D'AVALOS. 159 



the absence of an archbishop 1 .'* "He was a man," says 

 the same authority, " of the most polished manners, 

 studious of the fine arts, high minded, prodigal of his own 

 wealth, and little greedy of the wealth of others 2 ." All 

 that was said evil of him was ascribed to the malignity of 

 his enemies, who added to the grief of his last days by 

 causing the Emperor to demand an oversight of his 

 accounts. After his death at Vigevano he was brought 

 to Milan, and buried publicly in the cathedral, with ora- 

 tions, and all honours that the clergy could bestow upon 

 him. 



It was at the end of the year 1536 then, during the 

 vacation, that, to please this marquis, Jerome began a 

 book on the Arcana of Eternity. In the year 1537 he 

 being then thirty-six years old the world still used him 

 ill, and prompted him to write two works 3 , one upon 

 Wisdom, one on Consolation philosophic shields against 

 the outer miseries of life. In the same year he proved 

 himself a true philosopher by burning about nine books 

 that he had written upon various subjects, because they 

 seemed to him on re-perusal empty and unprofitable. 

 His manuscripts had accumulated into a great farrago, 

 chiefly of medical papers, and he destroyed so much that 



1 Kipamontius Chronistoe Urb. Med. (ed. cit.) p. 725. 



2 Ibid. p. 710, 



3 DeLibrig Propriis (1557), p. 39. 



