THE ENGLISH COURTIERS KING EDWARD VI. 135 



to get, by help of cne who was renowned as an astrologer, 

 some information of the future course of politics, to have 

 Edward's nativity calculated, and if possible to find out 

 how long he would live. The courtiers, says Jerome, 

 worried him, and some wished to use him as a tool 1 . 

 He was placed in the midst of the English court life 

 such as it was at that time, and he was greatly shocked 

 by what he saw. 



But the young king commanded his unstinted admira- 

 tion and good-will. It may be that before having au- 

 dience of his majesty, Cardan prepared himself by cutting 

 the small band under his tongue. It has been said that 

 he had a stutter in his speech, and he tells us that three 

 or four times, even in his adult life, he attempted to di- 

 mmish it by cutting at the band that seemed to tie his 

 tongue 3 . It is very possible that he desired to speak his 

 best before the King of England. 



Edward, as described by Cardan, was " of a stature 

 somewhat below the middle height, pale-faced, with grey 

 eyes, a grave aspect, decorous, and handsome. He was 

 rather of a bad habit of body than a sufferer from fixed 

 diseases. He had therefore a somewhat projecting shoul- 

 der blade; but such defects do not amount to deformity, 



1 Geniturarum Exemplar, p. 19. 2 Ibid. p. 82. 



