CHAPTER VI.

_Galileo loses his favourite Daughter--He falls into a state of

melancholy and ill health--Is allowed to go to Florence for its

recovery in 1638--But is prevented from leaving his House or

receiving his Friends--His friend Castelli permitted to visit him

in the presence of an Officer of the Inquisition--He composes his

celebrated Dialogues on Local Motion--Discovers the Moon's

Libration--Loses the sight of one Eye--The other Eye attacked by

the same Disease--Is struck blind--Negociates with the Dutch

Government respecting his Method of finding the Longitude--He is

allowed free intercourse with his Friends--His Illness and Death in

1642--His Epitaph--His Social, Moral, and Scientific Character._

Although Galileo had now the happiness of rejoining his family under

their paternal roof, yet, like all sublunary blessings, it was but of

short duration. His favourite daughter Maria, who along with her sister

had joined the convent of St Matthew in the neighbourhood of Arcetri,

had looked forward to the arrival of her father with the most

affectionate anticipations. She hoped that her filial devotion might

form some compensation for the malignity of his enemies, and she eagerly

assumed the labour of reciting weekly the seven penitentiary psalms

which formed part of her father's sentence. These sacred duties,

however, were destined to terminate almost at the moment they were

begun. She was seized with a fatal illness in the same month in which

she rejoined her parent, and before the month of April she was no more.

This heavy blow, so suddenly struck, overwhelmed Galileo in the deepest

agony. Owing to the decline of his health, and the recurrence of his old

complaints, he was unable to oppose to this mental suffering the

constitutional energy of his mind. The bulwarks of his heart broke down,

and a flood of grief desolated his manly and powerful mind. He felt, as

he expressed it, that he was incessantly called by his daughter--his

pulse intermitted--his heart was agitated with unceasing

palpitations--his appetite entirely left him, and he considered his

dissolution so near at hand, that he would not permit his son Vicenzo to

set out upon a journey which he had contemplated.

From this state of melancholy and indisposition, Galileo slowly, though

partially, recovered, and, with the view of obtaining medical

assistance, he requested leave to go to Florence. His enemies, however,

refused this application, and he was given to understand that any

additional importunities would be visited with a more vigilant

surveillance. He remained, therefore, five years at Arcetri, from 1634

to 1638, without any remission of his confinement, and pursuing his

studies under the influence of a continued and general indisposition.

There is no reason to think that Galileo or his friends renewed their

application to the Church of Rome; but, in 1638, the Pope transmitted,

through the Inquisitor Fariano, his permission that he might remove to

Florence for the recovery of his health, on the condition that he should

present himself at the office of the Inquisitor to learn the terms upon

which this indulgence was granted. Galileo accepted of the kindness thus

unexpectedly proffered. But the conditions upon which it was given were

more severe than he expected. He was prohibited from leaving his house

or admitting his friends; and so sternly was this system pursued, that

he required a special order for attending mass during passion week.

The severity of this order was keenly felt by Galileo. While he remained

at Arcetri, his seclusion from the world would have been an object of

choice, if it had not been the decree of a tribunal; but to be debarred

from the conversation of his friends in Florence--in that city where his

genius had been idolised, and where his fame had become immortal, was an

aggravation of punishment which he was unable to bear. With his

accustomed kindness, the Grand Duke made a strong representation on the

subject to his ambassador at the Court of Rome. He stated that, from his

great age and infirmities, Galileo's career was near its close; that he

possessed many valuable ideas, which the world might lose if they were

not matured and conveyed to his friends; and that Galileo was anxious to

make these communications to Father Castelli, who was then a stipendiary

of the Court of Rome. The Grand Duke commanded his ambassador to see

Castelli on the subject--to urge him to obtain leave from the Pope to

spend a few months in Florence--and to supply him with money and every

thing that was necessary for his journey. Influenced by this kind and

liberal message, Castelli obtained an audience of the Pope, and

requested leave to pay a visit to Florence. Urban instantly suspected

the object of his journey; and, upon Castelli's acknowledging that he

could not possibly refrain from seeing Galileo, he received permission

to visit him in the company of an officer of the Inquisition. Castelli

accordingly went to Florence, and, a few months afterwards, Galileo was

ordered to return to Arcetri.

During Galileo's confinement at Sienna and Arcetri, between 1633 and

1638, his time was principally occupied in the composition of his

"Dialogues on Local Motion," in which he treats of the strength and

cohesion of solid bodies, of the laws of uniform and accelerated

motions, of the motion of projectiles, and of the centre of gravity of

solids. This remarkable work, which was considered by its author as the

best of his productions, was printed by Louis Elzevir, at Amsterdam, and

dedicated to the Count de Noailles, the French ambassador at Rome.

Various attempts to have it printed in Germany had failed; and, in order

to save himself from the malignity of his enemies, he was obliged to

pretend that the edition published in Holland had been printed from a

MS. entrusted to the French ambassador.

Although Galileo had for a long time abandoned his astronomical studies,

yet his attention was directed, about the year 1636, to a curious

appearance in the lunar disc, which is known by the name of the moon's

libration. When we examine with a telescope the outline of the moon, we

observe that certain parts of her disc, which are seen at one time, are

invisible at another. This change or libration is of four different

kinds, viz. the diurnal libration, the libration in longitude, the

libration in latitude, and the spheroidal libration. Galileo discovered

the first of these kinds of libration, and appears to have had some

knowledge of the second; but the third was discovered by Hevelius, and

the fourth by Lagrange.

This curious discovery was the result of the last telescopic

observations of Galileo. Although his right eye had for some years lost

its power, yet his general vision was sufficiently perfect to enable him

to carry on his usual researches. In 1636, however, this affection of

his eye became more serious; and, in 1637, his left eye was attacked

with the same disease. His medical friends at first supposed that

cataracts were formed in the crystalline lens, and anticipated a cure

from the operation of couching. These hopes were fallacious. The disease

turned out to be in the cornea, and every attempt to restore its

transparency was fruitless. In a few months the white cloud covered the

whole aperture of the pupil, and Galileo became totally blind. This

sudden and unexpected calamity had almost overwhelmed Galileo and his

friends. In writing to a correspondent he exclaims, "Alas! your dear

friend and servant has become totally and irreparably blind. These

heavens, this earth, this universe, which by wonderful observation I had

enlarged a thousand times beyond the belief of past ages, are henceforth

shrunk into the narrow space which I myself occupy. So it pleases God;

it shall, therefore, please me also." His friend, Father Castelli,

deplores the calamity in the same tone of pathetic sublimity:--"The

noblest eye," says he, "which nature ever made, is darkened; an eye so

privileged, and gifted with such rare powers, that it may truly be said

to have seen more than the eyes of all that are gone, and to have

opened the eyes of all that are to come."

Although Galileo had been thwarted in his attempt to introduce into the

Spanish marine his new method of finding the longitude at sea, yet he

never lost sight of an object to which he attached the highest

importance. As the formation of correct tables of the motion of

Jupiter's satellites was a necessary preliminary to its introduction, he

had occupied himself for twenty-four years in observations for this

purpose, and he had made considerable progress in this laborious task.

