54 JEROME CARDAN. 



second order. He records, however, emphatically among 

 the experiences of his life the acquisition, even through 

 trouble, of a firm trust in the wisdom of the divine dispo- 

 sition of events. He had observed, he says, the efficacy of 

 prayer, and recognised the importance of invoking aid 

 from God out of the Scriptures, and of seeking, he adds 

 I quote his exact words " that He would teach me to 

 do His will, because He is my God 1 ." As a religious 

 sentiment, at least, this thought lay at the bottom even of 

 those blind superstitions or clear-sighted comments which 

 the orthodox disdained and set aside as pagan. 



1 De Vit. Propr. cap. xxiii. p. 90. 



