dice which had been raised against him both as to his public and his
private affairs, he felt that a single slip in his treatment of any
particular case would be fatal to him. In Milan he did meet with a certain
amount of gratitude from the wealthier citizens for the services he had
wrought them; but in Pavia, his birthplace, the public mind was strongly
set against him; indeed in 1562 he was subjected to so much petty
persecution at the hands of the authorities and of his colleagues, that he
determined to give up his Professorship at all cost. He describes at great
length one of the most notable intrigues against him. "Now in dealing with
the deadly snares woven against my life, I will tell you of something
strange which befell me. During my Professorship at Pavia I was in the
habit of reading in my own house. I had in my household at that time a
woman to do occasional work, the youth Ercole Visconti, two boys, and
another servant. Of the two boys, one was my amanuensis and well skilled
in music, and the other was a lackey. It was in 1562 that I made up my
mind to resign my office of teaching and quit Pavia, a resolution which
the Senate took in ill part, and dealt with me as with a man transported
with rage. But there were two doctors of the city who strove with all
their might to drive me away: one a crafty fellow who had formerly been a
pupil of mine; the other was the teacher extraordinary in Medicine, a
simple-minded man, and, as I take it, not evil by nature; but covetous and
ambitious men will stop at nothing, especially when the prize to be won is
an office held in high esteem. Thus, when they despaired of getting rid
of me through the action of the Senate--what though I was petitioning to
be relieved of my duties--they laid a plot to kill me, not by the dagger
for fear of the Senate and of possible scandal, but by malignant craft. My
opponent perceived that he could not be promoted to the post of principal
teacher unless I should leave the place, and for this reason he and his
allies spread their nets from a distance. In the first place, they caused
to be written to me, in the name of my son-in-law[202] and of my daughter
as well, a most vile and filthy letter telling how they were ashamed of
their kinship with me; that they were ashamed likewise for the sake of the
Senate, and of the College; and that the authorities ought to take
cognizance of the matter and pronounce me unworthy of the office of
teacher and ca