After the publication of his "Dialogues on Motion," in 1636, he renewed

his attempts to bring his method into actual use. For this purpose he

addressed himself to Lorenzo Real, who had been the Dutch

Governor-General in India, and offered the free use of his method to the

States-General of Holland.[36] The Dutch government received this

proposal with an anxious desire to have it carried into effect. At the

instigation of Constantine Huygens, the father of the illustrious

Huygens, and the secretary to the Prince of Orange, they appointed

commissioners to communicate with Galileo; and while they transmitted

him a gold chain as a mark of their esteem, they at the same time

assured him, that if his plan should prove successful it should not pass

unrewarded. The commissioners entered into an active correspondence with

Galileo, and had even appointed one of their number to communicate

personally with him in Italy. Lest this, however, should excite the

jealousy of the court of Rome, Galileo objected to the arrangement, so

that the negociation was carried on solely by correspondence.

[36] It is a curious fact that Morin had about this time proposed

to determine the longitude by the moon's distance from a fixed

star, and that the commissioners assembled in Paris to examine it

requested Galileo's opinion of its value and practicability.

Galileo's opinion was highly unfavourable. He saw clearly, and

explained distinctly, the objection to Morin's method, arising from

the imperfection of the lunar tables, and the inadequacy of

astronomical instruments; but he seemed not to be conscious that

the very same objections applied with even greater force to his own

method, which has since been supplanted by that of the French

savant. See Life of Galileo, Library of Useful Knowledge, p. 94.

It was at this time that Galileo was struck with blindness. His friend

and pupil, Renieri, undertook in this emergency to arrange and complete

his observations and calculations; but before he had made much progress

in the arduous task, each of the four commissioners died in succession,

and it was with great difficulty that Constantine Huygens succeeded in

renewing the scheme. It was again obstructed, however, by the death of

Galileo; and when Renieri was about to publish, by the order of the

Grand Duke, the "Ephemeris," and "Tables of the Jovian Planets," he was

attacked with a mortal disease, and the manuscripts of Galileo, which he

was on the eve of publishing, were never more heard of. By such a series

of misfortunes were the plans of Galileo and of the States-General

completely overthrown. It is some consolation, however, to know that

neither science nor navigation suffered any severe loss. Notwithstanding

the perfection of our present tables of Jupiter's satellites, and of the

astronomical instruments by which their eclipses may be observed, the

method of Galileo is still impracticable at sea.

In consequence of the strict seclusion to which Galileo had been

subjected, he was in the practice of dating his letters from his prison

at Arcetri; but after he had lost the use of his eyes, the Inquisition

seems to have relaxed its severity, and to have allowed him the freest

intercourse with his friends. The Grand Duke of Tuscany paid him

frequent visits; and among the celebrated strangers who came from

distant lands to see the ornament of Italy, were Gassendi, Deodati, and

our illustrious countryman Milton. During the last three years of his

life, his eminent pupil Viviani formed one of his family; and in October

1641, the celebrated Torricelli, another of his pupils, was admitted to

the same distinction.

Though the powerful mind of Galileo still retained its vigour, yet his

debilitated frame was exhausted with mental labour. He often complained

that his head was too busy for his body; and the continuity of his

studies was frequently broken with attacks of hypochondria, want of

sleep, and acute rheumatic pains. Along with these calamities, he was

afflicted with another still more severe--with deafness almost total;

but though he was now excluded from all communication with the external

world, yet his mind still grappled with the material universe, and while

he was studying the force of percussion, and preparing for a

continuation of his "Dialogues on Motion," he was attacked with fever

and palpitation of the heart, which, after continuing two months,

terminated fatally on the 8th of January 1642, in the 78th year of his

age.

Having died in the character of a prisoner of the Inquisition, this

odious tribunal disputed his right of making a will, and of being buried

in consecrated ground. These objections, however, were withdrawn; but

though a large sum was subscribed for erecting a monument to him in the

church of Santa Croce, in Florence, the Pope would not permit the design

to be carried into execution. His sacred remains were, therefore,

deposited in an obscure corner of the church, and remained for more than

thirty years unmarked with any monumental tablet. The following epitaph,

given without any remark in the Leyden edition of his Dialogues, is, we

presume, the one which was inscribed on a tablet in the church of Santa

Croce:--

GALILAEO GALILAEI Florentino,

Philosopho et Geometrae vere lynceo,

Naturae Oedipo,

Mirabilium semper inventorum machinatori,

Qui inconcessa adhuc mortalibus gloria

Caelorum provincias auxit

Et universo dedit incrementum:

Non enim vitreos spherarum orbes

Fragilesque stellas conflavit:

Sed aeterna mundi corpore

Mediceae beneficentiae dedicavit,

Cujus inextincta gloriae cupiditas

Ut oculos nationum

Saeculorumque omnium

Videre doceret,

Proprios impendit oculos.

Cum jam nil amplius haberet natura

Quod ipse videret.

Cujus inventa vix intra rerum limites comprehensa

Firmamentum ipsum non solum continet,

Sed etiam recipit.

Qui relictis tot scientiarum monumentis

Plura secum tulit, quam reliquit.

Gravi enim

Sed nondum affecta senectute,

Novis contemplationibus

Majorem gloriam affectans

Inexplebilem sapientiae animam

Immaturo nobis obitu

Exhalavit

Anno Domini

MCXLII.

AEtatis suae

LXXVIII.

At his death, in 1703, Viviani purchased his property, with the charge

of erecting a monument over Galileo's remains and his own. This design

was not carried into effect till 1737, at the expense of the family of

Nelli, when both their bodies were disinterred, and removed to the site

of the splendid monument which now covers them. This monument contains

the bust of Galileo, with figures of Geometry and Astronomy. It was

designed by Giulio Foggini. Galileo's bust was executed by Giovanni

Battista Foggini; the figure of Astronomy by Vincenzio Foggini, his son;

and that of Geometry by Girolamo Ticciati.

Galileo's house at Arcetri still remains. In 1821 it belonged to one

Signor Alimari, having been preserved in the state in which it was left

by Galileo; it stands very near the convent of St Matthew, and about a

mile to the S. E. of Florence. An inscription by Nelli, over the door of

the house, still remains.

The character of Galileo, whether we view him as a member of the social

circle, or as a man of science, presents many interesting and

instructive points of contemplation. Unfortunate, and to a certain

extent immoral, in his domestic relations, he did not derive from that

hallowed source all the enjoyments which it generally yields; and it was

owing to this cause, perhaps, that he was more fond of society than

might have been expected from his studious habits. His habitual

cheerfulness and gaiety, and his affability and frankness of manner,

rendered him an universal favourite among his friends. Without any of

the pedantry of exclusive talent, and without any of that ostentation

which often marks the man of limited though profound acquirements,

Galileo never conversed upon scientific or philosophical subjects except

among those who were capable of understanding them. The extent of his

general information, indeed, his great literary knowledge, but, above

all, his retentive memory, stored with the legends and the poetry of

ancient times, saved him from the necessity of drawing upon his own

peculiar studies for the topics of his conversation.

Galileo was not less distinguished for his hospitality and benevolence;

he was liberal to the poor, and generous in the aid which he

administered to men of genius and talent, who often found a comfortable

asylum under his roof. In his domestic economy he was frugal without

being parsimonious. 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 choicest varieties out of the Grand Duke's cellar. This

peculiar taste, together with his attachment to a country life, rendered

him fond of agricultural pursuits, and induced him to devote his leisure

hours to the cultivation of his vineyards.

