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The fifth chapter is entitled, "On my height and shape of body," the whole of which, as it is short, we feel ourselves compelled to quote. It is, perhaps, the only accurate and minute portrait of a man's own person, down to the most casual blemish, ever handed down to posterity by the pen. Cardan probably thought, that future ages would be very curious about a form, which a superior being (his dæmon) had condescended to inhabit.

"Statura mediocris; pedibus brevibus, latis prope digitos, dorso eorum altiore, adeo ut vix calceos congruentes inveniam, cogererque antea illos instituere: pectore angusto aliqualiter: brachiis admodum tenuibus, dextra manu crassiore, digitisque incompactis, ut chiromantici rudem esse pronunciarint ac stupidum: inde ubi norunt, puduerit. In ea linea vitæ brevis, et Saturnina vocata longa et profunda; sinistra autem pulchra, ob longis digitis, et teretibus ac compactis : unguibus splendidis, collo aliquantulum longiore et tenuiore: mento diviso, labro inferiore crasso et pendulo: oculis valde parvis ac quasi conniventibus, in quid intentius aspicio: super palpebram sinistri oculi macula lenti parvæ similis, ut nec facile deprehendi queat: fronte latiore, et in lateribus, ubi temporibus jungitur, capillis nuda, quorum color et barbæ flavus erat, detonsos soleo crines ferre et barbam brevem, quæ ut mentum bifida erat: pars tota sub mento pilis abundabat longis, ut ibi magis barbatus viderer. Senectus barbam mutavit, capillos parum : Sermo altior, adeo ut reprehenderer ab his qui se amicos mihi simulabant, vox aspera, magna et quæ tamen profitendo non procul audiretur: Sermo non admodum suavis et nimius: intuitus fixus quasi cogitantis, dentes superiores anteriores magnæ: color ex albo ruber: facies oblonga, non multum tamen caput retro in augustum desinit tanquam in spherulam exiguam. Adeo vero nil rarum est in nobis ut pictores plures qui ex longinquis regionibus venerant, me delineandi causa, nihil invenire potuerint, quo exprimere ita possint, ut ex pictura dignoscerer. In gutturis parte inferiore tumor velut spherula dura, non admodum conspicua, a matre hereditaria et derivata."

Under the head of De Valetudine he informs us, that he has been generally so free from the disease called the hæmorrhoides and the gout, that he has oftener sought to bring them on, rather than drive them away. "It was my practice, (he afterwards adds) a practice at which many wondered, to bring on some disorder, if I happened to have none upon me, as I have just observed of the gout. The reason of this is, that in my opinion pleasure consists in the subsiding of preceding pain. Now if pain be voluntary, it can be made to cease at pleasure. And I have found out that I cannot exist without a certain degree of pain, for when it altogether ceases, I feel so impetuous a fury seize my mind, that a moderate quantity of voluntary pain is much more safe, and renders me much more respectable. For this reason I bite my lips, distort my fingers, pinch my skin and the tender

fleshy part of the left arm even to tears. Thus I have been able to live without reproach. I have a horror by nature of standing on lofty places, however broad, and have always entertained the greatest apprehensions of hydrophobia. Sometimes I have been filled, with what I may term a heroic passion, which has often led me to the thought of putting an end to myself."

Under the head of exercise, (de exercitatione) he tells us that one of his amusements was to traverse the streets in arms during the night, in towns where he happened to be residing, contrary to the orders of the magistrates. At one time it was his practice to spend the whole of the day, from dawn to dusk, in athletic exercises, and then, in a state of profuse perspiration, sit down to some musical instrument; after which, he would frequently wander about the whole night. Afterwards he gives a most particular account of his diet, and puts down a bill of fare, consisting of all those articles which he was in the habit of eating. He observes, that he used medicine sparingly, "preterquam populeonis unguento usus sum, vel ursi adipe, aut oleo nympharum quibus inungebantur loca XVII. femora, pedum plantæ, cervi, cubiti, carpi, tempora, jugulares, cor, jecur, superius labium."

Until the age of forty-three, his principle seems to have been to do the thing which promised him most pleasure, and this recklessness of consequences he attributes to the prediction that he would not survive his fortieth year. Et astrologiæ cognitio quam tum habebam, et ut mihi videbatur et omnes aiebant, me non excessurum XL vitæ annum, certe non ad XLV perventurum, multum obfuit."

He thus describes part of his life, which seems to have been spent happily-the recollection however stings him, and he starts into a lamentation over the miseries of his lifewhen in this strain he never fails to speak of the execution of his son, which appears to have made a fatal impression on his mind.

