218 JEROME CARDAN 



have been some ground for the assertion of his ad- 

 versaries ; but he declares that, at any rate, he had a 

 good many pupils from the beginning of the session up 

 to the time of Lent. He gives no clue whereby the 

 date of this intrigue may be exactly ascertained, but it 

 probably happened near the end of his sojourn at 

 Bologna, because in his account of it he describes like- 

 wise the cessation of his public teaching, and makes no 

 mention of any resumption of the same. He declares that 

 he was at last overborne by the multitude of his foes, and 

 their cunning plots. Under the pretence that, in seeking 

 Cardan's removal, they were really acting for his benefit, 

 they succeeded in bringing Cardinal Morone round to 

 their views. Cardan's final words in dealing with this 

 matter help to fix the date of this episode as some time 

 in 1570. Speaking of his enemies, he writes: "Nay 

 indeed they have given me greater leisure for the codifi- 

 cation of my books, they have lengthened my days, they 

 have increased my fame, and, by procuring my removal 

 from the work which was too laborious for me, they 

 secured for me the pleasure I now enjoy in the discovery 

 and investigation of divers of the secrets of Nature. 

 Therefore I constantly tell myself that I do not hate 

 these men, nor deem them blameworthy, because they 

 wrought me an ill turn, but because of the malignancy 

 they had in their hearts." 1 



It is almost certain that this removal of Cardan from 

 his office of teacher was part and parcel of a carefully- 

 devised plot against him, and a prelude to more serious 

 trouble in the near future. Early in April 1570 he had 

 occasion to put into writing a certain medical opinion 

 which was to be sent to Cardinal Morone. He describes 

 the episode : " It chanced that one of the sheets of my 

 1 De Vita Propria^ ch. xvii. p. 57* 



