JEROME CARDAN 135 



instance, when the prism is cast upon the wall by the 

 sun and the crystal, then the least motion of the crystal 

 will shift the position of the reflection to a great distance/ 

 The King said : * But how can this be done when no 

 subjectum is provided ? for in the case you quote the wall 

 is the subjectum to the reflection/ I replied : ' It is a 

 similar effect to that which we observe in the Milky 

 Way, and in the reflection of light when many candles 

 are lighted in a mass ; these always produce a certain 

 clear and lucent medium. Itaque ex ungue leonem! 



" This youth was the great hope of good and learned 

 men everywhere, by reason of his frankness and the 

 gentleness of his manners. He began to take an interest 

 in the Arts before he understood them, and to understand 

 them before he had full occasion to use them. The pro- 

 duction of such a personality was an effort of humanity; 

 and, should he be snatched away before his time, not 

 only England, but all the world must mourn his loss. 



"When he was required to show the gravity of a 

 king, he would appear to be an old man, He played 

 upon the lyre; he took interest in public affairs ; and was 

 of a kingly mind, following thus the example of his 

 father, who, while he was over-careful to do right, managed 

 to exhibit himself to the world in an evil light. But the 

 son was free from any suspicion of such a charge, and 

 his intelligence was brought to maturity by the study of 

 philosophy." 



Cardan next makes an attempt to gauge the duration 

 of the King's life, and when it is considered that he was 

 a skilled physician, and Edward a sickly boy, fast sinking 

 into a decline, it is to be feared that he let sincerity give 

 way to prudence when he proclaimed that, in his fifty- 

 sixth year the King would be troubled with divers ill- 

 nesses. " Speaking generally of the whole duration of 



