The Admirable Crichton. 123 



ing his protegee, " attained before your twenty-first year the 

 •knowledge of ten languages, of many dialects, of all sciences; and 

 vou have coupled the studies of swordsmanship, of leaping, of 

 riding, and of all gymnastic exercises with such alertness of 

 disposition, such humanity, mildness, and easiness of temper 

 that nothing could be more amiable or admirable." The 

 sentence ends in the Latin in " ut nihil te admirabilius, nihil 

 etiam amabilius reperiri possit," and this is some indication 

 that the appellation of "admirable"' was applied to Crichton 

 during his lifetime and not merely after his death, as some writers 

 have asserted. 



During his residence in Italy Crichton fell into a bad state of 

 health, and on his reco\ery he proceeded to Padua, where, on March 

 14, 1581, he met at the house of Jacobus Aloysius Cornelius 

 many of the erudite men of the city, and disputed with the most 

 celebrated professors for six hours upon various learned topics. 

 Another day was appointed for a disputation at the Palace of 

 the Bishop of Padua, but this was abandoned, and Crichton 

 returned to Venice, where he fixed up his "programma," or 

 challenge, which was to the effect that he offered to disprove the 

 almost innumerable fallacies of Aristotle and of all the Latin 

 philosophers, and also the dreams of the professors of learning, 

 and he would further reply to their charges. He also agreed to 

 permit freedom of discussion in all branches of learning con- 

 cerning those things which are usually openly taught or are 

 accessible only to the wisest men; and he would reply, either by 

 logical and ordinary arguments, or by the secret method of 

 astronomy, or the forms of mathematics, or in poetic or other 

 forms, according to the decision of those taking part in the 

 debate. The disputation took place in the Church of St. John 

 and St. Paul, and we learn from Aldus that Crichton sustained 

 this contest without fatigue for three daj'S, and such great 

 applause arose that nothing more magnificent had ever been 

 heard by men. 



In his poem, " Jacobi Critonii in appulsu ad celeberrimam 

 urbem Venetam Carmen ad Aldum Manutium," published in 

 Venice in 1580, Crichton lauds Aldus in somewhat extravagant 

 language. Indeed, the reciprocity of panegyrics which passed 



