ his eminence in learning procured him ma¬ ny Emulators and Enemies, yet the Favour he had with Alexander, he lived, awed them lb much, that they durfl not make any Difeove- ry of the ill will they bore him. No fboner was Alexander dead (according to Dionyfius Hali- carnajfxus) but fbme of them confpired again!! his Life. To which end, Eurymedon, a Prieft,. or (according to Phavorinus) Demophilus, accu- fed him of Impiety^That \iQintroduced fome Phi- lofophical ajfertions, contrary to the Religion of the Athenians ; that he cclebratedKQvmhsas aGod, with a Hymn, and had caufed his Statue to be fet up in the Delphian Temple, with an honour able- Infcription. Some affirm hereupon, he made an Oration in defence of himlslf, at the Court of
a Laert.
Areopagus, wherein he openly pronounced this Verfe, made out of tw'O in ’’ Homer. b od^pp.
Pears upon Pears, and Pigs on Pigs grow here.
By a-vx.011 km ffvKA, (^Pigsen Pigs) refieUing up¬ on tire Multitude of Sicopbants,which. fprungVp every day in the City. Hence Phavorinus faith, he was the fir!! Philofopher that pleaded for himfelf, and there was an Oration to that pur- pofe wen;, about many years after wider _his Name. But, of the truth hereof, Athenatusfx\SL- keth c^ueftion.
= Others affirm, thixt Aaiftotle perceiving thde uert. Confpiracy that was again!! his Life, ftole pri¬ vately out of Athens, and went to Chalciiptxktx^ he !pent the re!! of his days, returning to his Friends, who demanding the reafon of his going, made this anfwer, '* We left Athens, that iced AUi.m.var, might not give the Athenians occafon tb commit again the fame wickednefs * they committed a- e oy]gcn gainji Sdemtes, that they might not be guilty of acmu.cdfim. double Crime againjl Philofophy. To Ant fater he wrote the forementioned Verfe,
Pears upon Pears, and pings on Pigs grow here.
Giving him to underftang how dangerous it was • for him to live in Athens,, fince the Athenians were wholly addiUed to Sycophantifrq and Ca¬ lumny. This departure oi Arifotle from Athens,
Dionyfius HalicarnaJJieus placeth in the lecond year of the 1 1 4th Olympiad ; Apollodcrus a year latter, perhaps lefs rightly. ;
^ Being near iixty two years of Age, very ^
Sickly, and without hope of living much longer, the whole company of his Followers came to him, and befought him to make choice of a Sue* ceffor, whom after his Death they might look upon as the Perfefler of thole Studies wherein- to he had brought them. There were at that time many excellent Scholars in hisSchool, but elpc- cially two, Theopbrafus and Menedemus, or ra¬ ther as Patricius reads, Eudemus. Thefe excel¬ led the reft in Wit and Learning. The firft was of Lesbos, Eudemus of Rhodes. Arifotle anfwer- ^
ed them, he would do as they requefted, when he !aw it convenient. Soon after the lame per- fons being prefent who had made this requel! to him, he complained the Wine he then drank did not agree with his Health, but was unwholfom# and harfii ^ and therefore defired they would fend for other forts, both Rhodian and Lesbian, faying, he would make u!e of that which he fhould find belt for him, they go, feek, find, bring. Arifotle firft calls for the Rhodian, tafts J
it, A ftrong Wine, faith he, and pleafant ^ then calls for the Lesbian, which having tailed. Both, faith he, are good, but I the Lesbi¬
an is the fweeter ', whereby every one underftood that his choice was not of the Wine, but of his S\iccqTox, w\kds\\xi-3isTheophraf us oP Lesbos, a Man of extraordinary fweetnefs in Difeourfe and Converlation ; Whence not long after, as loon as Arifotle was dead, all his Difciples applied themfeives to Theophrafus.
C H A P. X.
His Apothegms.
OF his Apothegms are remembred theft.
Being demanded what a Man got by Ly¬ ing, he anfwer’d, not to be believed when he f poke truth. Being
Part.
Stob. Ser. 28. Ser. 45.
lb'll
Sei\ 4^. '
Ser. 10 1.
Ser. 128.