In his personal appearance Galileo was about the middle size, and of a

square-built, but well-proportioned, frame. His complexion was fair, his

eyes penetrating, and his hair of a reddish hue. His expression was

cheerful and animated, and though his temper was easily ruffled, yet the

excitement was transient, and the cause of it speedily forgotten.

One of the most prominent traits in the character of Galileo was his

invincible love of truth, and his abhorrence of that spiritual despotism

which had so long brooded over Europe. His views, however, were too

liberal, and too far in advance of the age which he adorned; and however

much we may admire the noble spirit which he evinced, and the personal

sacrifices which he made, in his struggle for truth, we must yet lament

the hotness of his zeal and the temerity of his onset. In his contest

with the Church of Rome, he fell under her victorious banner; and though

his cause was that of truth, and hers that of superstition, yet the

sympathy of Europe was not roused by his misfortunes. Under the

sagacious and peaceful sway of Copernicus, astronomy had effected a

glorious triumph over the dogmas of the Church; but under the bold and

uncompromising sceptre of Galileo all her conquests were irrecoverably

lost.

The scientific character of Galileo, and his method of investigating

truth, demand our warmest admiration. The number and ingenuity of his

inventions, the brilliant discoveries which he made in the heavens, and

the depth and beauty of his researches respecting the laws of motion,

have gained him the admiration of every succeeding age, and have placed

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 labours of Galileo, not only the boasted principles of the inductive

philosophy, but also their practical application to the highest efforts

of invention and discovery.

LIFE OF TYCHO BRAHE.

CHAPTER I.

_Tycho's Birth, Family, and Education--An Eclipse of the Sun turns

his attention to Astronomy--Studies Law at Leipsic--But pursues

Astronomy by stealth--His Uncle's Death--He returns to Copenhagen,

and resumes his Observations--Revisits Germany--Fights a Duel, and

loses his Nose--Visits Augsburg, and meets Hainzel--Who assists him

in making a large Quadrant--Revisits Denmark--And is warmly

received by the King--He settles at his Uncle's Castle of

Herritzvold--His Observatory and Laboratory--Discovers the new Star

in Cassiopeia--Account of this remarkable Body--Tycho's Marriage

with a Peasant Girl--Which irritates his Friends--His Lectures on

Astronomy--He visits the Prince of Hesse--Attends the Coronation of

the Emperor Rudolph at Ratisbon--He returns to Denmark._

Among the distinguished men who were destined to revive the sciences,

and to establish the true system of the universe, Tycho Brahe holds a

conspicuous place. He was born on the 14th December 1546, at Knudstorp,

the estate of his ancestors, which is situated near Helsingborg, in

Scania, and was the eldest son and the second child of a family of five

sons and five daughters. His father, Otto Brahe, who was descended from

a noble Swedish family, was in such straitened circumstances, that he

resolved to educate his sons for the military profession; but Tycho

seems to have disliked the choice that was made for him; and his next

brother, Steno, who appears to have had a similar feeling, exchanged the

sword for the more peaceful occupation of Privy Councillor to the King.

The rest of his brothers, though of senatorial rank, do not seem to have

extended the renown of their family; but their youngest sister, Sophia,

is represented as an accomplished mathematician, and is said to have

devoted her mind to astronomy as well as to the astrological reveries of

the age.

George Brahe, the brother of Otto, having no children of his own,

resolved to adopt and to educate one of his nephews. On the birth of

Tycho, accordingly, he was desirous of having him placed under his

wife's care; but his parents could not be prevailed upon to part with

their child till after the birth of Steno, their second son.

Having been instructed in reading and writing under proper masters,

Tycho began the study of Latin in his seventh year; and, in opposition

to his father's views, he prosecuted it for five years under private

teachers, from whom he received also occasional instruction in poetry

and the belles lettres.

In April 1559, about three years after his father's death, Tycho was

sent to the University of Copenhagen, to study rhetoric and philosophy,

with the view of preparing for the study of the law, and qualifying

himself for some of those political offices which his rank entitled him

to expect. In this situation he contracted no fondness for any

particular study; but after he had been sixteen months at college, an

event occurred which directed all the powers of his mind to the science

of astronomy. The attention of the public had been long fixed on a great

eclipse of the sun, which was to happen on the 21st August 1560; and as

in those days a phenomenon of this kind was linked with the destinies of

nations as well as of individuals, the interest which it excited was as

intense as it was general. Tycho watched its arrival with peculiar

anxiety. He read the astrological diaries of the day, in which its

phases and its consequences were described; and when he saw the sun

darkened at the very moment that had been predicted, and to the very

extent that had been delineated, he resolved to make himself master of a

science which was capable of predicting future events, and especially

that branch of it which connected these events with the fortunes and

destinies of man. With this view he purchased the _Tabulae Bergenses_,

calculated by John Stadius, and began with ardour the study of the

planetary motions.

When Tycho had completed his course at Copenhagen, he was sent, in

February 1562, under the charge of a tutor to study jurisprudence at

Leipsic. Astronomy, however, engrossed all his thoughts; and he had no

sooner escaped from the daily surveillance of his master, than he rushed

with headlong impetuosity into his favourite pursuits. With his pocket

money he purchased astronomical books, which he read in secret; and by

means of a celestial globe, the size of his fist, he made himself

acquainted with the stars, and followed them night after night through

the heavens, when sleep had lulled the vigilance of his preceptor. By

means of the Ephemerides of Stadius, he learned to distinguish the

planets, and to trace them through their direct and retrograde

movements; and having obtained the Alphonsine and Prutenic Tables, and

compared his own calculations and observations with those of Stadius, he

observed great differences in the results, and from that moment he seems

to have conceived the design of devoting his life to the accurate

construction of tables, which he justly regarded as the basis of

astronomy.

With this view, he applied himself secretly to the study of arithmetic

and geometry; and, without the assistance of a master, he acquired that

mathematical knowledge which enabled him to realise these early

aspirations. His ardour for astronomy was still farther inflamed, and

the resolution which it inspired still farther strengthened, by the

great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn, which took place in August

1563. The calculated time of this phenomenon differed considerably from

the true time which was observed; and in determining the instant of

conjunction Tycho felt in the strongest manner the imperfection of the

instruments which he used. For this purpose he employed a sort of

compass, one leg of which was directed to one planet and the second to

the other planet or fixed star; and, by measuring the angular opening

between them, he determined the distance of the two celestial bodies. By

this rude contrivance he found that the Alphonsine Tables erred a whole

month in the time of conjunction, while the Copernican ones were at

least several days in error. To this celebrated conjunction Tycho

ascribed the great plague which in subsequent years desolated Europe,

because it took place in the beginning of _Leo_, and not far from the

nebulous stars of _Cancer_, two of the zodiacal signs which are reckoned

by Ptolemy "suffocating and pestilent!"

There dwelt at this time at Leipsic an ingenious artisan named

Scultetus, who was employed by Homelius, the professor of mathematics in

that city, to assist him in the construction of his instruments. Having

become acquainted with this young man, Tycho put into his hand a wooden

radius, such as was recommended by Gemma Frisius, for the purpose of

having it divided in the manner adopted by Homelius; and with this

improved instrument he made a great number of astronomical observations

out of his window, without ever exciting the suspicions of his tutor.

