Pontifical chair, Galileo went to Rome again, to offer his
congratulations to the new Pope, as well as to propitiate his favor. He
seems to have been received with unexpected cordiality; and, on his
departure, the Pope commended him to the good graces of Ferdinand, Grand
Duke of Tuscany, in the following terms: "We find in him not only
literary distinction, but also the love of piety, and he is strong in
those qualities by which Pontifical good-will is easily obtained. And
now, when he has been brought to this city, to congratulate Us on Our
elevation, We have lovingly embraced him; nor can We suffer him to
return to the country whither your liberality recalls him, without an
ample provision of Pontifical love. And that you may know how dear he is
to Us, we have willed to give him this honorable testimonial of virtue
and piety. And We further signify, that every benefit which you shall
confer upon him will conduce to Our gratification."
In the year 1630, Galileo finished a great work, on which he had been
long engaged, entitled, 'The Dialogue on the Ptolemaic and Copernican
Systems.' From the notion which prevailed, that he still countenanced
the Copernican doctrine of the earth's motion, which had been condemned
as heretical, it was some time before he could obtain permission from
the Inquisitors (whose license was necessary to every book) to publish
it. This he was able to do, only by employing again that duplicity or
artifice which would throw dust in the eyes of the vain and
superstitious priesthood. In 1632, the work appeared under the following
title: 'A Dialogue, by Galileo Galilei, Extraordinary Mathematician of
the University of Pisa, and Principal Philosopher and Mathematician of
the Most Serene Grand Duke of Tuscany; in which, in a Conversation of
four days, are discussed the two principal Systems of the World, the
Ptolemaic and Copernican, indeterminately proposing the Philosophical
Arguments as well on one side as on the other.' The subtle disguise
which he wore, may be seen from the following extract from his
'Introduction,' addressed 'To the discreet Reader.'
"Some years ago, a salutary edict was promulgated at Rome, which, in
order to obviate the perilous scandals of the present age, enjoined an
opportune silence on the Pythagorean opinion of the earth's motion. Some
were not wanting, who rashly asserted that this decree originated, not
in a judicious examination, but in ill-informed passion; and complaints
were heard, that counsellors totally inexperienced in astronomical
observations ought not, by hasty prohibitions, to clip the wings of
speculative minds. My zeal could not keep silence when I heard these
rash lamentations, and I thought it proper, as being fully informed with
regard to that most prudent determination, to appear publicly on the
theatre of the world, as a witness of the actual truth. I happened at
that time to be in Rome: I was admitted to the audiences, and enjoyed
the approbation, of the most eminent prelates of that court; nor did the
publication of that decree occur without my receiving some prior
intimation of it. Wherefore, it is my intention, in this present work,
to show to foreign nations, that as much is known of this matter in
Italy, and particularly in Rome, as ultramontane diligence can ever have
formed any notion of, and collecting together all my own speculations on
the Copernican system, to give them to understand that the knowledge of
all these preceded the Roman censures; and that from this country
proceed not only dogmas for the salvation of the soul, but also
ingenious discoveries for the gratification of the understanding. With
this object, I have taken up in the 'Dialogue' the Copernican side of
the question, treating it as a pure mathematical hypothesis; and
endeavoring, in every artificial manner, to represent it as having the
advantage, not over the opinion of the stability of the earth
absolutely, but according to the manner in which that opinion is
defended by some, who indeed profess to be Aristotelians, but retain
only the name, and are contented, without improvement, to worship
shadows, not philosophizing with their own reason, but only from the
recollection of the four principles imperfectly understood."