Ib'id.
Ser. 161. V>id.
Strttti
Serm. 30$.
iMthm^rlenis, hath none ; which is likewift \Jhmld have had. Oihermfe let the EJiates ^ extant in the feventh Book of his Ethicis. \ Kell of the Maid as the Boy be dtfpofed with the Hp fiid When ihinss happen not as we iwuld^' joy nt confent of the Guardians.^ and Antipater, ice mull will as they happen. | ^ they Jlhdl think fit. Let likeicife the Exe-
S^eine a vouth very lelf-concelted, and with- cutors of Nicanor take care to remember us and al ignorant^ ToungMah., faith he, I wijh I were\UQt^YY\s, fince that fide hath been faithful to me, oihat you think your felf and my EnemtesA and if Jhe will take a Husband thatjuchaone hat you are given unto her as may be no difparagc-
^ Seeing a young Man proud of a fine Cloak, ment unto us. Let them give her out of my Why boaji you, laith he, of a Sheefs Eleece > Efiate, befides what is already mentioned, a U.
He did They who demonflrate plain thingsA lent of Silver, three Maid fervants, if fhe Jo lieht a Candle to fee the Sun. \pleofe, ^tidthe hand maid ivhtch fhe hath, and
Being reviled by an Impudent Perfon-, Thou,\the Pyrrheus. And moreover if fhe will faith he Who art vers'd to bear all things, /peak- 1 dwell at Chalcis, jet her have that Habitation eli them' with delight-, licho amnot ufedto fpeak znhicJ^joyneth to the Garden -, if at our
them, take no delight in hearing them. Tatrmonial Seat-, which howf oever
Being demanded why he who taught oihQXS' fhall choofe, let the Executors jurnifh it, as they tofneak himfelf held Vis Tongue-, AWhetAfhall think convenient and proper for Her- pone, fa’ith he, cannot cut, yet it fets an edge pylis. Let likewife Nicanor take charge of the
upon Swords. rr r • u
Being asked who can keep a Secret He,mith
he, that can hold a glowing coal in his mouth.
Seeing a young man very neatly drefs ’d, A^re you net afhanld, faith he, when Eiature hph
Boy Mirmax, that he may be rcfioredhonourably, or becometh m, unto his own, with all his goods which we delivered to our Trufi. Let likewife Ambracis free Woman, and have befiowed upon her at her Marriage, fifty Drachms, and
tie Girl wh.ch Jbe hatf wm W, tte Ahandfomeyoungman, much Couited, faid to Thales be itvett, befides the Hnrdmmd he
to him. If I were hated of the Citizens as you are, 1 woujd hang my felf-, and I, yeply’d he, would hang my felf if I were lov'd by them as you are.
Being demanded how a Man fhould cOtne to be Rich i he anfwered, by being Poor in Defire.
It tepented him of three things -, that he had ever committed a Secret to a Woman -, that he had Rid when he might have gone a foot -, that he had live one day not having his Will made*
C H A P. XL Hi^ Will and Death.
FRom that Speech of Ariftotle laft mention’d, may be gather’d how careful he was to make his Will, but more from the exaQ form thereof, which was thus;
{aj Lm. ry)Tr%E all well-, hut if it happen otherwife,
- A 1.:. Titrill D- A*.