Having spent three years at Leipsic, he was about to make the tour of

Germany, when, in consequence of his uncle's death, he was summoned to

his native country to inherit the fortune which had been left him. He

accordingly quitted Leipsic about the middle of May 1565, and after

having arranged his domestic concerns in Denmark, he continued his

astronomical observations with the radius constructed for him by

Scultetus. The ardour with which he pursued his studies gave great

umbrage to his friends as well as to his relations. He was reproached

for having abandoned the profession of the law; his astronomical

observations were ridiculed as not only useless but degrading, and,

among his numerous connexions, his maternal uncle, Steno Bille, was the

only one who applauded him for following the bent of his genius. Under

these uncomfortable circumstances he resolved to quit his country, and

pay a visit to the most interesting cities of Germany.

At Wittemberg, where he arrived in April 1566, he resumed his

astronomical observations; but, in consequence of the plague having

broken out in that city, he removed to Rostoch in the following autumn.

Here an accident occurred which had nearly deprived him of his life. On

the 10th December he was invited to a wedding feast; and, among other

guests, there was present a noble countryman of his own, Manderupius

Pasbergius. Some difference having arisen between them on this occasion,

they parted with feelings of mutual displeasure. On the 27th of the same

month they met again at some festive games, and having revived their

former quarrel, they agreed to settle their differences by the sword.

They accordingly met at 7 o'clock in the evening of the 29th, and fought

in total darkness. In this blind combat, Manderupius cut off the whole

of the front of Tycho's nose, and it was fortunate for astronomy that

his more valuable organs were defended by so faithful an outpost. The

quarrel, which is said to have originated in a difference of opinion

respecting their mathematical acquirements, terminated here; and Tycho

repaired his loss by cementing upon his face a nose of gold and silver,

which is said to have formed a good imitation of the original.

During the years 1567 and 1568, Tycho continued to reside at Rostoch,

with the exception of a few months, during which he made a rapid journey

into Denmark. He lived in a house in the college of the Jesuits, which

he had rented on account of its fitness for celestial observations; but,

though he intended to spend the winter under its roof, he had made no

arrangement respecting his future life, leaving it, as he said, in the

hands of Providence. A desire, however, to visit the south of Germany

induced him to quit Rostoch, and having crossed the Danube, he paid a

visit to Augsburg.

Upon entering this ancient city, Tycho was particularly struck with the

grandeur of its fortifications, the splendour of its private houses, and

the beauty of its fountains; and, after a short residence within its

walls, he was still more delighted with the industry of the people, the

refinement of the higher classes, and the love of literature and science

which was cherished by its wealthy citizens. Among the interesting

acquaintances which he formed at Augsburg, were two brothers, John and

Paul Hainzel, the one a septemvir, and the other the consul or

burgomaster. They were both distinguished by their learning, and both of

them, particularly Paul, were ardent lovers of astronomy. Tycho had

hitherto no other astronomical instrument than the coarse radius which

was made for him by Scultetus, and he waited only for a proper occasion

to have a larger and better instrument constructed for his use. Having

now the command of workmen who could execute his plans, he conceived the

bold design of making a divided instrument which should distinctly

exhibit single minutes of a degree. While he was transferring the first

rude conception of his instrument to paper, Paul Hainzel entered his

study, and was so struck with the grandeur of the plan, that he

instantly undertook to have it executed at his own expense. The

projected instrument was a quadrant of fourteen cubits radius! and Tycho

and his friend entered upon its construction with that intense ardour

which is ever crowned with success.

In the village of Gegginga, about half a mile to the south of the city,

Paul Hainzel had a country house, the garden of which was chosen as the

spot where the quadrant was to be fixed. The best artists in Augsburg,

clockmakers, jewellers, smiths, and carpenters, were engaged to execute

the work, and from the zeal which so novel an instrument inspired, the

quadrant was completed in less than a month. Its size was so great that

twenty men could with difficulty transport it to its place of fixture.

The two principal rectangular radii were beams of oak; the arch which

lay between their extremities was made of solid wood of a particular

kind, and the whole was bound together by twelve beams. It received

additional strength from several iron bands, and the arch was covered

with plates of brass, for the purpose of receiving the 5400 divisions

into which it was to be subdivided. A large and strong pillar of oak,

shod with iron, was driven into the ground, and kept in its place by

solid mason work. To this pillar the quadrant was fixed in a vertical

plane, and steps were prepared to elevate the observer, when stars of a

low altitude required his attention. As the instrument could not be

conveniently covered with a roof, it was protected from the weather by a

covering made of skins, but notwithstanding this and other precautions,

it was broken to pieces by a violent storm, after having remained

uninjured for the space of five years.

As this quadrant was fitted only to determine the altitudes of the

celestial bodies, Tycho constructed a large sextant for the purpose of

measuring their distances. It consisted of two radii, which opened and

shut round a centre, and which were nearly four cubits long, and also of

two arches, one of which was graduated, while the other served to keep

the radii in the same plane. After the radii had been opened or shut

till they nearly comprehended the angle between the stars to be

observed, the adjustment was completed by means of a very fine tangent

screw. With this instrument Tycho made many excellent observations

during his stay at Augsburg. He began also the construction of a wooden

globe about six feet in diameter. Its outer surface was turned with

great accuracy into a sphere, and kept from warping by interior bars of

wood supported at its centre.

After receiving a visit from the celebrated Peter Ramus, who

subsequently fell a victim at the massacre of St Bartholomew, Tycho left

Augsburg, having received a promise from his friend Hainzel that he

would communicate to him the observations made with his large quadrant,

and with the sextant which he had given him in a present. He paid a

visit to Philip Appian in passing through Ingolstadt, and returned to

his native country about the end of 1571.

The fame which he had acquired as an astronomer procured for him a

warmer reception than that which he had formerly experienced. The King

invited him to court, and his friends and admirers loaded him with

kindness. His uncle, Steno Bille, who now lived at the ancient convent

of Herritzvold, and who had always taken a deep interest in the

scientific character of his nephew, not only invited him to his house,

but assigned to him for an observatory the part of it which was best

adapted for that purpose. Tycho cheerfully accepted of this liberal

offer. The immediate proximity of Herritzvold to Knudstorp, rendered

this arrangement peculiarly convenient, and in the house of his uncle he

experienced all that kindness and consideration which natural affection

and a love of science combined to cherish. When Steno learned that the

study of chemistry was one of the pursuits of his nephew, he granted him

a spacious house, a few yards distant from the convent, for his

laboratory. Tycho lost no time in fitting up his observatory, and in

providing his furnaces; and regarding gold and silver and the other

metals as the stars of the earth, he used to represent his two opposite

pursuits as forming only one science, namely, celestial and terrestrial

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 movements of their primary. His

affections were ever turning to Germany, where astronomers of kindred

views, 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 attaining the means of travelling, that he in

a great measure forsook his sextants for his crucibles. In order,

however, that he might have one good instrument in his observatory, he

constructed a sextant similar to, but somewhat larger than, that which

he had presented to Hainzel. Its limb was made of solid brass, and was

exquisitely divided into single minutes of a degree. Its radii were

strengthened with plates of brass, and the apparatus for opening and

shutting them was made with great accuracy.

