cy, and was very
much neglected by those who had the charge of his education.

In his early years he dissipated almost all his patrimony in libertinism
and debauchery. At first he became a soldier; but the profession of arms
not suiting his turn of mind, he went to Delphi to consult the Oracle,
and fix his determination. By the response of the Oracle, he was
directed to go to Athens and pursue the study of philosophy. He was
then in his eighteenth year. For twenty years he studied in the academy
under Plato, and as he had spent all his inheritance, he was induced, in
order to procure a subsistence, to vend medicines at Athens.

Aristotle ate little and slept less. So strong was his passion for
study, that in order to resist the oppression of sleep, he kept at his
bedside a brazen basin, over which when in bed, he stretched one of his
hands in which he held an iron ball, that if he should fall asleep, the
noise of the ball dropping into the basin might awake him instantly.

According to Laertius his voice was shrill and squeaking, his eyes
small, his legs slender, and he dressed magnificently.

Aristotle was a man of acute parts, and one who easily comprehended the
most difficult questions. He soon became master of the doctrines of
Plato, and distinguished himself among the other academicians. No
question was decided in the academy without the opinion of Aristotle,
though it was often subversive of that of Plato. By all his
fellow-students he was considered as a prodigy of genius, and his
opinions were often followed, in opposition to those of his master.
Aristotle left the academy. This excited the resentment of Plato. He
could not refrain from treating him as a rebel, comparing him to the
chick which pecks its dam.

The Athenians appointed him ambassador to Philip, king of Macedonia,
father of Alexander the Great. Aristotle, having spent some time in
Macedonia in settling the affairs of the Athenians, found, upon his
return, that Xenocrates had been chosen master of the academy. Seeing
that place thus filled he said, "It would be a shame for me to be
silent, when Xenocrates speaks." He accordingly established a new sect,
and taught doctrines different from those of his master Plato.

The celebrity of Aristotle, who now surpassed all his contemporaries in
every kind of science, especially in the departments of philosophy and
politics, induced Philip, king of Macedonia, to offer him the care of
the education of his