, ^ thus Ariftotle maketh his Will. Be Ah- tipater my foie Executor during the Minority of Nicanor. Let Ariftomenes, Timarchus, Hip¬ parchus, Dioteles,(^zW if he pleafe, andhave lei- Jure) Theophraftus, be Guardians of the ChiE dren and of Herpylis,- and all that Heave. Will that my Daughter, as foon as fhe fhall be Marriageable, be given to Wife. If
any thing happen otherwife ( which God forbid j before fhe be Married, or after fhe be Married before fhe hath any Children, let Nicanor have the ordering of my Son, and the difpofal of all other things, for his Reputation and mine. Let therefore Nicanor take care of the yW^i/VPythais, and my Son Nicomachus, and order their Efiates according to their Conditions, rts a father and a Brother. If in the mean time any thing fhall happen to Nicanor {which God forbid) either before my Daugter be Married, or if Married, before fhe hath any Children, if he make any Will., as he appointeth, fo let it be. Otherwife, if Theophraftus approve of it, let him Marry the , Alaid, eind have the fame power that Nicanor
hath bought, a thonfand Drachms, and another Handmaid. Likewife to Simo, bejides that Mo¬ ney which he hath already received to buy a Ser. vant, let another Servant be bought, or the like Sum be given again, wherewith he may purchafe one. As foon my Daughter fhall be Married, let Tycho, Philo, Olympias and his Son be free men. Of thofe Boys which ferved me, let none be fold, but let my Heirs make ufe of their Ser. vice, and zvhen they come to Age let them be ma¬ numitted. Let the Executors take care of thofe Statues nus, t^hicl) I gave order for toGTY\\.\MS,asfoon as they are perfeHed, be Jet tip. Let likewife the Statue of Arimneftus be fet up, that this Monument may remain of him, fince he died without Children. I Will likewife that the Statue of my Mother be Confeerted to Ceres, in the Nu- masan Temple, or where elfe fhall be thought fitting. Wherefoever my Body is Buried by the Executors, thither let the Bones of Pythias ac- cording as fhe de fired, be brought and laid with mine. Let likewife Nicanor, if he continue well in health, dedicate at 5tagyra, Jupiter Soter, and Minerva Sotira, Statues of Beafis, of Stone of four Cubits, in performance of the Vow which zee Vowed for him.
He died at Chalcis jm the third year of the i r4 Olympiad, Philocles heing Archon, in the d^d. and great Clima£ferical year of his Age fnot as' (b) Eumelm, no years old) ’as appeareth by me
licarnaffus -, thus,
(
years.
He came to Athens at
18
Heard Plato
20
Lived with Hermias
3
With Philip and Alexander
8
Taught in the Lyeeum
12
Lived at Chalcis
2
In all
G § 2
CO Lmtl
The manner of his Life is vafioully related, r. (c) Strabo^ Hejychius, ll/uftris, and from him Suid(?s^ relate that he drank Hemlock, either be¬ ing condemn’d thereunto by the as
Socrates was, or to prevent their Judgment.
{d) Par&n. ad (d) 'fujlm Martyr^ (e) Gregory Nazianzen, gent. ( f) CkIuis Rhodo£tn/^., the Greek Etymologift.^
(e) stelieHf- I. ]\'ot2t2rts, zud. Others, follow the common Report, il ^ Quehion was propofed to him of the won-
* derful Nature of Euripus., an Arm of the Sea, coming into Chalch (as Eucian avers) which Ebbeth and Floweth Ifwen times in twenty tour • hours. Not being able to relblve it, he died of
Shame and Anxiety. Some affirm that as he fate on the Bank, having confidered long upon it, he at latf threw himlelf headlong into the River, faying, Ariflotle could not take Euripus, Eui'ipus, thou Arittotle.
But the Authors of greateft Credit, {g) Apol- U) Laert. lodorus.^ (h) Dtony/ius Ha/tcarnaffkus., (i ) Cenfo- rinus.^ Laertius and others affirm, That he died 0 De die na- of a pain in his Stomach, caufed by over-watch- tali. ing, and excels of Study. For Ldertius affirms
he was a moft indefatigable Student, and when he went to Bed, he held a Brazen Ball in his hand, that when he fellalleep, the noife of it falling into a Bafin fet under it for that purpole, might awake him, which Alexander his Difciple imi¬ tated. To this pain of his Stomach he was very fubjefl, and fometimes aflwaged it by applying a Bottle of hot Oyl to his Breaft. Eiotvoithflan- ding this natural infirmity of his Stomach.^ faith Cenforinus.^and the frequent Indifpofition oj a fic li¬ ly Confiitution., he prefervA himfelf a long time through his Vertue and'Xemperance for it is much more firange that he attain'd the Age of 6^ years.^ than that he lived no longer.
