118 JEKOME CARDAN. 



cian, a book on astronomical opinions, and a treatise based 

 upon Agrippa's occult philosophy, in which, care was 

 taken to avoid the introduction of fictitious marvels 1 . 



But Cardan's daily life was tortured by the morbid in- 

 genuity of superstition into a long course of experience in 

 magic. Every sight, sound, or smell that was unusual, 

 was likely to be received as an omen by the credulous 

 philosopher. He believed that he received secret moni- 

 tions from a genius or guardian spirit 2 sometimes they 

 came from the spirit of his father. It was not strange to 

 him that, when he contemplated marriage, the dog howled, 

 and ravens shrunk together in his neighbourhood. The 

 shadow of the warning spirit moved about its doors, and 

 the brute animals gave token of the dread excited by its 

 presence 3 . So men's minds are darkened when the shadow 

 of a cloud floats over them, and they are moved against 

 their will to joy or to delusive hope by a fresh outburst of 

 the sun ; so can gems also lose their light, and metals lose 

 their lustre. Why, asked Cardan, should he enjoy the 

 favour of especial warnings? Was it because, although 

 hemmed in by poverty, he loved the immeasurable truth, 

 and worshipped wisdom, and sought justice, that the 

 mystic presence taught him to attribute all to the Most 



1 De Sapientia, &c. p. 423. 



2 De Vita Propria, cap. xlvii. More will be said of this hereafter. 



3 Ibid. p. 263. 



