had come to Paris that Cardan was about to quit Britain,
forty of the most illustrious scientists of France repaired to Paris in
order to hear him expound the art of Medicine; but the disturbed state of
the country deterred him from setting foot in France. He refers to a
letter from his friend Ranconet as a testimony of the worship that was
paid to him, and goes on to say that, in his journeying through France and
Germany, he fared much as Plato fared at the Olympic games.

In a passage which Cardan wrote shortly after his return from Britain, he
lets it be seen that he was not ill-satisfied with the figure he then made
in the world. He writes--"Therefore, since all those with whom I am
intimate think well of me for my truth and probity, I can let my envious
rivals indulge themselves as they list in the shameful habit of
evil-speaking. With regard to folly, if I now utter, or ever have uttered,
foolish words, let those who accuse me show their evidence. I, who was
born poor, with a weakly body, in an age vexed almost incessantly by wars
and tumults, helped on by no family influence, but forced to contend
against the bitter opposition of the College at Milan, contrived to
overcome all the plots woven against me, and open violence as well. All
the honours which a physician can possess I either enjoy, or have refused
when they were offered to me. I have raised the fortunes of my family, and
have lived a blameless life. I am well known to all men of worship, and to
the whole of Europe. What I have written has been lauded; in sooth, I
have written of so many things and at such length, that a man could
scarcely read my works if he spent his life therewith. I have taken good
care of my domestic affairs, and by common consent I have come off victor
in every contest I have tried. I have refused always to flatter the great;
and over and beyond this I have often set myself in active opposition to
them. My name will be found scattered about the pages of many writers. I
shall deem my life long enough if I come in perfect health to the age of
fifty-six. I have been most fortunate as the discoverer of many and
important contributions to knowledge, as well as in the practice of my art
and in the results attained; so much so that if my fame in the first
instance has raised up envy against me, it has prevailed finally, and
extinguished all ill-feeling."[164]

These words were written before the publication of the _Geniturarum
Exempla_ in