i2 4 JEROME CARDAN 



on the twenty-ninth of June. I remained there till the 

 thirteenth of September. I received as a reward four 

 hundred more gold crowns ; a chain of gold worth a 

 hundred and twenty crowns, a noble horse, and many 

 other gifts, in order that no one of those who were 

 with me should return empty-handed." l 



The Archbishop's illness might in itself have supplied 

 a reason for his inability to travel abroad and meet 

 Cardan as he had agreed to do ; but the real cause of 

 his change of plan was doubtless the condition of public 

 affairs in Scotland at the beginning of 1552. In the 

 interval of time between Cassanate's first letter to 

 Cardan and the end of 1551, the Regent had half 

 promised to surrender his office into the hands of the 

 Guise party in Scotland, wherefore it was no wonder 

 that the Primate, recognizing how grave was the danger 

 which threatened the source of his power, should have 

 resolved that, sick or sound, his proper place was at the 

 Scottish Court. 



1 De Vita Propria, ch. xxix. p. 75. Cardan refers more than 

 once to the generosity of the Archbishop. He computes (Opera, 

 torn. i. p. 93) that his visit must have cost Hamilton four talents 

 of gold ; that is to say, two thousand golden crowns. 



