Prolicionycion [sic]

¶ Capitulum 27

AFter Plato come aristotle a noble man of fame and of lore and of grete wytt· Netheles not so noble a speker as plato But he passed many men in thoffyce of techynge and was con∣nyng in crafte of fayr vtteraunce and shewyng to with sey all other mannes sētences / he brought vp the secte that is called pari∣patetica· For he vsed to dispute wandryng and walkynge while plato lyued aristotle gadred many disciples in to his heresye. he made bookes of al maner philosophie and yaue certeyn hestes & rules in al maner philosophie ¶ Netheles passyng al other he brought logyk in to his right lawe / ¶ This is called the philo∣sophre as it were he that berith the price of philosophres· So Ro∣me is called the cyte· so maro / the poete and soo Aristotle the phi¦losophre ¶ Netheles somme men trowed that he was a fendes sonne / for he was swyper and swyfte and clere of wytte and de∣sired grete worship / for by many manere sleyghtes· he vsed to wynne and toke worship bifore alle other men / Alexander de natura ¶Aristotle amonge other taught eloquence fayr and no¦ble speche as it is specially seen in his comentes homeris / and in dyte of troye the whiche he bytoke Alysaunder and in his dyalo¦gus of poetes and in his tretice of rethori{que} ¶Aristotle xviij ye∣re old was sente in to Athenes and lerned there of Socrates thre yere. And whan Socrates was dede he was with plato xx· yere till plato dyed / and had so grete fauour of plato that pla∣to callyd Aristotles hows / the redyng hows / and wolde ofte say go we to the reders hows ¶ And whan Aristotle was absente Plato wolde crye vnderstandyng is awaye. the audience is deef / he lyued after platoes deth xxiiij yere / ¶Somtyme te∣chyng Alisaunder somtyme wending aboute with hym in to ma¦ny landes somtyme makyng bookes somtyme techyng disciples and so he lyued in al lxiij yere ¶He made Alysaunder buylde ayene the Cyte stagerik that philip had destroyed and beten dou¦ne Therfor the men of that Cyte haloweth a fest daye in wor∣ship of Aristotle and that feste is called Aristotileya and the

moneth that this feste is halowed in· they clepe it stagerites Aristotle dyed in calcide & was brought in to stagerik. whan a∣lysander wēt ayēst the perses aristotle was besy aboute philoso∣phye and made an historye of two honderd and fyfty lawes Aristotle put to many thynges of philosophye and to ethyk. that is the science of thewes He put that parfyt welthe / is not in wordly rychesse ¶ Also to philosophye he put the fyfth beynge ¶ Treuisa In libris de celo et mundo and in other bookes al¦so Aristotle clepeth the welken or firmamente that is aboue the four elementes the fyfth body ¶Than it foloweth in the storye that he withdrewe nothyng of diuynyte. He made problemes me dycynale of phisik and of kynde in four score bookes / And pro∣blemes of perspectyue and of methaphisik ¶Treuisa A pro∣bleme is a question that is harde to assoylle and also an hard redels is also cleped a probleme ¶ Perspectyf is a science that specially longeth to the sighte that science techeth howe a thynge is seen and is lasse owther more than it semeth / owther euen as moche as it semeth euen or croked and right as it is or other wyse shapen than it semeth ¶ Than it foloweth in thistorye· he made statutes to iustefie the Cytees of grece by the whiche statu¦tes philip determyned & made ende of plees bytwene the grekes He lefte after him his sonne nychomachus / and his doughter pitharda and ful many disciples among the whiche theofrastus was of grete name He made the booke de nupcijs of spousayls Aristotle made a thousand bookes and loued to folowe truth. & not forsake thing that was openly knowen / Auicenna preyseth him wel libro tercio methapharo suo / And raby moyses li· 1 / capi¦tulo 4 & agellus li / 8 capitulo tercio & Iohan in suo policrato li / septimo / This is he that meoued archademia more with strength of resons than it was moeued with strong blastes of wynde for thurgh his besynes the Achademici that were lefte after. pla¦to moeued doubtes wele nygh of al thynges ¶Also plynius libro suo seyth / That the grete Alysaundre brente in couetyse of knowleche of the kynde of beestes and sente to Aristotle many thousandes of men of Grece / of Asia and of Tracia that fedde beestes and fowles wyld and tame and al that be taken with haukyng owther with huntyng and had al maner beestes in ke¦pyng in hyues in layes in fysshe weres & pondes / ffor he wold know all thynge that is brought forth in kynde Aristotle ex∣amyned al hem besyly & made aboute a fyfty volumes of the

kynde of beestes Therfor plinius de naturis recū libro secundo / seyth that sommen tellen that Aristotle made his bookes so short∣ly and soo hard for enuye and for veyne glorye ¶ Other say that he made his bookis in that maner to vse of studiētes as the science axeth for science is aboute thynge that is good and harde to knowe Treuisa ¶Here take heede that here al thynge that hath lyf and felyng is cleped a beest Than it foloweth in thystory / aristotle whan he shold dye bad that his subtyll bookes shold be buryed with hym in his graue / For they that come af∣ter hym shold haue no proufyt therof / But I wote not by what vertue of kynde owther of crafte that I saye not by wondre of wytchecraft that sepulcre hath soo appropred there to that place that is aboute it that noman maye come nowe in to that place /

Somme men say that antecrist shal know that place and loke and see the bookes that he there hid / but who dar trowe / thynges that be in doubte and vncertayn / Of the deth of Arystotle gg. Nauzauzen{us} in his tretice vpon that worde of the apostel The wysedome of this is foly bifore god And sayd that in grece at a place callyd the black brygge· the see ebbith and floweth as it were at ones in the same place And Aristotle came and wold knowe the cause why and bihelde it & toke heede long tyme / & for he coude not fynde the cause why· for grete indignacion he spake to the water and sayde / For I maye not comprehende and take the thou shalt take me and so he felle in to the water and dreint him self ¶Treuisa It is wonder that gregorius Nauze••zen{us} tellith soo madde a magyl tale of soo worthy a prynce of philo∣sophres as Aristotles was / why telleth he not how Aristotle de∣clareth the matier of ebbynge and flowynge of the see. secundo meth / why tellyth he not why it is wreton in the book of the ap∣pel howe Aristotles dyed and helde an Appel in his hande and hadde comforte of the sinelle and taughte his scolers howe they shold lyue and come to god and be with god withouten ende

¶And atte laste his hande began to quake and the apple f••lle downe from his hande and his face wax al pale and soo Aristo∣tle yelde vp the goost and dyed Than it foloweth in thystorye Aristotles successour was theofrastus and hadde that name for his noble spekyng of god so sayth the mayster of thistoryes sup∣li. math ¶This theofrastus made a book de nupcijs of wedlok & called the booke theofrastus aureolus / there be disputeth clerely of the teene and anguysshe of wedded men ¶ Ieronimus

talketh moche of that book ayenst Ioninianus ¶ And this Theofrastus made another booke of frendship and putteth and preferreth frendship before al other thinges of men / ¶Me sayth that this theofrastus accused kynde for it yafe lenger lyf to o∣ther beestes than to mankynde ¶ Ther it is sayde that is spede∣ful that frendes loue wele / and not assaye hem that they loue / Also it is wryten there that louyng men haue blynde domes