_Letter to Christina, Arch-Duchess of Tuscany—Caccini—Galileo
revisits Rome—Inchoffer—Problem of Longitudes._
THE uncompromising boldness with which Galileo published and supported
his opinions, with little regard to the power and authority of those who
advocated the contrary doctrines, had raised against him a host of
enemies, who each had objections to him peculiar to themselves, but who
now began to perceive the policy of uniting their strength in the common
cause, to crush if possible so dangerous an innovator. All the
professors of the old opinions, who suddenly found the knowledge on
which their reputation was founded struck from under them, and who could
not reconcile themselves to their new situation of learners, were united
against him; and to this powerful cabal was now added the still greater
influence of the jesuits and pseudo-theological party, who fancied they
saw in the spirit of Galileo's writings the same inquisitive temper
which they had already found so inconvenient in Luther and his
adherents. The alarm became greater every day, inasmuch as Galileo had
succeeded in training round him a numerous band of followers who all
appeared imbued with the same dangerous spirit of innovation, and his
favourite scholars were successful candidates for professorships in many
of the most celebrated universities of Italy.
At the close of 1613, Galileo addressed a letter to his pupil, the Abbé
Castelli, in which he endeavoured to shew that there is as much
difficulty in reconciling the Ptolemaic as the Copernican system of the
world with the astronomical expressions contained in the Scriptures, and
asserted, that the object of the Scriptures not being to teach
astronomy, such expressions are there used as would be intelligible and
conformable to the vulgar belief, without regard to the true structure
of the universe; which argument he afterwards amplified in a letter
addressed to Christina, Grand Duchess of Tuscany, the mother of his
patron Cosmo. He discourses on this subject with the moderation and good
sense which so peculiarly characterized him. "I am," says he, "inclined
to believe, that the intention of the sacred Scriptures is to give to
mankind the information necessary for their salvation, and which,
surpassing all human knowledge, can by no other means be accredited than
by the mouth of the Holy Spirit. But I do not hold it necessary to
believe, that the same God who has endowed us with senses, with speech,
and intellect, intended that we should neglect the use of these, and
seek by other means for knowledge which they are sufficient to procure
us; especially in a science like astronomy, of which so little notice is
taken in the Scriptures, that none of the planets, except the sun and
moon, and, once or twice only, Venus under the name of Lucifer, are so
much as named there. This therefore being granted, methinks that in the
discussion of natural problems we ought not to begin at the authority of
texts of Scripture, but at sensible experiments and necessary
demonstrations: for, from the divine word, the sacred Scripture and
nature did both alike proceed, and I conceive that, concerning natural
effects, that which either sensible experience sets before our eyes, or
necessary demonstrations do prove unto us, ought not upon any account to
be called into question, much less condemned, upon the testimony of
Scriptural texts, which may under their words couch senses seemingly
contrary thereto.
"Again, to command the very professors of astronomy that they of
themselves see to the confuting of their own observations and
demonstrations, is to enjoin a thing beyond all possibility of doing;
for it is not only to command them not to see that which they do see,
and not to understand that which they do understand, but it is to order
them to seek for and to find the contrary of that which they happen to
meet with. I would entreat these wise and prudent fathers, that they
would with all diligence consider the difference that is between
opinionative and demonstrative doctrines: to the end that well weighing
in their minds with what force necessary inferences urge us, they might
the better assure themselves that it is not in the power of the
professors of demonstrative sciences to change their opinions at
pleasure, and adopt first one side and then another; and that there is a
great difference between commanding a mathematician or a philosopher,
and the disposing of a lawyer or a merchant; and that the demonstrated
conclusions touching the things of nature and of the heavens cannot be
changed with the same facility as the opinions are touching what is
lawful or not in a contract, bargain, or bill of exchange. Therefore,
first let these men apply themselves to examine the arguments of
Copernicus and others, and leave the condemning of them as erroneous and
heretical to whom it belongeth; yet let them not hope to find such rash
and precipitous determinations in the wary and holy fathers, or in the
absolute wisdom of him who cannot err, as those into which they suffer
themselves to be hurried by some particular affection or interest of
their own. In these and such other positions, which are not directly
articles of faith, certainly no man doubts but His Holiness hath always
an absolute power of admitting or condemning them, but it is not in the
power of any creature to make them to be true or false, otherwise than
of their own nature, and in fact they are." We have been more particular
in extracting these passages, because it has been advanced by a writer
of high reputation, that the treatment which Galileo subsequently
experienced was solely in consequence of his persisting in the endeavour
to prove that the Scriptures were reconcileable with the Copernican
theory[74], whereas we see here distinctly that, for the reasons we have
briefly stated, he regarded this as a matter altogether indifferent and
beside the question.