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Itaque a voluptate initium sumpsi ætate, natura, curis præteritis, et occasione suadentibus. Mane si profitendum esset, ut Mediolani primum, post Papiæ longe saepius profitebar. Inde deambulabam in umbra extra urbis mænia: prandebam, musicæ post operam dabam : inde piscatum ibam juxta lucos et sylvas paulum ab urbe distanter studebam, scribebam, vesperi domum me recipiebam: perduravit hoc tempus annis sex, sed hei! Fulgere quondam candidi tibi soles: Dixit ille: Ingressus post longum illud iter atque honorificum: sed valeant lucra, honores, ambitus illi, intempestivæ voluptates: perdidi me: perii, creverunt difficultates atque molestiæ, velut umbra taxi, ut ferunt: nullum jam restabat solatium, nisi exitiale: sed in hoc genere beatitudo esse non potest, nam secus tyranni qui a beatitudine plurimum absunt, forent beatissimi. Itaque ut taurus junctis oculis furens, dum

majore impetu fertur, necesse est ut impingat et ruat. Impegi igitur ac rui: Interim et antehac, calamitas illa de filio natu majore accidit. Confessi sunt quidam e senatu (sed puto non de seipsis intelligi voluisse) damnasse illum, ut dolore interirem, aut insanirem; ab unoque, quam parum fuerim, superi norunt, etc."

In the chapter (XIII) in which he professes to speak of "his manners, the vices of his disposition and his errors," he thus expresses his determination to adhere to the truth in this history of himself.

"At nos maluimus veritati in hoc servire, haud ignari, non habere excusationem ullam qui peccat in moribus, quemadmodum in cæteris : Quis cogere potuit? An ergo unus ero ille leprosus qui ex decem sanatis solus ad dominum rediit, eâ ratione medici et astrologi morum naturalium causas in primas qualitates, voluntariorum in educationem, studia, conversationem.

* *

He continues with a sketch of his character which contains a series of most singular disclosures.

"Me ergo natura mea non latuit, iracundus, simplex, veneri deditus ex quibus tanquam principiis etiam profluxere sævitia, pertinacia contentiosa, asperitas, imprudentia, iracundia, ultionis desiderium etiam ultra vires, nedum prona voluntas: ut illud placeat quod multi damnant, verbo saltem. At vindicta bonum vita jucundius ipsa. In universum nolui aberrare in me, quod dici solet, natura nostra prona est ad malum. Et si verax, memor beneficiorum, amens justitiæ, et meorum, contemptor pecuniæ, gloriæ post obitum cultor, mediocria etiam, nedum parva omnia spernere solitus: cum tamen sciam quantum minima afferrent momenti ab initio, occasiones nullas contemnere soleo. Natura ad omne vitium et malum pronus, præter ambitionem agnosco imperitiam meam, si quis alius. Cæterum Dei ob venerationem et quod omnia hæc vana, quantum sint, dignosco, occasiones oblatas ultionum etiam consulto negligo. Frigidi sum cordis timidus et cerebri calidi, addictus cogitationi perpetuo, multa ac maxima et etiam quæ esse non possunt, revolvens: duobus etiam simul negotiis mentem adhibere possum: qui garrulitatem et immoderantiam in laudes meas objiciunt; non de meis vitiis sed alienis me accusant; repugno non oppugno quenquam.

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"Assuevi vultum in contrarium semper efformare; ideo simulare possum, dissimulare nescio: sed hoc facile, si ad habitum nihil sperandi conferatur, cui adipiscendo xy. perpetuis annis, maximo labore incubui. Itaque propter hæc pannosus quandoque incedo, alias ornatus, tacitus verbosus, lætus tristis; omnia enim reduplicant his ex causis. In juventa parum et raro caput curabam, ob aviditatem incumbendi potioribus, in eundo inequalis, celeriter, tarde: domi cruribus ad talos usque nudus. Parum pius, et lingua incontinens: maxime iratus, ut pudeat et tædeat me."

He observes, there are four singular gifts with which he has been endowed by nature-he thus describes them:

....

Quatuor mihi indita sunt a Natura, quæ nunquam aperire volui, et omnia (meo judicio) admiratione digna. Quorum primum hoc est, quod quoties volo, extra sensum quasi in ecstasim transeo. Sentio dum eam ineo, ac (ut verius dicam) facio, juxta cor quandam separationem, quasi anima abscederet, totique corpori res hæc communicatur, quasi ostiolum quoddam aperiretur. Et initium hujus est a capite, maximè cerebello, diffunditurque per totam dorsi spinam, vi magna continetur: hocque solum sentio, quod sum extra meipsum : magnâque quadam vi paululum me contineo. Secundum est, quod cum volo, video quæ volo, oculis, non vi mentis: velut imagines illas, de quibus dixi, cum infans essem, me vidisse. Sed nunc credo ob occupationes, nec diu, nec perfectas, nec omnino semper cum volo, nec tamen nisi velim. Moventur autem perpetuo quæ videntur imagines. Itaque video lucos, animalia, orbes ac quæcunque cupio. Credo causam esse, vim virtutis imaginitricis, visusque subtilitatem. Tertium est quod omnium, quæ mihi ventura sunt, imaginem video per somnum. Neque unquam ausim fermè dicere, vere autem dicere possum, meminisse, quod quicquam boni aut mali vel mediocris mihi evenerit, de quo prius, et rarò antè multum, non fuerim per somnium præmonitus. Quartum est, quod eorum, quæ mihi eventura sunt, quanquam, sint perexigua, vestigia in unguibus apparent. Nigra et livida malorum in medio digito, felicium alba: et ad honores in pollice, ad divitias in indice, ad studia et res majeris momenti in annulari, ad exiguas inventiones in minimo: coacta, res firmas : si sint veluti stellæ, res minus constantes, et magis publicas verbisque plenas."