Although the Pope himself, as well as the Inquisitors, had examined
Galileo's manuscript, and, not having the sagacity to detect the real
motives of the author, had consented to its publication, yet, when the
book was out, the enemies of Galileo found means to alarm the court of
Rome, and Galileo was summoned to appear before the Inquisition. The
philosopher was then seventy years old, and very infirm, and it was with
great difficulty that he performed the journey. His unequalled dignity
and celebrity, however, commanded the involuntary respect of the
tribunal before which he was summoned, which they manifested by
permitting him to reside at the palace of his friend, the Tuscan
Ambassador; and when it became necessary, in the course of the inquiry,
to examine him in person, although his removal to the Holy Office was
then insisted upon, yet he was not, like other heretics, committed to
close and solitary confinement. On the contrary, he was lodged in the
apartments of the Head of the Inquisition, where he was allowed the
attendance of his own servant, who was also permitted to sleep in an
adjoining room, and to come and go at pleasure. These were deemed
extraordinary indulgences in an age when the punishment of heretics
usually began before their trial.
About four months after Galileo's arrival in Rome, he was summoned to
the Holy Office. He was detained there during the whole of that day; and
on the next day was conducted, in a penitential dress, to the Convent of
Minerva, where the Cardinals and Prelates, his judges, were assembled
for the purpose of passing judgement upon him, by which this venerable
old man was solemnly called upon to renounce and abjure, as impious and
heretical, the opinions which his whole existence had been consecrated
to form and strengthen. Probably there is not a more curious document in
the history of science, than that which contains the sentence of the
Inquisition on Galileo, and his consequent abjuration. It teaches us so
much, both of the darkness and bigotry of the terrible Inquisition, and
of the sufferings encountered by those early martyrs of science, that I
will transcribe for your perusal, from the excellent 'Life of Galileo'
in the 'Library of Useful Knowledge,' (from which I have borrowed much
already,) the entire record of this transaction. The sentence of the
Inquisition is as follows:
"We, the undersigned, by the grace of God, Cardinals of the Holy Roman
Church, Inquisitors General throughout the whole Christian Republic,
Special Deputies of the Holy Apostolical Chair against heretical
depravity:
"Whereas, you, Galileo, son of the late Vincenzo Galilei of Florence,
aged seventy years, were denounced in 1615, to this Holy Office, for
holding as true a false doctrine taught by many, namely, that the sun is
immovable in the centre of the world, and that the earth moves, and also
with a diurnal motion; also, for having pupils which you instructed in
the same opinions; also, for maintaining a correspondence on the same
with some German mathematicians; also, for publishing certain letters on
the solar spots, in which you developed the same doctrine as true; also,
for answering the objections which were continually produced from the
Holy Scriptures, by glozing the said Scriptures, according to your own
meaning; and whereas, thereupon was produced the copy of a writing, in
form of a letter, professedly written by you to a person formerly your
pupil, in which, following the hypothesis of Copernicus, you include
several propositions contrary to the true sense and authority of the
Holy Scriptures: therefore, this Holy Tribunal, being desirous of
providing against the disorder and mischief which was thence proceeding
and increasing, to the detriment of the holy faith, by the desire of His
Holiness, and of the Most Eminent Lords Cardinals of this supreme and
universal Inquisition, the two propositions of the stability of the sun,
and motion of the earth, were _qualified_ by the _Theological
Qualifiers_, as follows:
"1. The proposition that the sun is in the centre of the world, and
immovable from its place, is absurd, philosophically false, and formally
heretical; because it is expressly contrary to the Holy Scriptures.
"2. The proposition that the earth is not the centre of the world, nor
immovable, but that it moves, and also with a diurnal motion, is also
absurd, philosophically false, and, theologically considered, equally
erroneous in faith.
"But whereas, being pleased at that time to deal mildly with you, it was
decreed in the Holy Congregation, held before His Holiness on the
twenty-fifth day of February, 1616, that His Eminence the Lord Cardinal
Bellarmine should enjoin you to give up altogether the said false
doctrine; if you should refuse, that you should be ordered by the
Commissary of the Holy Office to relinquish it, not to teach it to
others, nor to defend it, and in default of the acquiescence, that you
should be imprisoned; and in execution of this decree, on the following
day, at the palace, in presence of His Eminence the said Lord Cardinal
Bellarmine, after you had been mildly admonished by the said Lord
Cardinal, you were commanded by the acting Commissary of the Holy
Office, before a notary and witnesses, to relinquish altogether the said
false opinion, and in future neither to defend nor teach it in any
manner, neither verbally nor in writing, and upon your promising
obedience, you were dismissed.
