of Galileo which threatened to overturn all their previous beliefs. The learned, and still more the semi-learned, world of Italy felt the ground tremble beneath their feet; and it seemed to them as if the foundations of all physics, mathematics, philosophy, and religion, were, with the authority of Aristotle, which had reigned for two thousand years, being borne to the grave. This did not present itself to them as progress, but as sacrilege. ture. A young fanatic, the monk Sizy (the same who seven years later was broken on the wheel for political crimes at Paris), was the first to transfer what had been a purely scientific discussion to the slippery arena of theology. At the beginning of 1611 he published at Venice a work called "Dianoja Astronomica "1 in answer to the "Sidereus Nuncius," in which he asserted that the existence of the moons of Jupiter was incompatible with the doctrines of Holy ScripHe appropriately dedicated his book to that semiprince of the blood, John de' Medici, who was known to be the mortal enemy of Galileo. The author, as we learn from his own work, was one of those contemptible men who carefully abstained from even looking through a telescope, although firmly convinced that the wonders announced by Galileo were not to be seen. Galileo did not vouchsafe to defend himself from this monkish attack any more than from Horky's libel the year before. He contented himself with writing on the back of the title page of the copy still preserved in the National Library at Florence the following lines from Ariosto: "Soggiunse il duca : Non sarebbe onesto Che io volessi la battaglia torre, Di quel che m' offerisco manifesto, Quando ti piaccia, innanci agli occhi torre." 1 The full title was: "Dianoja Astronomica, Optica, Physica, qua Siderei Nuncii rumor de quatuor Planetis a Galilaeo Galilaeo Mathematico celeberrimo, recens perspicilli cujusdam ope conspectis, vanus redditur. Auctore Francisco Sitio Florentino." 2 Op. vi. p. 94, note I ; and xv. Bibliografia Galileiana," p. vi. But Galileo's envious foes at once consorted with the, at all events, honourable fanatics of the old school, and eagerly seized the opportunity of pursuing their miserable designs "to the glory of God and imperilled religion." It was in Florence itself, in the palace of the Tuscan Archbishop Marzimedici, who had once studied under Galileo at Pisa, that secret consultations were held, presided over by this prelate, how the inconvenient philosopher and his revolutionary system might best be ruined. They even then went so far as to request a preacher to hurl at Galileo from the pulpit the accusation, more dangerous than any other in the sixteenth century, that he was attacking the Bible with his doctrines. But for this time these pious gentlemen had gone to the wrong man, for the priest, seeing through the foul purpose of the commission, declined it. Galileo had not the slightest knowledge of the secret conspiracy which was plotting against him, and was first roused from the security into which he had been lulled by the brilliant success of his visit to Rome by a letter from his friend there, Cigoli the painter, of 16th December, 1611. But he did not at first attach to these communications the importance they deserved, and it was not until several months afterwards that he addressed himself to Cardinal Conti, who was very friendly to him, to ask how far the Holy Scriptures did really favour the Aristotelian views of the universe, and whether the Copernican system contradicted them. Conti answered him in a letter of 7th July, 1612, that the statements of Holy Scripture were rather against the Aristotelian principle of the unchangeableness of the heavens than in favour of it, for all the fathers had held the contrary opinion. But the case was different with the doctrine of the carth's revolution round the sun, as held by the Pythagoreans, Copernicus and others. This certainly did not seem to agree with Holy Scripture, unless it was assumed that it merely This letter reports the facts above mentioned. (Op. viii. p. 188.) 