even in the present day, it has not ventured and Galileo was again summoned to appear to renounce. But Galileo was bound to the before the Inquisition at Rome. Here he Romish hierarchy by even stronger ties. His arrived in February 1633—all the efforts of son and himself were pensioners of the

church; and, having accepted of its alms, the Grand Duke and the Tuscan ambassathey owed it at least a decent and respectful dor to obtain a dispensation from his atallegiance. The pension thus given by Ur- tendance, on the grounds of his advanced ban, was not a remuneration which sovereigns age, his declining health, and the inconsometimes award to the services of their sub-venience of the quarantine regulations then jects. Galileo was a foreigner at Rome. in force, having been unsuccessful. These The sovereign of the papal state owed him no remonstrances, however, were not altogethobligation; and hence we must regard the

pension of Galileo as a donation from the Ro-er without effect. The quarantine was reman pontiff to science itself; and as a declar-laxed in his favor; he was allowed to take ation to the Christian world, that religion was up his residence in the house of the Tusnot jealous of philosophy, and that the church can ambassador; he was visited by the of Rome was willing to respect and foster Pope's nephew; and throughout the whole even the genius of its enemies. lowed, he was treated with the most markof the proceedings, and the trial which foled indulgence and consideration. It would be uninteresting to describe in detail the proceedings before the court of the Inquisition; the result is thus stated by our author :

'Galileo viewed all these circumstances in a different light. He resolved to compose a work, in which the Copernican system should be demonstrated; but he had not the courage to do this in a direct and open manner. He adopted the plan of discussing the subject in a Dialogue between three speakers, in the hope of eluding, by this artifice, the censure of the church. This work was completed in 'A long and elaborate sentence was pro1630; but, owing to some difficulty in obtain- nounced, detailing the former proceedings of ing a license to print it, it was not published the Inquisition, (in 1616,) and specifying the till 1632. In obtaining this license, Galileo ex-offences which he had committed in teaching hibited considerable address, and his memory heretical doctrines, in violating his former has not escaped from the imputation of having acted unfairly, and of having involved his personal friends in the consequences of his imprudence.'

The charge here hinted at, refers to the concealment from the censors, whose duty it was to examine and authorize the publication of the works, of the material fact, that he had been enjoined by the Inquisition, in 1616, not to hold or to teach the Copernican doctrine in any way whatever; and this is one of the circumstances of offence recited in the sentence that was ultimately passed on him. In consequence of the license, Riccardi, the master of the palace, and Ciampoli, the Pope's private secretary, were dismissed from their situations, and even the Inquisitor of Florence did not escape a reprimand.

pledges, and in obtaining, by improper means, a license for the printing of his Dialogues. After an invocation of the name of our Saviour and of the Holy Virgin, Galileo is declared to have brought himself under strong suscensures and penalties which are enjoined picions of heresy, and to have incurred all the against delinquents of this kind; but from all these consequences he is held to be absolved, provided that with a sincere heart, and a fai.h unfeigned, he abjures and curses the heresies he has cherished, as well as every other herehis offence might not go altogether unpunishsy against the Catholic church. In order that ed, that he might be more cautious in future, and be a warning to others to abstain from similar delinquencies, it was also decreed that his Dialogues should be prohibited by public edict; that he himself should be condemned to the prison of the Inquisition during their three years, he should recite once a week the pleasure; and that, in the course of the next seven penitential psalms.'

The work thus furtively ushered into the world, produced an immense effect, not Galileo offered no resistance to this deonly in Italy but over Europe. The Pope cree, but immediately signed the act of abwas greatly exasperated; and it has been juration; in which he invoked the divine said that the enemies of Galileo endeavor- aid in abjuring, and detesting, and vowing ed to persuade him, that the Simplicio of the never again to teach, the doctrine of the Dialogue-the Peripatician whose feeble at- earth's motion and the sun's stability; tempts to support Aristotle and Ptolemy pledged himself that he would never again, were met by so overwhelming a force of ar- either in words or writing, propagate such gument and ridicule-was intended to rep-heresies; and swore that he would fulfil resent his Holiness. He appointed a com- and observe the penances which had been mission to inquire into the circumstances, inflicted upon him.'-(P. 93.)