The Author of the Book de Porno., affirmeth. That when he wasdying,he faidto his Difciples, Handing about him, it was not without Reafon that Homer laid, the Gods came down to Earth to relieve Mankind . (k ) Coelius Rhodoginus adds (k) Miq. fjorn the fame Author, that when he felt the
10. 31. Pangs of Death to come upon him, weeping be¬
tween grief and hope, he often repeated thele words. Thou Caufe of Caufes have Mercy on me : And his Di lei pies, when they law he was depar¬ ting, laid. He who receiveih the Souls of Philofo- phers., may he take thine likewifey and lay it up in his own Treafiury., as the Soul of a right andfper- fed Alan., as we have known thee to be. Ofthis there is no Tell imony more Ancient than that of the Author of the Book de Porno, who (as Patri- cius clearly obferves from his Writings ) was a Chrlftian.
(/) Vet. interp. 0 ^he Stagirites fetch’d his Body from Chal¬ ets to Stagira, where they Buried it with much Solemnity, Building a Magnificent Tomb for him, and ereffing an Altar to his Memory.
was lliaven, his Hair cut Ihort •, he had a high Nofe, Nofe, if we credit the Head put up by Eulvius Urfinus, found at Rome, at the bottom of the Q£^r/WHill. He was of a fickly Con- ftitution, troubled with a natural weaknels of Stomach, and frequent Indilpofitions, which he over-maftred by his Temperance.
St. Hierom affirmeth, he was the Prince of Philofbphers, an ablblute Prodigy, and great Miracle in Nature, into whom leemeth to have been infuled whatlbever Mankind is capable of
He was extreamly pious towards God and Man, upon which SubjeG:, Eortunus Licetus hath lately written two Books.
Eufebius, Cajfiodorus, and others affirm, that many Perfons, Eminent for Sauflity, efpecially followers of School-Learning, have, through the means of Philofophy, been carri’d
on to Infpeffion into the higheft DoQrins of true Faith •, as, that there is one God, i^c.
As concerning his gratitude to Men, befides thole Inltances already mentioned, to Proxenus and his Son, to Hermias and his Siller, to his Mafter Plato, to his own Alother, Brother and Country,2in.(l. infinite others j many Philofophers, whofe Opinion he takes occalion to alledge, he mentions with their due Praife ^ of which were his Mafter Plato (of whom we have already Ipoken) whom, as we have laid, helbmetimes mentioned honourably,and fometimes concealeth his Name, where he preferreth his own Opini¬ on. Amongll others, of whom he maketh Ho¬ nourable mention, are obferved Democritus in his firlt Book, de Generatione Diogenes, Apolloni- ates,^ in the lame Book; Anaxagoras, in the 6rll of his Metaphylicks.
For that he was very moderate, the Interpreter of his Life confirms, inftancing in his Book of* Categorems, where he faith'. We ought not to de¬ termine any thing haftily -, but to confider often, and to doubt of every thing, is not unujeful. And again, in his Book of Good, We mujt remetnber, being Men, not only that we are happy, but that we ought to be able to prove it by firm Reafon. And, ‘again, inhisEthickstoA^w/»^c&//x: Man is our I'riend, Truth our Friend -, but above all, we ought to honour Truth. And in his Meteorologicks : As concerning thefe, .we doubt of fome of them,others zee touch fuperficially. And in the fame, not once or twice, but infinite times, AAen do happen upon the fame Opinions, therefore we ought not to be proud of our own Wifdom, in any thing whereof we conceive our felvestobe the Inventers.
The common report therefore (grounded up¬ on no Authority) that he collefled the Books of the Antient Philofophers, and having taken out of them what he intended to confute,burnt them, is manifellly falfe ; for any one that reads Cicero, will find, they were moft of them extant in his time.
CHAP. XK.
His Perfon and Virtues.
\
(Diizerf. ^ A S concerning his Perfpn, he was Slender, Jl\- having little' Eyes, and a Email Voice. When he was Young, Laertius and Plutarch af- (f) JEliatt.ver. firm, he had a great helitation in his Speech, t He lijh went in a Rich Habrt,and wore Rings , his Beard,
CHAP. XIII.
His Wives and Children.
He had two Wives, the firft Pythais, Sifter 16 Hermias, the Eunuch, Tyrant of Atarna, and his adopted Heir. Of the Scandals that were call upon him by this Marriage, Ariflotle fcflly
acquits