In the chapter (XXXVII) on " dreams," and that (XLIII) which he entitles," things quite beyond nature," he relates so many extraordinary visions, prodigies, and miracles, as to give no slight confirmation to the opinion of those who consider him to have been a madman. There can be no doubt but that frequently his imagination got the better of his reason, and that for a long time together, he lived under an inferior kind of mental hallucination, in which, though he was never led to forget himself entirely, his mind seemed haunted by a shadow of itself-an interior consciousness which a man in a fever sometimes experiences, and which Cardan felt and watched within him as the operations of a superior being. The visions which were presented to his imagination in these intellectual wanderings were painted in such vivid colours, and so frequently occurred, that he was often totally unable to distinguish the reality from these creations of his fancy. The result of this confusion was that carelessness of the distinction between right and wrong, between the true and the false, which marks his life, as well as the work before us. He has been suspected of insincerity-it has been said that this book abounds with lies-that it contains very much that is untrue we are ready to allow, but Cardan himself was very far from knowing it to be so. All we can grant to the calumniators of this unfortunate philosopher is, that he sometimes indulged in

VOL. I. PART I.

Q

He

exaggeration, and that he had not proper ideas of the importance of the distinction between truth and falsehood. tells us, for instance, when he is giving an account of the various disorders with which he had been afflicted, that during a fever, in his youth, "sudor fluxit tantus, ut lecto superato, per tabulas in terram defluxerit." In another place he gravely informs us, that he learned the Latin language in a dream. "Post aliquot annos, somnio in spem hujus secundæ (ling. Lat. peritia) injectus sum: modum tamen non videbam, nisi quantum miraculo ad intelligendam Lat. linguam adjutus fui!" Dreams seem to have been his natural element; in the chapter on my books," he says, "that the cause which has induced me to write, I have mentioned above, viz. that I was directed so to do in a dream more than four times, as I have elsewhere testified, and also by an ardent desire of handing down my name to posterity."

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In cap. XLVII, this singular character asserts that he has always been attended with a familiar spirit, who gave him a previous knowledge of events, and otherwise assisted him.

"Spiritus (says he) assidentes, aut præsidentes (Græci Angelos appellare soliti erant, quidam minus Latine Spiritus) fovisse quibusdam viris pro constanti, ut dixi, receptum est: Socrati, Plotino Synesio, Dioni, H. Josepho, sed et mihi, &c. . . . . . At nobis ut credo bonus et misericors spiritus. Mihi fuisse, diu persuasum est: sed qua ratione me certiorem redderet de imminentibus, non nisi exacto anno vitæ LXXIV deprehendere, dum vitam meam conscribere adortus sum, potui. Tot enim imminentia, et ipso statim limine (ut dici solet) et ad unguem et tam diu cognita, et vere prævisa, majus pene miraculum est sine auxilio divino, quam cum spiritu rem ipsam expiscari licet ex dictis : cum enim prævideat spiritus quod mihi imminet, ut pote filium, quem verisimile eo vesperi pollicitum se ducturum Brandoniam Seronam, sequenti die perfecturum matrimonium, movit illam palpitationem cordis, modo sibi peculiariter noto, ut repræsentaret tremorem cubiculi : et illud idem in puero, tum et sic ego, et puer, sensimus terræmotum, quem nullus civium quod non terra non tremuerit, sensit, &c."

His intimacy with his Spirit does not seem to have been over familiar, for why it should be peculiar to himself, and wherefore it's communications were not conveyed in clearer language, seem to have puzzled him much.

"Remanent dubitationes cur hæc sollicitudo pro me, non aliis? Neque enim eruditione, ut aliqui putant, præsto; sed forsan vice versa. An amor veritatis immensus et sapientiæ, et cum contemptu opum, etiam in hoc statu paupertatis, vel justitiæ desiderium, aut quod omnia Deo tribuam, nihil propemodum mihi, aut forsan ad aliquem finem ipsi soli notum ? &c.'

We conceive that we have now extracted enough from this singular production, to answer the purposes of this ar

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