Galileo's abjuration was unquestionably that you had not disclosed the whole truth a great triumph for the Romish church, with regard to your intentions, we thought and due care was taken to make it widely it necessary to proceed to the rigorous exknown. Sir David Brewster seems to con- amination of you, in which you answered sider that his character received some like a good Catholic.'* Now it is argued, tarnish from the facility with which he re- that in the books of the Inquisitorial law nounced a doctrine which he had establish- the phrase rigorous examination is undered by so many proofs, and of the truth of sood to imply torture; and processes are which he must have entertained a profound said to be extant which leave no doubt as to conviction. Assuredly his conduct dis- the correctness of this interpretation. Liplayed little of the firmness of a martyr; bri, indeed, goes the length of asserting, nor can he aspire to participate, in that re- that, according to the the laws of the Holy spect, the approbation and applause which Office, whenever there was doubt with remankind willingly award to those who spect to the intention of the accused, it stand prepared to sacrifice even life for was matter of necessity to have recourse to their principles. It must be remembered, torture. It is true, that neither Galileo however, that the matter at issue was not, himself, nor Niccolini, the ambassador of like some speculative article of a theologi- the Grand Duke, who transmitted an accal system, a question of authority or opin- count of the proceedings to his master, has ion. Galileo must have felt that, whatever made the slightest allusion to torture; but the Inquisition might be pleased to decree, to account for their silence, it has been arthe fate of his doctrines would ultimately gued that the Inquisition was known to imbe decided by facts and observations over pose the most profound silence on those which they had no control. He might who had the misfortune to be brought bereason as Pascal did with the Jesuits- fore it, and that the trial of Galileo, as is 'It is in vain that you have procured against evident from the correspondence of NiccoGalileo a decree from Rome condemning lini, was, in a particular manner, shrouded the opinion of the earth's motion. Assur- in mystery. In the absence of all direct edly that will never prove it to be at rest: evidence, Libri and others have urged the and if we have unerring observations prov-probability of the allegation from the known ing that it turns round, not all mankind character of the Inquisition, and its conduct together can keep it from turning, nor in other instances; but arguments of this themselves from turning with it.' Having this conviction, he must have felt that the progress of truth could neither, on the one hand, be retarded by formal submission to ecclesiastical power, nor, on the other, advanced by self-sacrifice. Under such circumstances, the insincerity of his act should not, perhaps, be severely judged. That Galileo was insincere in his abjuration cannot be doubted; his persecutors were probably not more sincere; indeed, it is apparent on the face of the proceedings, that the point about which the Inquisition was solicitous, was not the truth or falsehood of the dotrine, but submission to the spiritual supremacy of the Church.

kind must be received with great caution, when used for the purpose of proving a specific charge. It is a curious circumstance, that the document containing the original process, which would have afforded conclusive evidence in the present question, was in France previous to the restoration of the Bourbons, and that Napoleon intended to publish it. Libri states, that at the Restoration it was lost, or probably made away with. According to what is said of it by Venturi, who had his information from Delambre, the document was mutilated towards the end; and Venturi was of opinion, that it would be in the defective part that the Catholic answers of Galileo, A question has been mooted with respect in his rigorous examination, might be exto this trial, which, though it is not allud-pected to be contained.†

ed to by our author, we shall briefly notice, Sir David Brewster, as we have already in consequence of the prominent manner said, has made no allusion to this subject; in which it has recently been brought for- probably considering the allegation, on such ward by Libri. It has been surmised that in the course of his examination Galileo was put to the torture. The ground of The new Edition of Galileo's Works, now this surmise is the following sentence in publishing at Florence, may be expected to conthe recital prefixed to the decree of the In-tain documents, or information, which will set quisition: But whereas it appeared to us this question at rest.