Galileo had not entered upon this discussion till driven to it by a most
indecent attack, made on him from the pulpit, by a Dominican friar named
Caccini, who thought it not unbecoming his habit or religion to play
upon the words of a Scriptural text for the purpose of attacking Galileo
and his partisans with more personality.[75] Galileo complained formally
of Caccini's conduct to Luigi Maraffi the general of the Dominicans, who
apologised amply to him, adding that he himself was to be pitied for
finding himself implicated in all the brutal conduct of thirty or forty
thousand monks.
In the mean time, the inquisitors at Rome had taken the alarm, and were
already, in 1615, busily employed in collecting evidence against
Galileo. Lorini, a brother Dominican of Caccini, had given them notice
of the letter to Castelli of which we have spoken, and the utmost
address was employed to get the original into their hands, which attempt
however was frustrated, as Castelli had returned it to the writer.
Caccini was sent for to Rome, settled there with the title of Master of
the Convent of St. Mary of Minerva, and employed to put the depositions
against Galileo into order. Galileo was not at this time fully aware of
the machinations against him, but suspecting something of their nature,
he solicited and obtained permission from Cosmo, towards the end of
1615, to make a journey to Rome, for the purpose of more directly
confronting his enemies in that city. There was a rumour at the time
that this visit was not voluntary, but that Galileo had been cited to
appear at Rome. A contemporary declares that he heard this from Galileo
himself: at any rate, in a letter which Galileo shortly afterwards wrote
to Picchena, the Grand Duke's secretary, he expresses himself well
satisfied with the results of this step, whether forced or not, and
Querenghi thus describes to the Cardinal d'Este the public effect of his
appearance: "Your Eminence would be delighted with Galileo if you heard
him holding forth, as he often does, in the midst of fifteen or twenty,
all violently attacking him, sometimes in one house, sometimes in
another. But he is armed after such fashion that he laughs all of them
to scorn—and even if the novelty of his opinions prevents entire
persuasion, at least he convicts of emptiness most of the arguments with
which his adversaries endeavour to overwhelm him. He was particularly
admirable on Monday last, in the house of Signor Frederico Ghisilieri;
and what especially pleased me was, that before replying to the contrary
arguments, he amplified and enforced them with new grounds of great
plausibility, so as to leave his adversaries in a more ridiculous plight
when he afterwards overturned them all."
Among the malicious stories which were put into circulation, it had been
said, that the Grand Duke had withdrawn his favour, which emboldened
many, who would not otherwise have ventured on such open opposition, to
declare against Galileo. His appearance at Rome, where he was lodged in
the palace of Cosmo's ambassador, and whence he kept up a close
correspondence with the Grand Duke's family, put an immediate stop to
rumours of this kind. In little more than a month he was apparently
triumphant, so far as regarded himself; but the question now began to be
agitated whether the whole system of Copernicus ought not to be
condemned as impious and heretical. Galileo again writes to Picchena,
"so far as concerns the clearing of my own character, I might return
home immediately; but although this new question regards me no more than
all those who for the last eighty years have supported these opinions
both in public and private, yet, as perhaps I may be of some assistance
in that part of the discussion which depends on the knowledge of truths
ascertained by means of the sciences which I profess, I, as a zealous
and Catholic Christian, neither can nor ought to withhold that
assistance which my knowledge affords; and this business keeps me
sufficiently employed." De Lambre, whose readiness to depreciate
Galileo's merit we have already noticed and lamented, sneeringly and
ungratefully remarks on this part of his life, that "it was scarcely
worth while to compromise his tranquillity and reputation, in order to
become the champion of a truth which could not fail every day to acquire
new partisans by the natural effect of the progress of enlightened
opinions." We need not stop to consider what the natural effects might
have been if none had at any time been found who thought their
tranquillity worthily offered up in such a cause.