The possession of this instrument was peculiarly fortunate for Tycho,

for an event now occurred which roused him from his golden visions, and

directed all his faculties into their earlier and purer current. On the

11th November 1572, when he was returning to supper from his laboratory,

the clearness of the sky inspired him with the desire of completing some

particular observations. On looking up to the starry firmament he was

surprised to see an extraordinary light in the constellation of

Cassiopeia, which was then above his head. He felt confident that he had

never before observed such a star in that constellation, and

distrusting the evidence of his own senses, he called out the servants

and the peasants, and having received their testimony that it was a huge

star such as they had never seen before, he was satisfied of the

correctness of his own vision. Regarding it as a new and unusual

phenomenon, he hastened to his observatory, adjusted his sextant, and

measured its distances from the nearest stars in Cassiopeia. He noted

also its form, its magnitude, its light, and its colour, and he waited

with great anxiety for the next night that he might determine the

important point whether it was a fixed star, or a body within, or near

to, our own system.

For several years Tycho had been in the practice of calculating, at the

beginning of each year, a sort of almanac for his own use, and in this

he inserted all the observations which he had made on the new star, and

the conclusions which he had drawn from them. Having gone to Copenhagen

in the course of the ensuing spring, he shewed this manuscript to John

Pratensis, a Professor, in whose house he was always hospitably

received. Charles Danzeus, the French ambassador, and a person of great

learning, having heard of Tycho's arrival, invited himself to dine with

him at the house of Pratensis. The conversation soon turned upon the new

star, and Tycho found his companion very sceptical about its existence.

Danzeus was particularly jocular on the subject, and attacked the Danes

for their inattention to so important a science as astronomy. Tycho

received this lecture in good temper, and with the anxious expectation

that a clear sky would enable him to give a practical refutation of the

attack which was made upon his country. The night turned out serene, and

the whole party saw with astonishment the new star under the most

favourable circumstances. Pratensis conceived that it was similar to the

one observed by Hipparchus, and urged Tycho to publish the observations

which he had made upon it. Tycho refused to accede to this request, on

the pretext that his work was not sufficiently perfect; but the true

reason, as he afterwards acknowledged, was, that he considered it would

be a disgrace for a nobleman, either to study such subjects, or to

communicate them to the public. This absurd notion was with some

difficulty overcome, and through the earnest entreaties and assistance

of Pratensis, his work on the new star was published in 1573.

This remarkable body presents to us one of the most interesting

phenomena in astronomy. The date of its first appearance has not been

exactly ascertained. Tycho saw it on the 11th November, but Cornelius

Gemma had seen it on the 9th, Paul Hainzel saw it on the 7th of August

at Augsburg, and Wolfgangus Schulerus observed it at Wittenberg on the

6th. Tycho conjectures that it was first seen on the 5th, and Hieronymus

Munosius asserts that at Valentia, in Spain, it was not seen on the 2d,

when he was shewing that part of the heavens to his pupils. This

singular body continued to be seen during 16 months, and did not

disappear till March 1574. In its appearance it was exactly like a star,

having none of the distinctive marks of a comet. It twinkled strongly,

and grew larger than _Lyra_ or _Sirius_, or any other fixed star. It

seemed to be somewhat larger than _Jupiter_, when he is nearest the

earth, and rivalled _Venus_ in her greatest brightness. In the _first_

month of its appearance it was less than Jupiter; in the _second_ it

equalled him; in the _third_ it surpassed him in splendour; in the

_fourth_ it was equal to _Sirius_; in the _fifth_ to _Lyra_; in the

_sixth_ and _seventh_ to stars of the _second_ magnitude; in the

_eighth_, _ninth_, and _tenth_, to stars of the _third_ magnitude; in

the _eleventh_, _twelfth_, and _thirteenth_, to stars of the _fourth_

magnitude; in the _fourteenth_ and _fifteenth_ to stars of the _fifth_

magnitude; and in the _sixteenth_ month to stars of the _sixth_

magnitude. After this it became so small that it at last disappeared.

Its colour changed also with its size. At first it was white and bright;

in the third month it began to become yellowish; in the fifth it became

reddish like Aldebaran; and in the seventh and eighth it became bluish

like Saturn; growing afterwards duller and duller. Its place in the

heavens was invariable. Its longitude was in the 6th degree and 54th

minute of Taurus; and its latitude 53 deg. 45' north. Its right ascension

was 0 deg. 26-2/5' and its declination 61 deg. 46-3/4'. It had no parallax, and

was unquestionably situated in the region of the fixed stars.

After Tycho had published his book, he proposed to travel into Germany

and Italy, but he was seized with a fever, and he had no sooner

recovered from it, than he became involved in a love affair, which

frustrated all his schemes. Although Tycho was afraid of casting a

stain upon his nobility by publishing his observations on the new star,

yet he did not scruple to debase his lineage by marrying a peasant girl

of the village of Knudstorp. This event took place in 1573, and in 1574

his wife gave birth to his daughter Magdalene. Tycho's noble relations

were deeply offended at this imprudent step; and so far did the mutual

animosity of the parties extend, that the King himself was obliged to

effect a reconciliation.

The fame of our author as an astronomer and mathematician was now so

high, that several young Danish nobles requested him to deliver a course

of lectures upon these interesting subjects. This application was

seconded by Pratensis, Danzeus, and all his best friends; but their

solicitations were vain. The King at last made the request in a way

which ensured its being granted, and Tycho delivered a course of

lectures, in which he not only gave a full view of the science of

astronomy, but defended and explained all the reveries of astrology.

Having finished his lectures, and arranged his domestic affairs, he set

out on his projected journey about the beginning of the spring of 1575,

leaving behind him his wife and daughter, till he should fix upon a

place of permanent residence. The first town which he visited was

Hesse-Cassel, the residence of William, Landgrave of Hesse, whose

patronage of astronomy, and whose skill in making celestial

observations, have immortalized his name. Here Tycho spent eight or ten

delightful days, during which the two astronomers were occupied one half

of the day in scientific conversation, and the other half in

astronomical observations; and he would have prolonged a visit which

gave him so much pleasure, had not the death of one of the Landgrave's

daughters interrupted their labours. Passing through Frankfort, Tycho

went into Switzerland; and, after visiting many cities on his way, he

fixed upon Basle as a place of residence, not only from its centrical

position, but from the salubrity of the air, and the cheapness of

living. From Switzerland he went to Venice, and, in returning through

Germany, he came to Ratisbon, at the time of the congress, which had

been called together on the 1st of November, for the coronation of the

Emperor Rudolph. On this occasion he met with several distinguished

individuals, who were not only skilled in astronomy, but who were among

its warmest patrons. From Ratisbon he passed to Saalfeld, and thence to

Wittemburg, where he saw the parallactic instruments and the wooden

quadrant which had been used by John Pratensis in determining the

latitude of the city, and in measuring the altitudes of the new star.

Tycho was now impatient for home, and he lost no time in returning to

Denmark, where events were awaiting him which frustrated all his

schemes, by placing him in the most favourable situation for promoting

his own happiness, and advancing the interests of astronomy.

CHAPTER II.

