CARDAN'S ANSWER TO SCALIGER. 185 



abstained from all mere abuse, but (no doubt to Scaliger's 

 great mortification) he did not once mention the name of 

 his antagonist. The book was superscribed simply " In 

 Calumniatorem 1 ," and the name of Scaliger does not occur 

 in it once. When, however, Jerome heard of the kind 

 things his censor had said, when he supposed him dead, 

 the name of Scaliger appeared in a succeeding work, 

 coupled with friendly words and free acknowledgment of 

 courtesy. The younger Scaliger cited Cardan's answer to 

 his father as a literary curiosity, because it was a reply 

 that never once named the assailant 2 . The motive for 

 that reservation certainly was not disdain, but a conviction 

 that injurious personalities ought not to be allowed to find 

 their way into the deliberate productions of a scholar who 

 desired an immortality of fame. 



1 Actio Prima in Calumniatorem. 



2 Scaligerana, p. 243. " Cardan a respondu a Scaliger et ne le 

 nomme point, mais dit, adversus quondam conviciatorem." 