Life of Galileo, p. 60.-Library of Useful Knowledge.

flimsy grounds, of a procceding so utterly j affable, and such as secured the warm atat variance with all that is certainly known tachment of friends. He is said to have with respect to the treatment of Galileo by been distinguished for his hospitality and the Inquisition, as undeserving of attention. benevolence; to have been liberal to the In fact, the indulgence he met with during poor, and generous.in the aid which he adand subsequent to the trial, was such as ministered to men of genius and talent, who must destroy every shadow of a suspicion often found a comfortable asylum under his of torture; at least if the Inquisition is to roof;' and, although his temper was easily be judged of according to the rules which ruffled, the excitement was transient, and are ordinarily applied to human actions. the cause of it speedily forgotten.' Notwithstanding these general eulogies, an attentive reader of his Letters' will be apt to suspect that his mind was tinged with a considerable share of selfishness, and attention to personal indulgence and comfort; and with some illiberality in his appreciation of the discoveries of his contempora

'Galileo had remained only four days in the prison of the Inquisition, when, on the application of Niccolini, the Tuscan ambassador, he was allowed to reside with him in his palace. As Florence still suffered under the contagious disease we have already mentioned, it was purposed that Sienna should be the place of Galileo's confinement, and that his ries. From the style of his Dialogues,' as residence should be in one of the convents of that city. Niccolini, however, recommended the palace of the Archbishop Piccolomini as a more suitable residence; and though the archbishop was one of Galileo's best friends, the Pope agreed to the arrangement, and in the beginning of July Galileo quitted Rome for Sienna.

After having spent nearly six months under the hospitable roof of his friend, with no other restraint than that of being confined to the limits of the palace, Galileo was permitted to return to his villa near Florence under the same restrictions; and as the contagious disease had disappeared in Tuscany, he was able in the month of December to re-enter his own house at Arcetri, where he spent the remainder of his days.'-(P. 101.)

well as the accounts which have been given by others, of his disputes with the Aristotelians, we readily infer that he was fond of argument and disputation, perhaps of display; for his controversial powers were of the highest order, and gave him a great superiority over his adversaries. In his morals Sir David Brewster considers that he was somewhat lax. He never was married, and his children were legitimated by the Grand Duke. He appears to have been fond of the more exhilarating pleasures of the table. His hospitable board was ever ready for the reception of his friends; and though he was himself abstemious in his diet, he seems to have been a lover of good wines, of which he received always the Galileo survived this proceeding about choicest varieties out of the Grand Duke's nine years. Soon after his return to Arce- cellar. This peculiar taste, together with tri, he lost his favorite daughter-who had his attachment to a country life, rendered piously taken on herself that portion of his him fond of agricultural pursuits, and inpenance which consisted in the weekly re- duced him to devote his leisure hours to cital of the penitential psalms-and the the cultivation of his vineyards.' Sir Daevent appears to have deeply affected his vid concludes his account of Galileo with health and spirits. With the exception of the following eulogy of his scientific chara few months, during which he was permit-acter:ted to reside at Florence, the whole of the remainder of his life was passed at Arcetri, 'The scientific character of Galileo, and his which, in his familiar letters, he styled his method of investigating truth, demand our prison. During this period he composed highest admiration. The number and ingehis Dialogues on Motion,' one of the which he made in the heavens, and the depth nuity of his inventions, the brilliant discoveries most important of his works. His last as- and beauty of his researches respecting the tronomical discovery was the diurnal libra-laws of motion, have gained him the admiration of the moon, in 1636. Soon after tion of every succeeding age, and have placed this, he lost the sight of an eye, and subsequently became totally blind. He died on the 8th of January 1642, in the 78th year of

his age.