_Frederick II. patronises Tycho--And resolves to establish him in

Denmark--Grants him the Island of Huen for Life--And Builds the

splendid Observatory of Uraniburg--Description of the Island, and

of the Observatory--Account of its Astronomical Instruments--Tycho

begins his Observations--His Pupils--Tycho is made Canon of

Rothschild, and receives a large Pension--His Hospitality to his

Visitors--Ingratitude of Witichius--Tycho sends an Assistant to

take the Latitude of Frauenburg and Konigsberg--Is visited by

Ulric, Duke of Mecklenburg--Change in Tycho's fortunes._

The patronage which had been extended to astronomers by several of the

reigning princes of Germany, especially by the Landgrave of Hesse, and

Augustus, Elector of Saxony, had begun to excite a love of science in

the minds of other sovereigns. The King of Denmark seems to have felt it

as a stain upon his character, that the only astronomer in his dominions

should carry on his observations in distant kingdoms and adorn by his

discoveries other courts than his own. With this feeling he sent

ambassadors to Hesse-Cassel to inquire after Tycho, and to intimate to

him his wish that he should return to Denmark, and his anxiety to

promote the advancement of astronomy in his own dominions. Tycho had

left Cassel when these messengers arrived, and had heard nothing of the

King's intentions till he was about to quit Knudstorp with his family

for Basle. At this time he was surprised at the arrival of a noble

messenger, who brought a letter requesting him to meet the King as soon

as possible at Copenhagen. Tycho lost no time in obeying the royal

summons. The King received him with the most flattering kindness. He

offered to give him a grant for life of the island of Huen, between

Denmark and Sweden, and to construct and furnish with instruments, at

his own expense, an observatory, as well as a house for the

accommodation of his family, together with a laboratory for carrying on

his chemical inquiries. Tycho, who truly loved his country, was deeply

affected with the munificence of the royal offer. He accepted of it with

that warmth of gratitude which it was calculated to inspire; and he

particularly rejoiced in the thought that if any success should attend

his future labours, the glory of it would belong to his native land.

The island of Huen is about sxix miles from the coast of Zealand, three

from that of Sweden, and fourteen from Copenhagen. It is six miles in

circumference, and rises into the form of a mountain, which, though very

high, terminates in a plain. It is nowhere rocky, and even in the time

of Tycho it produced the best kinds of grain, afforded excellent

pasturage for horses, cattle, and sheep, and possessed deer, hares,

rabbits, and partridges in abundance. It contained at that time only one

village, with about forty inhabitants.

Having surveyed his new territory, Tycho resolved to build a magnificent

tower in the centre of the elevated plain, which he resolved to call

Uraniburg, or _The City of the Heavens_. Having made the necessary

arrangements, he repaired to the island on the 8th of August, and his

friend Charles Danzeus laid the foundation stone of the new observatory,

which consisted of a slab of porphyry, with the following

inscription:--

REGNANTE IN DANIA FREDERICO II., CAROLUS DANZAEUS AQUITANUS R. G. I.

D. L.,[37] DOMUI HUIC PHILOSOPHIAE, IMPRIMISQUE ASTRORUM

CONTEMPLATIONI, REGIS DECRETO A NOBILI VIRO TYCHONE BRAHE DE

KNUDSTRUP EXTRUCTAE VOTIVUM HUNC LAPIDEM MEMORIAE ET FELICIS AUSPICII

ERGO P. ANNO CIC.IC.LXXVI.[38] VI ID. AUGUSTI.

[37] Regis Gallorum in Dania Legatus.

[38] Transcriber's footnote: The second Cs in CIC and IC are

printed reversed in the original.

This ceremony was performed early in the morning of a splendid day, in

which the rising sun threw its blessing upon Frederick, and upon the

party of noblemen and philosophers who had assembled to testify their

love of science. An entertainment was provided for the occasion, and

copious libations of a variety of wines were offered for the success of

the undertaking.

The observatory was surrounded by a rampart, each face of which was

three hundred feet long. About the middle of each face the rampart

became a semicircle, the inner diameter of which was ninety feet. The

height of the rampart was twenty-two feet, and its thickness at the base

twenty. Its four angles corresponded exactly with the four cardinal

points, and at the north and south angles were erected turrets, of

which one was a printing-house, and the other the residence of the

servants. Gates were erected at the east and west angles, and above them

were apartments for the reception of strangers. Within the rampart was a

shrubbery with about three hundred varieties of trees; and at the centre

of each semicircular part of the rampart was a bower or summer-house.

This shrubbery surrounded the flower-garden, which was terminated within

by a circular wall about forty-five feet high, which enclosed a more

elevated area, in the centre of which stood the principal building in

the observatory, and from which four paths led to the above-mentioned

angles, with as many doors for entering the garden.

The principal building was about sixty feet square. The doors were

placed on the east and west sides; and to the north and south fronts

were attached two round towers, whose inner diameter was about

thirty-two feet, and which formed the observatories which had windows in

their roof, that could be opened towards any part of the heavens. The

accommodations for the family were numerous and splendid. Under the

observatory, in the south tower, was the museum and library, and below

this again was the laboratory in a subterraneous crypt, containing

sixteen furnaces of various kinds. Beneath this was a well forty feet

deep, from which water was distributed by syphons to every part of the

building.

Besides the principal building there were other two situated without the

rampart, one to the north, containing a workshop for the construction of

astronomical and other instruments, and the other to the south, which

was occupied as a sort of farm-house. These buildings cost the King of

Denmark 100,000 rix-dollars (L20,000), and Tycho is said to have

expended upon them a similar sum.

As the two towers could not accommodate the instruments which Tycho

required for his observations, he found it necessary to erect, on the

hill about sixty paces to the south of Uraniburg, a subterranean

observatory, in which he might place his larger instruments, which

required to be firmly fixed, and to be protected from the wind and the

weather. This observatory, which he called Stiern-berg, or the mountain,

of the stars, consisted of several crypts, separated by solid walls,

and to these there was a subterranean passage from the laboratory in

Uraniburg. The various buildings which Tycho erected were built in a

regular style of architecture, and were highly ornamented, not only with

external decorations, but with the statues and pictures of the most

distinguished astronomers, from Hipparchus and Ptolemy down to

Copernicus, and with inscriptions and poems in honour of astronomers.

While these buildings were erecting, and after their completion, Tycho

was busily occupied in preparing instruments for observation. These were

of the most splendid description, and the reader will form some notion

of their grandeur and their expense from the following list:--

_In the south and greater Observatory._

1. A semicircle of solid iron, covered with brass, four cubits

radius.

2. A sextant of the same materials and size.

3. A quadrant of one and a half cubits radius, and an azimuth

circle of three cubits.

4. Ptolemy's parallactic rules, covered with brass, four cubits in

the side.

5. The sextant already described in page 134.

6. Another quadrant, like No. 3.

7. Zodiacal armillaries of melted brass, and turned out of the

solid, of three cubits in diameter.

Near this observatory was a large clock, with one wheel two cubits

in diameter, and two smaller ones, which, like it, indicated hours,

minutes, and seconds.

_In the south and lesser Observatory._

8. An armillary sphere of brass, with a steel meridian, whose

diameter was about 4 cubits.

_In the north Observatory._

9. Brass parallactic rules, which revolved in azimuth above a brass

horizon, twelve feet in diameter.

10. A half sextant, of four cubits radius.

11. A steel sextant.

12. Another half sextant, with steel limb, four cubits radius.

13. The parallactic rules of Copernicus.

14. Equatorial armillaries.

15. A quadrant of a solid plate of brass, five cubits in radius,

shewing every ten seconds.

16. In the museum was the large globe made at Augsburg, see p. 134.

_In the Stiern-berg Observatory._

17. In the central part, a large semicircle, with a brass limb, and

three clocks, shewing hours, minutes, and seconds.

18. Equatorial armillaries of seven cubits, with semi-armillaries

of nine cubits.

19. A sextant of four cubits radius.

20. A geometrical square of iron, with an intercepted quadrant of

five cubits, and divided into fifteen seconds.