2 Op. viii. pp. 222-224. adopted the customary mode of expression. But, added the cardinal, that was a method of interpretation to be employed only in case of the greatest necessity. Diego di Zuñiga had indeed explained in this way, conformably with the Copernican opinions, the passage in which Joshua commanded the sun to stand still; but the explanation was not generally admitted. Father Lorini also, professor of ecclesiastical history at Florence, afterwards a ringleader of the base intrigues against Galileo and an informant against him, wrote to him 5th November, 1612,1 to deny a report that he had publicly preached against Galileo. He only confessed to having given it as his opinion, in a conversation about the two systems, that the view of this Ipernic, or whatever his name might be, appeared to be contrary to Holy Scripture. Galileo wrote in a letter of 5th January, 1613,2 to Prince Cesi: "The good man is so well acquainted with the author of these doctrines that he calls him Ipernic. You can see how and by whom poor philosophy suffers." It appears also from the same letter that Galileo was now well aware of the intrigues being carried on against him in Florence, for he says among other things: "I thank you and all my dear friends very much for your anxiety for my protection against the malice which is constantly seeking to pick quarrels even here, and the more so since the enemy is so near at hand; but as they are but few in number, and their 'league,' as they call it among themselves, is but of limited extent, I laugh at it." 1 Op. viii. pp. 241, 242. CHAPTER IV. ASTRONOMY AND THEOLOGY. Treatise on Floating Bodies.-Controversy with Scheiner about the Solar Spots.-Favourable reception of Galileo's work on the subject at Rome. --Discussion with the Grand Duchess Christine.-The Bible brought into the controversy.-Ill-fated Letter to Castelli.- Caccini's Sermon against Galileo.-Lorini denounces the Letter to the Holy Office.— Archbishop Bonciani's attempts to get the original Letter.-" Opinion" of the Inquisition on it.-Caccini summoned to give evidence.— Absurd accusations.-Testimony of Ximenes and Attavanti in Galileo's favour. WHILE the storm which was to burst over Galileo's head was thus slowly gathering, he was making important progress in the departments of physics and mechanics. His treatise on the motion of floating bodies led to very important results. In it he again took the field against the Peripatetic philosophers, and refuted the assertion of Aristotle that the floating or partial immersion of bodies in water depended chiefly on their form, for by his approved method of studying the open book of nature he clearly showed the error of that opinion. In this work Galileo laid the foundations of hydrostatics as mostly held to this day. The old school rose up once more to refute him, as a matter of course; but their polemics cut a pitiful figure, for the champions of antiquated wisdom had in their impotence mostly to content themselves with wretched sophisms as opposed to Galileo's hard facts, and as a last resort to insist on the authority of Aristotle. The combatants who took the field with various writings to 1 "Discorso al Serenissimo D. Cosimo II., Gran-Duca di Toscana intorno alle cose che stanno in su l'aqua o che in quella si muovano." defend the Peripatetic school against these fresh attacks of Galileo were the professors Giorgio Corressio, Tommaso Palmerini, Lodovico delle Colombo, in 1612, and in 1613 Vincenzo di Grazia. Corressio was answered by Benedetto Castelli; but the work, which is preserved in MS. in the National Library at Florence, was not published, out of pity for his opponent who, in the meantime, had been overtaken by severe misfortune. Although professing to be a Roman Catholic, he was discovered to belong to the Greek Non-Uniat church, which entailed the loss of his professorship at the University of Pisa. Galileo intended himself to answer Palmerini, but while he was doing so Palmerini died, and not wishing to fight a dead man, he laid his reply aside. The lame objections of the other two received a brilliant refutation in a work published in 1615 by Castelli. From the original MS., however, in the National Library at Florence, which is mostly in Galileo's handwriting, it is evident that he was the real author.1 During the same year in which he had so alarmed the Peripatetics by the treatise on floating bodies, he was much occupied with the controversy with the Jesuit father, Scheiner, before mentioned, professor of mathematics at Ingolstadt, about the solar spots and the priority of their discovery. In three letters to Welser of Augsburg (published there in 1612) he had claimed for himself, under the pseudonym of "Apelles," the earliest observation of these appearances, and explained them conformably to the traditional opinions. He propounded the ingenious idea that these spots were a multitude of little planets, passing over the sun's disk as they revolved round the earth. By this clever explanation he secured the applause of all the Peripatetic school, and proclaimed himself the decided foe of Galileo. Challenged to do so by Welser, Galileo replied in three letters addressed to him, in which "Apelles" came off but poorly.2 Galileo con 1 Op. viii. p. 231, note 2; Nelli, p. 318; Venturi, vol. i. pp. 195, 196. 2 Dated 4th May, 14th August, and 1st December, 1612. |