The personal character of Galileo has been the theme of much eulogy. His manners are reported to have been cheerful and

him next to Newton in the lists of original and inventive genius. To this high rank he

was doubtless elevated by the inductive processes which he followed in all his inquiries. Under the sure guidance of observation and experiment, he advanced to general laws; and if Bacon had never lived, the student of nature would have found, in the writings and labors

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of Galileo, not only the boasted principles of where he continued diligently to prosecute the inductive philosophy, but also their practi- his astronomical studies, to the great discal application to the highest efforts of inven-pleasure of his family, who ridiculed his tion and discovery.'-(P. 118.)

pursuits, and reproached him with abandoning his profession. To escape the anTycho Brahé, the second of the so-called noyance which this conduct occasioned Martyrs, though he has been usually repre- him, and to improve himself in Astronomy, sented as immeasurably inferior to Galileo he resolved to visit the principal cities of as a philosopher, rendered services to As- Germany. At Rostock he unfortunately tronomy of a far more important character. had a quarrel with Manderupius PasberUnfortunately for his reputation, his name gius, a countryman of his own, which ended has come down to posterity in connexion in a duel, fought in the dark. In this with an hypothesis respecting the arrange- blind combat, Manderupius cut off the ment of the solar system, which never had whole of the front of Tycho's nose; and it any followers; and which, coming after was fortunate for astronomy,' says our authat of Copernicus, has always been regard- thor, that his more valuable organs were ed as a retrograde step in theory. But if defended by so faithful an outpost.' Tycho we put the unlucky hypothesis, with some other speculative notions of Tycho, out of view, and fix our attention solely on the extent, accuracy, and importance of his observations, and the results to which they led, we may easily satisfy ourselves that there is no observer, ancient or modern, whose labors have produced a more marked influence on the progress of astronomical

repaired his loss as well as he could by an artificial nose, composed of an alloy of gold and silver; and Gassendi appeals to his portraits in proof of its excellent imitation of the original. At Augsburg he found a kindred spirit in a rich burgher, Paul Hainzel, in concert with whom he constructed an enormous quadrant of fourteen cubits radius, which twenty men could with diffiscience. culty transport to its place of fixture;' and The anecdotical life of Tycho was writ- also a sextant of four cubits, with which he ten in minute and almost trifling detail by made numerous observations. About the Gassendi; who has been flatteringly desig-end of 1571 he returned to Denmark, nated by Gibbon as 'le meilleur philosophe where, in consequence of the reputation he des littérateurs, et le meilleur littérateur had now acquired, he was received with des philosophes.' In respect of astro- great consideration, and invited to court by nomical knowledge Gassendi was well qualified for the task; but his Memoir is entirely panegyrical; and as he appears to have been of a credulous disposition, and to have adopted without scruple the sentiments and opinions of Tycho-whose ideas of his own merit and importance were of a somewhat exalted nature-his narrative has a considerable air of exaggeration, which has pervaded all the subsequent biographies, the present not excepted.

Tycho was descended from a noble Swedish family which for some generations had been settled in Denmark, and was born at Knudstorp, near Helsingborg, in 1546.His father having died at an early age, he was adopted by a parental uncle; and after receiving the rudiments of a liberal education, he was sent to the University of Copenhagen to study rhetoric and philosophy. In 1562 he removed to Leipsig, to study jurisprudence, with the view of following the profession of the Law; but in this he took no interest, and Astronomy engrossed all his thoughts. On the death of his uncle in 1565, he was recalled to Denmark,

the King. At this time, his attention was chiefly engrossed with the pursuits of chemistry, or rather alchemy, which through his whole life he prosecuted with no less ardor than astronomy. 'In the hopes of enriching himself by the pursuits of alchemy, Tycho devoted most of his attention to those satellites of gold and silver which now constituted his own system, and which disturbed by their powerful action the hitherto uniform motions of their primary. His affections were ever turning towards Germany, where astronomers of kindred view, and artists of surpassing talent, were to be found in almost every city. The want of money alone prevented him from realizing his wishes; and it was in the hope of obtaining the means of travelling, that he in a great measure forsook his sextants for his crucibles.' While thus occupied, the appearance of the new star in 1572, which suddenly shone forth with remarkable splendor, and continued visible for sixteen months, had the effect of recalling him to the path in which he was destined to acquire his permanent fame. He first saw

