"Take care," added he, "that God does not
treat you rigorously, and refuse to you that mercy which you refuse to
us; and, above all, take care not to execute your intention of going
to the wars with Count Amedeus. If you go, you will there lose both
life and property."

He said, and Humbert was about to reply, when the Squire Vichard de
Maracy, Humbert's counselor, arrived from mass, and immediately the
dead man disappeared. From that moment, Humbert endeavored seriously
to relieve his father Geoffrey, and resolved to take a journey to
Jerusalem to expiate his sins. Peter the Venerable had been well
informed of all the details of this story, which occurred in the year
he went into Spain, and made a great noise in the country. The
Cardinal Baronius,[552] a very grave and respectable man, says that he
had heard from several very sensible people, and who have often heard
it preached to the people, and in particular from Michael Mercati,
Prothonotary of the Holy See, a man of acknowledged probity and well
informed, above all in the platonic philosophy, to which he applied
himself unweariedly with Marsilius Ficin, his friend, as zealous as
himself for the doctrine of Plato.

One day, these two great philosophers were conversing on the
immortality of the soul, and if it remained and existed after the
death of the body. After having had much discourse on this matter,
they promised each other, and shook hands upon it, that the first of
them who quitted this world should come and tell the other somewhat of
the state of the other life.

Having thus separated, it happened some time afterwards that the same
Michael Mercati, being wide awake and studying, one morning very
early, the same philosophical matters, heard on a sudden a noise like
a horseman who was coming hastily to his door, and at the same he
heard the voice of his friend Marsilius Ficin, who cried out to him,
"Michael, Michael, nothing is more true than what is said of the other
life." At the same, Michael opened his window, and saw Marsilius
mounted on a white horse, who was galloping away. Michael cried out to
him to stop, but he continued his course till Michael could no longer
see him.

Marsilius Ficin was at that time dwelling at Florence, and died there
at the same hour that he had appeared and spoken to his friend. The
latter wrote directly to Florence, to inquire into the truth of the
circumstance; and they replied to him that Marsilius had died at the
sa