21. A quadrant of four cubits radius, shewing ten seconds, with an

azimuth circle.

22. Zodiacal armillaries of brass, with steel meridians, three

cubits in diameter.

23. A sextant of brass, kept together by screws, and capable of

being taken to pieces for travelling with. Its radius was four

cubits.

24. A moveable armillary sphere, three cubits in diameter.

25. A quadrant of solid brass, one cubit radius, and divided into

minutes by Nonian circles.

26. An astronomical radius of solid brass, three cubits long.

27. An astronomical ring of brass, a cubit in diameter.

28. A small brass astrolabe.

In almost all the instruments now enumerated, the limb was subdivided by

diagonal lines, a method which Tycho first brought into use, but which,

in modern times, has been superseded by the inventions of Nonius and

Vernier.

When Tycho had thus furnished his observatory, he devoted himself to the

examination of the stars; and during the twenty-one years which he spent

in this delightful occupation, he made vast additions to astronomical

science. In order to instruct the young in the art of observation, and

educate assistants for his observatory, he had sometimes under his roof

from six to twelve pupils, whom he boarded and educated. Some of these

were named by the King, and educated at his expense. Others were sent

by different academies and cities; and several, who had presented

themselves of their own accord, were liberally admitted by the generous

astronomer.

As Tycho had spent nearly a ton of gold (about 100,000 dollars) in his

outlay at Uraniburg, his own income was reduced to very narrow limits.

To supply this defect, Frederick gave him an annual pension of 2000

dollars, beside an estate in Norway, and made him Canon of the Episcopal

Church of Rothschild, or Prebend of St Laurence,[39] which had an annual

income of 1000 dollars, and which was burdened only with the expense of

keeping up the chapel containing the Mausolea of the Kings of the family

of Oldenburg.

[39] This office had been usually conferred on the King's

Chancellor.

It would be an unprofitable task, and one by no means interesting to the

general reader, to give a detailed history of the various astronomical

observations and discoveries which were made by Tycho during the twenty

years that he spent at Uraniburg. Every phenomenon that appeared in the

heavens, he observed with the greatest care; while he at the same time

carried on regular series of observations for determining the places of

the fixed stars, and for improving the tables of the sun, moon, and

planets. Though almost wholly devoted to these noble pursuits, yet he

kept an open house, and received, with unbounded hospitality, the crowds

of philosophers, nobles, and princes who came to be introduced to the

first astronomer of the age, and to admire the splendid temple which the

Danish Sovereign had consecrated to science.

Among the strangers whom he received under his roof, there were some who

returned his kindness with ingratitude. Among these was Paul Witichius,

a mathematician; who, under the pretence of devoting his whole life to

astronomy, insinuated himself into the utmost familiarity with Tycho.

The unsuspecting astronomer explained to his guest all his inventions,

described all his methods, and even made him acquainted with those views

which he had not realised, and with instruments which he had not yet

executed. When Witichius had thus obtained possession of the methods,

and inventions, and views of Tycho, and had enjoyed his hospitality for

three months, he pretended that he was obliged to return to Germany to

receive an inheritance to which he had succeeded. After quitting

Uraniburg, this ungrateful mathematician neither returned to see Tycho,

nor kept up any correspondence with him; and it was not till five years

after his departure that Tycho learned, from the letters of the Prince

of Hesse to Ranzau, that Witichius had passed through Hesse, and had

described, as his own, the various inventions and methods which had been

shewn to him in Huen.

Being unable to reconcile his own observations with those of Copernicus,

and with the Prutenic Tables, Tycho resolved to obtain new

determinations of the latitude of Frauenburg, in Prussia, where

Copernicus made his observations, and of Konigsberg, to the meridian of

which Rheinhold had adapted his Prutenic Tables. For these purposes he

sent one of his assistants, Elias Morsianus, with a proper instrument,

under the protection of Bylovius, Ambassador of the Margrave of Anspach,

to the King of Denmark, who was returning by sea to Germany; and after

receiving the greatest attention and assistance from the noble Canons

of Ermeland, he determined, from nearly a month's observations on the

sun and stars, that the latitude of Frauenburg was 54 deg. 22-1/2', in place of

54 deg. 19-1/2', as given by Copernicus. In like manner he determined that the

latitude of Konigsberg was 54 deg. 43', in place of 54 deg. 17', as adopted by

Rheinhold. When Morsianus returned to Huen in July, he brought with him,

as a present to Tycho, from John Hannovius, one of the Canons of

Ermeland, the Ptolemaic Rules, or the Parallactic Instrument which

Copernicus had used and made with his own hands. It consisted of two

equal wooden rules, five cubits long, and divided into 1414 parts. Tycho

preserved this gift as one peculiarly dear to him, and, on the day of

his receiving it, he composed a set of verses in honour of the great

astronomer to whom it belonged.

Among the distinguished visits which were paid to Tycho, we must

enumerate that of Ulric, Duke of Mecklenburg, in 1586. Although his

daughter, Sophia, Queen of Denmark, had already paid two visits to

Uraniburg in the same year, yet such was her love of astronomy, that she

accompanied her father and his wife Elizabeth on this occasion. Ulric

was not only fond of science in general, but had for many years devoted

himself to chemical pursuits, and he was therefore peculiarly gratified

in examining the splendid laboratory and extensive apparatus which Tycho

possessed. It has been said by some of the biographers of Tycho, that

the Landgrave of Hesse visited Uraniburg about this period; but this

opinion is not correct, as it was only his astronomer and optician,

Rothman, who made a journey to Huen in 1591 for the recovery of his

health. Tycho had long carried on a correspondence with this able

astronomer respecting the observations made at the observatory of

Hesse-Cassel, and, during the few months which they now spent together,

they discussed in the amplest manner all the questions which had

previously been agitated. Rothman was astonished at the wonderful

apparatus which he saw at Uraniburg, and returned to his native country

charmed with the hospitality of the Danish astronomer.

Hitherto we have followed Tycho through a career of almost unexampled

prosperity. When he had scarcely reached his thirtieth year he was

established, by the kindness and liberality of his sovereign, in the

most splendid observatory that had ever been erected in Europe; and a

thriving family, an ample income, and a widely extended reputation were

added to his blessings. Of the value of these gifts he was deeply

sensible, and he enjoyed them the more that he received them with a

grateful heart. Tycho was a christian as well as a philosopher. The

powers of his gifted mind have been amply displayed in his astronomical

labours; but we shall now have occasion to witness his piety and

resignation in submitting to an unexpected and an adverse destiny.

CHAPTER III.

_Tycho's Labours do honour to his Country--Death of Frederick

II.--James VI. of Scotland visits Tycho at Uraniburg--Christian IV.

visits Tycho--The Duke of Brunswick's visit to Tycho--The Danish

Nobility, jealous of his fame, conspire against him--He is

compelled to quit Uraniburg--And to abandon his Studies--Cruelty of

the Minister Walchendorp--Tycho quits Denmark with his Family and

Instruments--Is hospitably received by Count Rantzau--Who

introduces him to the Emperor Rudolph--The Emperor invites him to

Prague--He gives him a Pension of 3000 Crowns--And the Castle of

Benach as a Residence and an Observatory--Kepler visits Tycho--Who

obtains for him the Appointment of Mathematician to Rudolph._

The love of astronomy which had been so unequivocally exhibited by

Frederick II. and his Royal Consort, inspired their courtiers with at

least an outward respect for science; and among the ministers and

advisers of the King, Tycho reckoned many ardent friends. It was every

where felt that Denmark had elevated herself among the nations of

Europe by her liberality to Tycho; and the peaceful glory which he had

in return conferred upon his country was not of a kind to dissatisfy

even rival nations. In the conquests of science no widow's or orphan's

tears are shed, no captives are dragged from their homes, and no devoted

victims are yoked to the chariot wheels of the triumphant philosopher.