the body on the 11th of November, and he many, and as it is not alleged that his immediately proceeded to observe its place, search for the philosopher's stone was sucand note its form, magnitude, and appear-cessful, we may be excused in suspecting ance. His observations were assiduously some exaggeration. However this may be, continued for several months, and they he appears to have exhausted his private form the basis of his work, ' De Nova Stel- fortune; and, in order to provide for his la Anni 1572,' which was published in the expenses, the King granted him an annual following year. pension of 2000 dollars, an estate in Norway, and a canonry in the church of Rothschild, worth 1000 dollars a-year. Tycho remained upwards of twenty years in Huen, engaged in the preparation of his catalogue of the stars, and accumulating a mass of important observations. Nor was his fame confined to his island or country; it extended over Europe, and procured him visits from several royal personages, among others, from James VI. of Scotland, (upon the occasion of his marriage with the princess Anne,) who, with a numerous suite, passed eight days with Tycho, admiring his instruments and mechanical contrivances, and discoursing on the Copernican system-an occupation which must have been entirely to the taste of the royal pedant.

Previous to the publication of this work, Tycho felt or affected an apprehension of degrading his nobility, by appearing publicly in the character of an astronomer and author. Soon after, he committed a greater offence against his order, by marrying a peasant girl-an act by which his relations were so greatly displeased, that a reconciliation could only be effected through the mediation of the King. About the same time, he gave public lectures on astronomy, in which he defended astrology; but he took care to mention, that he was only induced to lecture by the special request of the monarch. In 1575, he set out on a second journey through Germany. He first visited Hesse Cassel, where the Landgrave had erected a splendid observatory; and having travelled through Switzerland and Italy, he returned to Denmark with the intention of removing his family to Basle, where he had resolved permanently to settle. But his fame had now rendered him a personage whose presence conferred honor on his country in order, therefore, to induce him to establish himself in Denmark, the King offered him a grant for life of the little island of Huen, in the entrance of the Baltic, and undertook to build him an observatory, a house, and a laboratory for his chemical experiments. Tycho willingly acceded to these liberal proposals, and forthwith proceeded to erect on his new property the celebrated observatory of Uraniburg, (the city of the heavens,)

Through some unexplained cause, Tycho, after the death of Frederick II., fell into disfavor with the court of Denmark, and was deprived of his canonry, his estate in Norway, and his pension. Being thus left without the means of supporting the expenses of his establishment, he, in 1597, removed his instruments and family to Copenhagen; but finding himself still exposed to persecution, he resolved for ever to leave his ungrateful country. The description of his emigration is affecting. He carried from Huen every thing that was movable, and having packed up his instruments, his crucibles, and his books, he hired a ship to convey them to some foreign land. His wife, his five sons, and four daughters, his a noble edifice, which cost the King of Den- male and female servants, and many of his mark 100,000 rixdollars, (about 20,000l.,) pupils and assistants, among whom were and on which Tycho is said to have ex- Tengnagel, his future son-in-law, and Lonpended an equal sum. This statement, gomontanus, embarked at Copenhagen to however, appears to rest on the authority seek the hospitality of a better country of a representation made to the Emperor than their own.' (P. 171.) (Here we must of Germany by Tycho's heirs, who had a take leave to correct a slight error. Typurpose to serve in magnifying his sacri- cho's family, on leaving Denmark, consistfices, and probably spoke in round num-ed of only two sons and four daughters.) His bers. Tycho himself says, more pic- first landing-place was Rostock; but after turesquely, that he expended on the ob- a short time he took up his residence with servatory and instruments, more than a his friend Count Rantzau, in the castle of ton of gold. Now, as we have seen him, a few years previously, represented as applying himself to alchemy in the hopes of procuring the means of travelling in Ger

Wandesberg, near Hamburg; and finally procured an invitation to settle at Prague, from the Emperor Rudolph II. After some delay he set out for Bohemia, and arrived