It has been hinted by several, and is indeed probable, that Galileo's
stay at Rome rather injured the cause (so far as provoking the
inquisitorial censures could injure it) which it was his earnest desire
to serve, for we cannot often enough repeat the assertion, that it was
not the doctrine itself, so much as the free, unyielding manner in which
it was supported, which was originally obnoxious. Copernicus had been
allowed to dedicate his great work to Pope Paul III., and from the time
of its first appearance under that sanction in 1543, to the year 1616,
of which we are now writing, this theory was left in the hands of
mathematicians and philosophers, who alternately attacked and defended
it without receiving either support or molestation from ecclesiastical
decrees. But this was henceforward no longer the case, and a higher
degree of importance was given to the controversy from the religious
heresies which were asserted to be involved in the new opinions. We have
already given specimens of the so called philosophical arguments brought
against Copernicus; and the reader may be curious to know the form of
the theological ones. Those which we select are taken from a work, which
indeed did not come forth till the time of Galileo's third visit to
Rome, but it is relative to the matter now before us, as it professed to
be, and its author's party affected to consider it, a complete
refutation of the letters to Castelli and the Archduchess Christina.[76]
It was the work of a Jesuit, Melchior Inchoffer, and it was greatly
extolled by his companions, "as differing so entirely from the pruriency
of the Pythagorean writings." He quotes with approbation an author who,
first referring to the first verse of Genesis for an argument that the
earth was not created till after the heavens, observes that the whole
question is thus reduced to the examination of this purely geometrical
difficulty—In the formation of a sphere, does the centre or
circumference first come into existence? If the latter (which we presume
Melchior's friend found good reason for deciding upon), the consequence
is inevitable. The earth is in the centre of the universe.
It may not be unprofitable to contrast the extracts which we have given
from Galileo's letters on the same subject with the following passage,
which appears one of the most subtle and argumentative which is to be
found in Melchior's book. He _professes_ to be enumerating and refuting
the principal arguments which the Copernicans adduced for the motion of
the earth. "Fifth argument. Hell is in the centre of the earth, and in
it is a fire tormenting the damned; therefore it is absolutely necessary
that the earth is moveable. The antecedent is plain." (Inchoffer then
quotes a number of texts of Scripture on which, according to him, the
Copernicans relied in proof of this part of the argument.) "The
consequent is proved: because fire is the cause of motion, for which
reason Pythagoras, who, as Aristotle reports, puts the place of
punishment in the centre, perceived that the earth is animate and
endowed with action. I answer, even allowing that hell is in the centre
of the earth, and a fire in it, I deny the consequence: and for proof I
say, if the argument is worth any thing, it proves also that lime-kilns,
ovens, and fire-grates are animated and spontaneously moveable. I say,
_even allowing_ that hell is in the centre of the earth: for Gregory,
book 4, dial. chap. 42, says, that he dare not decide rashly on this
matter, although he thinks more probable the opinion of those who say
that it is under the earth. St. Thomas, in Opusc. 10, art. 31, says:
Where hell is, whether in the centre of the earth or at the surface,
does not in my opinion, relate to any article of faith; and it is
superfluous to be solicitous about such things, either in asserting or
denying them. And Opusc. 11, art. 24, he says, that it seems to him that
nothing should be rashly asserted on this matter, particularly as
Augustin thinks that nobody knows where it is; but I do not, says he,
think that it is in the centre of the earth. I should be loth, however,
that it should be hence inferred by _some people_ that hell is in the
earth, that we are ignorant where hell is, and therefore that the
situation of the earth is also unknown, and, in conclusion, that it
cannot therefore be the centre of the universe. The argument shall be
retorted in another fashion: for if the place of the earth is unknown,
it cannot be said to be in a great circle, so as to be moved round the
sun. Finally I say that in fact it is known where the earth is."
It is not impossible that some persons adopted the Copernican theory,
from an affectation of singularity and freethinking, without being able
to give very sound reasons for their change of opinion, of whom we have
an instance in Origanus, the astrological instructor of Wallenstein's
famous attendant Seni, who edited his work. His arguments in favour of
the earth's motion are quite on a level with those advanced on the
opposite side in favour of its immobility; but we have not found any
traces whatever of such absurdities as these having been urged by any of
the leaders of that party, and it is far more probable that they are the
creatures of Melchior's own imagination. At any rate it is worth
remarking how completely he disregards the real physical arguments,
which he ought, in justice to his cause, to have attempted to
controvert. His book was aimed at Galileo and his adherents, and it is
scarcely possible that he could seriously persuade himself that he was
stating and overturning arguments similar to those by which Galileo had
made so many converts to the opinions of Copernicus. Whatever may be our
judgment of his candour, we may at least feel assured that if this had
indeed been a fair specimen of Galileo's philosophy, he might to the end
of his life have taught that the earth moved round the sun, or if his
fancy led him to a different hypothesis, he might like the Abbé Baliani
have sent the earth spinning round the stationary moon, and like him
have remained unmolested by pontifical censures. It is true that Baliani
owned his opinion to be much shaken, on observing it to be opposed to
the decree of those in whose hands was placed the power of judging
articles of faith. But Galileo's uncompromising spirit of analytical
investigation, and the sober but invincible force of reasoning with
which he beat down every sophism opposed to him, the instruments with
which he worked, were more odious than the work itself, and the
condemnation which he had vainly hoped to avert was probably on his very
account accelerated.