"And, in order that so pernicious a doctrine might be altogether rooted
out, nor insinuate itself further to the heavy detriment of the Catholic
truth, a decree emanated from the Holy Congregation of the Index,
prohibiting the books which treat of this doctrine; and it was declared
false, and altogether contrary to the Holy and Divine Scripture.
"And whereas, a book has since appeared, published at Florence last
year, the title of which showed that you were the author, which title
is, '_The Dialogue of Galileo Galilei, on the two principal Systems of
the World, the Ptolemaic and Copernican_;' and whereas, the Holy
Congregation has heard that, in consequence of printing the said book,
the false opinion of the earth's motion and stability of the sun is
daily gaining ground; the said book has been taken into careful
consideration, and in it has been detected a glaring violation of the
said order, which had been intimated to you; inasmuch as in this book
you have defended the said opinion, already, and in your presence,
condemned; although in the said book you labor, with many
circumlocutions, to induce the belief that it is left by you undecided,
and in express terms probable; which is equally a very grave error,
since an opinion can in no way be probable which has been already
declared and finally determined contrary to the Divine Scripture.
Therefore, by Our order, you have been cited to this Holy Office, where,
on your examination upon oath, you have acknowledged the said book as
written and printed by you. You also confessed that you began to write
the said book ten or twelve years ago, after the order aforesaid had
been given. Also, that you demanded license to publish it, but without
signifying to those who granted you this permission, that you had been
commanded not to hold, defend, or teach, the said doctrine in any
manner. You also confessed, that the style of said book was, in many
places, so composed, that the reader might think the arguments adduced
on the false side to be so worded, as more effectually to entangle the
understanding than to be easily solved, alleging, in excuse, that you
have thus run into an error, foreign (as you say) to your intention,
from writing in the form of a dialogue, and in consequence of the
natural complacency which every one feels with regard to his own
subtilties, and in showing himself more skilful than the generality of
mankind in contriving, even in favor of false propositions, ingenious
and apparently probable arguments.
"And, upon a convenient time being given you for making your defence,
you produced a certificate in the handwriting of His Eminence, the Lord
Cardinal Bellarmine, procured, as you said, by yourself, that you might
defend yourself against the calumnies of your enemies, who reported that
you had abjured your opinions, and had been punished by the Holy Office;
in which certificate it is declared, that you had not abjured, nor had
been punished, but merely that the declaration made by his Holiness, and
promulgated by the Holy Congregation of the Index, had been announced to
you, which declares that the opinion of the motion of the earth, and
stability of the sun, is contrary to the Holy Scriptures, and therefore
cannot be held or defended. Wherefore, since no mention is there made of
two articles of the order, to wit, the order 'not to teach,' and 'in any
manner,' you argued that we ought to believe that, in the lapse of
fourteen or sixteen years, they had escaped your memory, and that this
was also the reason why you were silent as to the order, when you sought
permission to publish your book, and that this is said by you, not to
excuse your error, but that it may be attributed to vain-glorious
ambition rather than to malice. But this very certificate, produced on
your behalf, has greatly aggravated your offence, since it is therein
declared, that the said opinion is contrary to the Holy Scriptures, and
yet you have dared to treat of it, and to argue that it is probable; nor
is there any extenuation in the license artfully and cunningly extorted
by you, since you did not intimate the command imposed upon you. But
whereas, it appeared to Us that you had not disclosed the whole truth
with regard to your intentions, We thought it necessary to proceed to
the rigorous examination of you, in which (without any prejudice to what
you had confessed, and which is above detailed against you, with regard
to your said intention) you answered like a good Catholic.
