IN PRISON. 291 



portent, and a sign of his own certain death that was 

 approaching. "But afterwards," he relates, "I began 

 thus to reason with myself: if so many princes, even in 

 their youth, and strength, and happiness, expose them- 

 selves to certain death, that they may win approval from 

 their kings, when they have nothing else to win by 

 dying, why should you, a withered and almost infamous 

 old man, not suffer for your crime, if they hold you 

 guilty, or by wrong if you are undeserving of this evil 

 before God, who, by His mercy, shows that He beholds 

 all your affairs?" With these reflections he went home 

 refreshed and fearless. 



This calamity had been preceded by another portent. 

 He was writing a medical opinion for the use of his pa- 

 tient, Cardinal Morone (it is published among his works), 

 when a leaf of it fell to the ground. He rose that he might 

 stoop to pick it up, and as he did so the paper, marvellous 

 to behold, lifted by a gentle wind, rose with him, and flew 

 upon the table, where it remained fast in an erect position. 

 Jerome called Rodolf to see the marvel, and both saw 

 that the leaf was scarcely stirred. From this he concluded 

 that his concerns would suffer sudden overthrow, but that 

 they would be lifted up into a right position by a gentle 

 breeze of favour. 



He had reason, therefore, to expect what happened, or 

 he would not have thought of drawing such an inference. 



u2 