Galileo, according to his own story, had in March 1616 a most gracious
audience of the pope, Paul V., which lasted for nearly an hour, at the
end of which his holiness assured him, that the Congregation were no
longer in a humour to listen lightly to calumnies against him, and that
so long as he occupied the papal chair, Galileo might think himself out
of all danger. But nevertheless he was not allowed to return home,
without receiving formal notice not to teach the opinions of
Copernicus, that the sun is in the centre of the system, and that the
earth moves about it, from that time forward, in any manner. That these
were the literal orders given to Galileo will be presently proved from
the recital of them in the famous decree against him, seventeen years
later. For the present, his letters which we have mentioned, as well as
one of a similar tendency by Foscarini, a Carmelite friar—a commentary
on the book of Joshua by a Spaniard named Diego Zuniga—Kepler's Epitome
of the Copernican Theory—and Copernicus's own work, were inserted in
the list of forbidden books, nor was it till four years afterwards, in
1620, that, on reconsideration, Copernicus was allowed to be read with
certain omissions and alterations then decided upon.
Galileo quitted Rome scarcely able to conceal his contempt and
indignation. Two years afterwards this spirit had but little subsided,
for in forwarding to the Archduke Leopold his Theory of the Tides, he
accompanied it with the following remarks:—"This theory occurred to me
when in Rome, whilst the theologians were debating on the prohibition of
Copernicus's book, and of the opinion maintained in it of the motion of
the earth, which I at that time believed; until it pleased those
gentlemen to suspend the book, and declare the opinion false and
repugnant to the Holy Scriptures. Now, as I know how well it becomes me
to obey and believe the decisions of my superiors, which proceed out of
more profound knowledge than the weakness of my intellect can attain to,
this theory which I send you, which is founded on the motion of the
earth, I now look upon as a fiction and a dream, and beg your highness
to receive it as such. But, as poets often learn to prize the creations
of their fancy, so, in like manner, do I set some value on this
absurdity of mine. It is true that when I sketched this little work, I
did hope that Copernicus would not, after 80 years, be convicted of
error, and I had intended to develope and amplify it farther, but a
voice from heaven suddenly awakened me, and at once annihilated all my
confused and entangled fancies."
It might have been predicted, from the tone of this letter alone, that
it would not be long before Galileo would again bring himself under the
censuring notice of the astronomical hierarchy, and indeed he had, so
early as 1610, collected some of the materials for the work which caused
the final explosion, and on which he now employed himself with as little
intermission as the weak state of his health permitted.
