ho wrote to him, to complain, that he had
tax'd _Plato_ with some Faults. _The Veneration you have for_ Plato _is
Just_, (says that excellent Critick,) _but the Blame you lay on me, is
not so. When any one writes on a Subject, to shew what is Good or Bad in
it, he ought to discover, and mark very exactly all its Virtues, and
Vices, for that is a sure way to find out the Truth, which is more
valuable than all things else whatever. If I had written against_ Plato
_with a Design to Decry his Works, I should be as Impious as_[21]
Zoilus, _but on the contrary, I would praise him, and if in doing so I
have Improved any of his Defects, I have done nothing worthy of
Complaint, and which was not necessary for my Design._ Notwithstanding
this, I have put some Bounds to this Liberty, and if I have discovered
some Faults, I have conceal'd some others, that seem'd to me not so
considerable. I had respect in them, to the Approbation of many Persons
of Merit, for I would not run Counter to an almost Universal Consent,
which always is of great Weight, and ought at least to oblige us to be
cautious. But that I might give to those Persons, an Opportunity of
recollecting themselves, I have endeavoured to explain the Rule, in such
a manner, that they may perceive those very Faults, if they will Read
the Remarks with attention. As for the rest, I had no design to offend
any Body; if there are some things which make them uneasie, 'tis
impossible to write any Work of this nature, without disgusting some.
'Tis also the Mark of good Criticism, as well as good Philosophy. From
hence it proceeded, that _Plato_ was blamed for having taught his
Philosophy a long time, without displeasing any one Person; and they
pretended by that, to say that either his Doctrine was not good, or his
Method defective, since none had by Hearing him been made sensible of
that Uneasiness, which People naturally have, when they perceive
themselves to be Vitious.

It would be unjust to finish this Preface, without saying something of
_Aristotle's_ Life, that those who read his Work, may know something of
him. He was the Son of _Nicomachus_, Physician of[22] _Amyntas_, and
descended from _Esculapius_. His Mother was the Daughter of one of the
Descendants of those, who Transplanted a Colony, from _Chalcis_ to
_Stagira_, in _Macedonia_; that is to say, she was of Noble Extraction,
on both sides. He was born at _Stagira_, about four Hundred Years,
before our Saviour. At Eigh