addition to the works we have mentioned, he wrote _De Nobilitate et
Proecellentia Faeminei Sexus_ (Antwerp, 1529), in order to flatter his
patroness Margaret of Austria, and an early work, _De Triplici Ratione
Cognoscendi Deum_ (1515). The monkish epigram, unjust though it be, is
perhaps worth recording:--

"Among the gods there is Momus who reviles all men; among the heroes there
is Hercules who slays monsters; among the demons there is Pluto, the king
of Erebus, who is in a rage with all the shades; among the philosophers
there is Democritus who laughs at all things, Heraclitus who bewails all
things, Pyrrhon who is ignorant of all things, Aristotle who thinks that
he knows all things, Diogenes who despises all things. But this Agrippa
spares none, despises all things, knows all things, is ignorant of all
things, bewails all things, laughs at all things, rages against all
things, reviles all things, being himself a philosopher, a demon, a hero,
a god, everything."

The impostor Joseph Francis Borri was a very different character. He was a
famous chemist and charlatan, born at Milan in 1627, and educated by the
Jesuits at Rome, being a student of medicine and chemistry. He lived a
wild and depraved life, and was compelled to retire into a seminary. Then
he suddenly changed his conduct, and pretended to be inspired by God,
advocating in a book which he published certain strange notions with
regard to the existence of the Trinity, and expressing certain ridiculous
opinions, such as that the mother of God was a certain goddess, that the
Holy Spirit became incarnate in the womb of Anna, and that not only Christ
but the Virgin also are adored and contained in the Holy Eucharist. In
spite of the folly of his teaching he attracted many followers, and also
the attention of the Inquisition. Perceiving his danger, he fled to Milan,
and thence to a more safe retreat in Amsterdam and Hamburg. In his absence