lict, and the clearest ones for inventing a story as
to the victory I hoped to gain; reasons which a man of sober temper could
never anticipate, which a brave man would never desire.

"Cardan's fame has its surest foundation in the praise of his adversaries.
I lament greatly this misfortune of our republic: the causes of which the
parliament of lettered men may estimate by its particular rules, but it
cannot rate this calamity in relation to the excellences of this
illustrious personality. For in a man of learning three properties ought
to stand out pre-eminently--a spotless and gentle rule of life; manifold
and varied learning; and consummate talent joined to the shrewdest
capacity for forming a judgment. These three points Cardan attained so
completely that he seemed to have been made entirely for himself, and at
the same time to have been the only mortal made for mankind at large. No
one could be more courteous to his inferiors or more ready to discuss the
scheme of the universe with any man of mark with whom he might chance to
foregather. He was a man of kingly courtesy, of sympathetic loftiness of
mind, one fitted for all places, for all occasions, for all men and for
all fortunes. In reference to learning itself, I beg you to look around
upon the accomplished circle of the learned now living on the earth, in
this most fortunate age of ours; here the combination of individual talent
shows us a crowd of illustrious men, but each one of these displays
himself as occupied with some special portion of Philosophy. But Cardan,
in addition to his profound knowledge of the secrets of God and Nature,
was a consummate master of the humaner letters, and was wont to expound
the same with such eloquence that those who listened to him would have
been justified in affirming that he could have studied nothing else all
his life. A great man indeed! Great if he could lay claim to no other
excellence than this; and forsooth, when we come to consider the quickness
of his wit, his fiery energy in everything he undertook, whether of the
least or the greatest moment, his laborious diligence and unconquerable
steadfastness, I affirm that the man who shall venture to compare himself
with Cardan may well be regarded as one lacking in all due modesty. I
forsooth feel no hostility towards one whose path never crossed mine, nor
envy of one whose shadow never touched mine; the numerous and weighty
questions dealt with in his monumental work urged