He had been before this time engaged in a correspondence with the court
of Spain, on the method of observing longitudes at sea, for the solution
of which important problem Philip III. had offered a considerable
reward, an example which has since been followed in our own and other
countries. Galileo had no sooner discovered Jupiter's satellites, than
he recognized the use which might be made of them for that purpose, and
devoted himself with peculiar assiduity to acquiring as perfect a
knowledge as possible of their revolutions. The reader will easily
understand how they were to be used, if their motion could be so well
ascertained as to enable Galileo at Florence to predict the exact times
at which any remarkable configurations would occur, as, for instance,
the times at which any one of them would be eclipsed by Jupiter. A
mariner who in the middle of the Atlantic should observe the same
eclipse, and compare the time of night at which he made the observation
(which he might know by setting his watch by the sun on the preceding
day) with the time mentioned in the predictions, would, from the
difference between the two, learn the difference between the hour at
Florence and the hour at the place where the ship at that time happened
to be. As the earth turns uniformly round through 360° of longitude in
24 hours, that is, through 15° in each hour, the hours, minutes, and
seconds of time which express this difference must be multiplied by 15,
and the respective products will give the degrees, minutes, and seconds
of longitude, by which the ship was then distant from Florence. This
statement is merely intended to give those who are unacquainted with
astronomy, a general idea of the manner in which it was proposed to use
these satellites. Our moon had already been occasionally employed in the
same way, but the comparative frequency of the eclipses of Jupiter's
moons, and the suddenness with which they disappear, gives a decided
advantage to the new method. Both methods were embarrassed by the
difficulty of observing the eclipses at sea. In addition to this, it was
requisite, in both methods, that the sailors should be provided with
accurate means of knowing the hour, wherever they might chance to be,
which was far from being the case, for although (in order not to
interrupt the explanation) we have above spoken of their _watches_, yet
the watches and clocks of that day were not such as could be relied on
sufficiently, during the interval which must necessarily occur between
the two observations. This consideration led Galileo to reflect on the
use which might be made of his pendulum for this purpose; and, with
respect to the other difficulty, he contrived a peculiar kind of
telescope, with which he flattered himself, somewhat prematurely, that
it would be as easy to observe on ship-board as on shore.
During his stay at Rome, in 1615, and the following year, he disclosed
some of these ideas to the Conte di Lemos, the viceroy of Naples, who
had been president of the council of the Spanish Indies, and was fully
aware of the importance of the matter. Galileo was in consequence
invited to communicate directly with the Duke of Lerma, the Spanish
minister, and instructions were accordingly sent by Cosmo, to the Conte
Orso d'Elci, his ambassador at Madrid, to conduct the business there.
Galileo entered warmly into the design, of which he had no other means
of verifying the practicability; for as he says in one of his letters to
Spain—"Your excellency may well believe that if this were an
undertaking which I could conclude by myself, I would never have gone
about begging favours from others; but in my study there are neither
seas, nor Indies, nor islands, nor ports, nor shoals, nor ships, for
which reason I am compelled to share the enterprise with great
personages, and to fatigue myself to procure the acceptance of that,
which ought with eagerness to be asked of me; but I console myself with
the reflection that I am not singular in this, but that it commonly
happens, with the exception of a little reputation, and that too often
obscured and blackened by envy, that the least part of the advantage
falls to the share of the inventors of things, which afterwards bring
great gain, honours, and riches to others; so that I will never cease on
my part to do every thing in my power, and I am ready to leave here all
my comforts, my country, my friends, and family, and to cross over into
Spain, to stay as long as I may be wanted in Seville, or Lisbon, or
wherever it may be convenient, to implant the knowledge of this method,
provided that due assistance and diligence be not wanting on the part of
those who are to receive it, and who should solicit and foster it." But
he could not, with all his enthusiasm, rouse the attention of the
Spanish court. The negotiation languished, and although occasionally
renewed during the next ten or twelve years, was never brought to a
satisfactory issue. Some explanation of this otherwise unaccountable
apathy of the Spanish court, with regard to the solution of a problem
which they had certainly much at heart, is given in Nelli's life of
Galileo; where it is asserted, on the authority of the Florentine
records, that Cosmo required privately from Spain, (in return for the
permission granted for Galileo to leave Florence, in pursuance of this
design,) the privilege of sending every year from Leghorn two
merchantmen, duty free, to the Spanish Indies.
FOOTNOTES:
[74] Ce philosophe (Galilée) ne fut point persecuté comme bon astronome,
mais comme mauvais théologien. C'est son entêtement à vouloir concilier
la Bible avec Copernic qui lui donna des juges. Mais vingt auteurs,
surtout parmi les protestans, ont écrit que Galilée fut persecuté et
imprisonné pour avoir soutenu que la terre tourne autour du soleil, que
ce système a été condanné par l'inquisition comme faux, erroné et
contraire à la Bible, &c.—Bergier, Encyclopédie Méthodique, Paris,
1790, Art. SCIENCES HUMAINES.
[75] Viri Galilæi, quid statis adspicientes in cœlum. _Acts_ I. 11.
[76] Tractatus Syllepticus. Romæ, 1633. The title-page of this
remarkable production is decorated with an emblematical figure,
representing the earth included in a triangle; and in the three corners,
grasping the globe with their fore feet, are placed three bees, the arms
of Pope Urban VIII. who condemned Galileo and his writings. The motto is
"_His fixa quiescit_," "Fixed by these it is at rest."