"Therefore, having seen and maturely considered the merits of your
cause, with your said confessions and excuses, and every thing else
which ought to be seen and considered, We have come to the underwritten
final sentence against you:
"Invoking, therefore, the most holy name of our Lord Jesus Christ, and
of his Most Glorious Virgin Mother, Mary, by this Our final sentence,
which, sitting in council and judgement for the tribunal of the Reverend
Masters of Sacred Theology, and Doctors of both Laws, Our Assessors, We
put forth in this writing touching the matters and controversies before
Us, between the Magnificent Charles Sincerus, Doctor of both Laws,
Fiscal Proctor of this Holy Office, of the one part, and you, Galileo
Galilei, an examined and confessed criminal from this present writing
now in progress, as above, of the other part, We pronounce, judge, and
declare, that you, the said Galileo, by reason of these things which
have been detailed in the course of this writing, and which, as above,
you have confessed, have rendered yourself vehemently suspected, by this
Holy Office, of heresy; that is to say, that you believe and hold the
false doctrine, and contrary to the Holy and Divine Scriptures, namely,
that the sun is the centre of the world, and that it does not move from
east to west, and that the earth does move, and is not the centre of the
world; also, that an opinion can be held and supported, as probable,
after it has been declared and finally decreed contrary to the Holy
Scripture, and consequently, that you have incurred all the censures and
penalties enjoined and promulgated in the sacred canons, and other
general and particular constitutions against delinquents of this
description. From which it is Our pleasure that you be absolved,
provided that, with a sincere heart and unfeigned faith, in Our
presence, you abjure, curse, and detest, the said errors and heresies,
and every other error and heresy, contrary to the Catholic and Apostolic
Church of Rome, in the form now shown to you.
"But that your grievous and pernicious error and transgression may not
go altogether unpunished, and that you may be made more cautious in
future, and may be a warning to others to abstain from delinquencies of
this sort, We decree, that the book of the Dialogues of Galileo Galilei
be prohibited by a public edict, and We condemn you to the formal prison
of this Holy Office for a period determinable at Our pleasure; and, by
way of salutary penance, We order you, during the next three years, to
recite, once a week, the seven penitential psalms, reserving to
Ourselves the power of moderating, commuting, or taking off the whole or
part of the said punishment, or penance.
"And so We say, pronounce, and by Our sentence declare, decree, and
reserve, in this and in every other better form and manner, which
lawfully We may and can use. So We, the subscribing Cardinals,
pronounce." [Subscribed by seven Cardinals.]
In conformity with the foregoing sentence, Galileo was made to kneel
before the Inquisition, and make the following _Abjuration_:
"I, Galileo Galilei, son of the late Vincenzo Galilei, of Florence, aged
seventy years, being brought personally to judgement, and kneeling
before you, Most Eminent and Most Reverend Lords Cardinals, General
Inquisitors of the Universal Christian Republic against heretical
depravity, having before my eyes the Holy Gospels, which I touch with my
own hands, swear, that I have always believed, and with the help of God
will in future believe, every article which the Holy Catholic and
Apostolic Church of Rome holds, teaches, and preaches. But because I had
been enjoined, by this Holy Office, altogether to abandon the false
opinion which maintains that the sun is the centre and immovable, and
forbidden to hold, defend, or teach, the said false doctrine, in any
manner: and after it had been signified to me that the said doctrine is
repugnant to the Holy Scripture, I have written and printed a book, in
which I treat of the same doctrine now condemned, and adduce reasons
with great force in support of the same, without giving any solution,
and therefore have been judged grievously suspected of heresy; that is
to say, that I held and believed that the sun is the centre of the world
and immovable, and that the earth is not the centre and movable;
willing, therefore, to remove from the minds of Your Eminences, and of
every Catholic Christian, this vehement suspicion rightfully entertained
towards me, with a sincere heart and unfeigned faith, I abjure, curse,
and defeat, the said errors and heresies, and generally every other
error and sect contrary to the said Holy Church; and I swear, that I
will never more in future say or assert any thing, verbally or in
writing, which may give rise to a similar suspicion of me: but if I
shall know any heretic, or any one suspected of heresy, that I will
denounce him to this Holy Office, or to the Inquisitor and Ordinary of
the place in which I may be. I swear, moreover, and promise, that I will
fulfil and observe fully, all the penances which have been or shall be
laid on me by this Holy Office. But if it shall happen that I violate
any of my said promises, oaths, and protestations, (which God avert!) I
subject myself to all the pains and punishments which have been decreed
and promulgated by the sacred canons, and other general and particular
constitutions, against delinquents of this description. So may God help
me, and his Holy Gospels, which I touch with my own hands. I, the
above-named Galileo Galilei, have abjured, sworn, promised, and bound
myself, as above; and in witness thereof, with my own hand have
subscribed this present writing of my abjuration, which I have recited,
word for word.
