t-named matter, he hints in a
passage lately cited from _De Utilitate_, that it was through the
persuasions of his mother that he took upon himself this disastrous
honour. Many pasages in his writings suggest that Chiara was an
indulgent parent. She let Fazio have no peace till he consented to allow
the boy to go to college; she paid secretly for music-lessons, so that
Jerome was enabled to enjoy the relaxation he loved better than anything
else in the world--except gambling; she paid all his charges during his
student life at Padua; and now, quite naturally, she would have shed her
heart's blood rather than let this son of hers--ugly duckling as he
was--miss what she deemed to be the crowning honour of the rectorship;
but after all the sacrifices Chiara made, after all the misfortunes
which attended Jerome's ill-directed ambition, there is a doubt as to
whether he ever was Rector in the full sense of the term. Many times and
in divers works he affirms that once upon a time he was Rector, and over
and beyond this he sets down in black and white the fact, more than
once, that he never told a lie; so it is only polite to accept this
legend for what it is worth. But it must likewise be noted that in the
extant records of the University there is no mention of his name in the
lists of Rectors.[42]

Jerome has left very few details as to his life at Padua. Of those which
he notices the following are the most interesting: "In 1525, the year in
which I became Rector, I narrowly escaped drowning in the Lago di Garda. I
went on board the boat, unwillingly enough, which carried likewise some
hired horses; and, as we sailed on, the mast and the rudder, and one of
the two oars we had with us, were broken by the wind. The sails, even
those on the smaller mast, were split, and the night came on. We landed at
last safe and sound at Sirmio, but not before all my companions had given
up hope, and I myself was beginning to despair. Indeed, had we been a
minute later we must have perished, for the tempest was so violent that
the iron hinges of the inn windows were bent thereby. I, though I had been
sore afraid ever since the wind began to blow, fell to supper with a good
heart when the host set upon the board a mighty pike, but none of the
others had any stomach for food, except the one passenger who had advised
us to make trial of this perilous adventure, and who had proved to be an
able and courageous helper in our hour of distress.

"A