"At Rome, in the Convent of Minerva, twenty-second June, 1633, I,
Galileo Galilei, have abjured as above, with my own hand."
From the court Galileo was conducted to prison, to be immured for life
in one of the dungeons of the Inquisition. His sentence was afterwards
mitigated, and he was permitted to return to Florence; but the
humiliation to which he had been subjected pressed heavily on his
spirits, beset as he was with infirmities, and totally blind, and he
never more talked or wrote on the subject of astronomy.
There was enough in the character of Galileo to command a high
admiration. There was much, also, in his sufferings in the cause of
science, to excite the deepest sympathy, and even compassion. He is
moreover universally represented to have been a man of great equanimity,
and of a noble and generous disposition. No scientific character of the
age, or perhaps of any age, forms a structure of finer proportions, or
wears in a higher degree the grace of symmetry. Still, we cannot approve
of his employing artifice in the promulgation of truth; and we are
compelled to lament that his lofty spirit bowed in the final conflict.
How far, therefore, he sinks below the dignity of the Christian martyr!
"At the age of seventy," says Dr. Brewster, in his life of Sir Isaac
Newton, "on his bended knees, and with his right hand resting on the
Holy Evangelists, did this patriarch of science avow his present and
past belief in the dogmas of the Romish Church, abandon as false and
heretical the doctrine of the earth's motion and of the sun's
immobility, and pledge himself to denounce to the Inquisition any other
person who was even suspected of heresy. He abjured, cursed, and
detested, those eternal and immutable truths which the Almighty had
permitted him to be the first to establish. Had Galileo but added the
courage of the martyr to the wisdom of the sage; had he carried the
glance of his indignant eye round the circle of his judges; had he
lifted his hands to heaven, and called the living God to witness the
truth and immutability of his opinions; the bigotry of his enemies would
have been disarmed, and science would have enjoyed a memorable triumph."
LETTER XXIII.
SATURN.--URANUS.--ASTEROIDS.
"Into the Heaven of Heavens I have presumed,
An earthly guest, and drawn empyreal air."--_Milton._
THE consideration of the system of Jupiter and his satellites led us to
review the interesting history of Galileo, who first, by means of the
telescope, disclosed the knowledge of that system to the world. I will
now proceed with the other superior planets.
Saturn, as well as Jupiter, has within itself a system on a scale of
great magnificence. In size it is next to Jupiter the largest of the
planets, being seventy-nine thousand miles in diameter, or about one
thousand times as large as the earth. It has likewise belts on its
surface, and is attended by seven satellites. But a still more wonderful
appendage is its _Ring_, a broad wheel, encompassing the planet at a
great distance from it. As Saturn is nine hundred millions of miles from
us, we require a more powerful telescope to see his glories, in all
their magnificence, than we do to enjoy a full view of the system of
Jupiter. When we are privileged with a view of Saturn, in his most
favorable positions, through a telescope of the larger class, the
mechanism appears more wonderful than even that of Jupiter.
Saturn's ring, when viewed with telescopes of a high power, is found to
consist of two concentred rings, separated from each other by a dark
space. Although this division of the rings appears to us, on account of
our immense distance, as only a fine line, yet it is, in reality, an
interval of not less than eighteen hundred miles. The dimensions of the
whole system are, in round numbers, as follows:
Miles.
Diameter of the planet, 79,000
From the surface of the planet to the inner ring, 20,000
Breadth of the inner ring, 17,000
Interval between the rings, 1,800
Breadth of the outer ring, 10,500
Extreme dimensions from outside to outside, 176,000