The newly acquired domains of knowledge belong, in right of conquest, to

all nations, and Denmark had now earned the gratitude of Europe by the

magnitude as well as the success of her contingent.

An event, however, now occurred which threatened with destruction the

interests of Danish science. In the beginning of April 1588, Frederick

II. died in the 54th year of his age, and the 29th of his reign. His

remains were conveyed to Rothschild, and deposited in the chapel under

Tycho's care, where a finely executed bust of him was afterwards placed.

His son and successor, Christian IV., was only in the 11th year of his

age, and though his temper and disposition were good, yet Tycho had

reason to be alarmed at the possibility of his discontinuing the

patronage of astronomy. The taste for science, however, which had

sprung up in the Danish Court had extended itself no wider than the

influence of the reigning sovereign. The parasites of royalty saw

themselves eclipsed in the bright renown which Tycho had acquired, and

every new visit to Uraniburg by a foreign prince supplied fresh fuel to

the rancour which had long been smothering in their breasts. The

accession of a youthful king held out to his enemies an opportunity of

destroying the influence of Tycho; and though no adverse step was taken,

yet he had the sagacity to foresee, in "trifles light as air," the

approaching confirmation of his fears. Hope, however, still cheered him

amid his labours, but that hope was founded chiefly on the learning and

character of Nicolas Caasius, the Chancellor of the Kingdom, from whom

he had experienced the warmest attentions.

Among the princes who visited Uraniburg, there were none who conducted

themselves with more condescension and generosity than our own

sovereign, James VI. In the year 1590, when the Scottish King repaired

to Denmark to celebrate his marriage with the Princess Anne, the King's

sister, he paid a visit to Tycho, attended by his councillors and a

large suite of nobility. During the eight days which he spent at

Uraniburg, James carried on long discussions with Tycho on various

subjects, but chiefly on the motion which Copernicus had ascribed to the

earth. He examined narrowly all the astronomical instruments, and made

himself acquainted with the principles of their construction and the

method of using them. He inspected the busts and pictures in the museum,

and when he perceived the portrait of George Buchanan, his own

preceptor, he could not refrain from the strongest expressions of

delight. Upon quitting the hospitable roof of Tycho, James not only

presented him with a magnificent donation, but afterwards gave him his

royal license to publish his works in England during seventy years. This

license was accompanied with the following high eulogium on his

abilities and learning:--"Nor have I become acquainted with these things

only from the relation of others, or from a bare inspection of your

works, but I have seen then before my own eyes, and have heard them with

my own ears, in your residence at Uraniburg, and have drawn them from

the various learned and agreeable conversations which I there held with

you, and which even now affect my mind to such a degree, that it is

difficult to determine whether I recollect them with greater pleasure or

admiration; as I now willingly testify, by this license, to present and

to future generations," &c.

At the request of Tycho, the King also composed and wrote in his own

hand some Latin verses, which were more complimentary than classical.

His Chancellor had also composed some verses of a similar character

during his visit to Tycho. A short specimen of these will be deemed

sufficient by the classical reader:--

"Vidit et obstupuit Rex Huennum Scoticus almam;

Miratus clari tot monumenta viri."

In the year 1591, when Christian IV. had reached his 14th year, he

expressed a desire to pay a visit to Uraniburg. He accordingly set out

with a large party, consisting of his three principal senators, and

other councillors and noblemen; and having examined the various

instruments in the observatories and laboratory, he proposed to Tycho

various questions on mechanics and mathematics, but particularly on the

principles of fortification and ship building. Having observed that he

particularly admired a brass globe, which, by means of internal

wheelwork, imitated the diurnal motion of the heavens, the rising and

setting of the sun, and the phases of the moon, Tycho made him a present

of it, and received in return an elegant gold chain, with his Majesty's

picture, with an assurance of his unalterable attachment and protection.

Notwithstanding this assurance, Tycho had already, as we have stated,

begun to suspect the designs of his enemies; and in a letter addressed

to the Landgrave of Hesse, early in 1591, he throws out some hints which

indicated the anxieties that agitated his mind. The Landgrave of Hesse,

as if he had heard some rumours unfavourable to the prospects of Tycho,

requested him to write him respecting the state of the Kingdom, and

concerning his own private affairs. To this letter, which was dated

early in February, Tycho replied about the beginning of April. He

informed the Landgrave that he led a private life in his own island,

exempt from all official functions, and never willingly taking a part in

public affairs. He was desirous of leaving the ambition of public

honours to others, and of devoting himself wholly to the study of

philosophy and astronomy; and he expressed a hope that if he should be

involved in the tumults and troubles of life, either by his own destiny

or by evil counsels, he might be able, by the blessing of God, to

extricate himself by the force of his mind and the integrity of his

life. He comforted himself with the idea that every soil was the country

of a great man, and that wherever he went the blue sky would still be

over his head;[40] and he distinctly states at the close of his letter,

that he had thought of transferring his residence to some other place,

as there were some of the King's councillors who had already begun to

calumniate his studies, and to grudge him his pension from the treasury.

[40] Omne solum forti patria, et coelum undique supra est.

The causes which led to this change of feeling on the part of Christian

IV.'s advisers have not been explained by the biographers of Tycho. It

has been stated, in general terms, that he had made many enemies, by the

keenness of his temper and the severity of his satire; but I have not

been able to discover any distinct examples of these peculiarities of

his mind. In an event, indeed, which occurred about this time, he

slightly resented a piece of marked incivility on the part of Henry

Julius, Duke of Brunswick, who had married the Princess Eliza of

Denmark; but it is not likely that so trivial an affair, if it were

known at court, could have called down upon him the hostility of the

King's advisers.

The Duke of Brunswick had, in 1590, paid a visit to Uraniburg, and had

particularly admired an antique brass statue of Mercury, about a cubit

long, which Tycho had placed in the roof of the hypocaust or central

crypt of the Stiern-berg observatory. By means of a concealed mechanism,

it moved round in a circular orbit. The Duke requested the statue and

its machinery, which Tycho gave him, on the condition that he should

obtain a model of it, for the purpose of having another executed by a

skilful workman. The Duke not only forgot his promise, but paid no

attention to the letters which were addressed to him. Tycho was justly

irritated at this unprincely conduct, and ordered this anecdote to be

inserted in the description of Uraniburg which he was now preparing for

publication.

In the year 1592, Tycho lost his distinguished friend and correspondent

the Prince of Hesse, and astronomy one of its most active and

intelligent cultivators. His grief on this occasion was deep and

sincere, and he gave utterance to his feelings in an impassioned elegy,

in which he recorded the virtues and talents of his friend. Prince

Maurice, the son and successor of the Landgrave, continued, with the

assistance of able observers, to keep up the reputation of the

observatory of Hesse-Cassel; and the observations which were there made

were afterwards published by Snellius. The extensive and valuable

correspondence between Tycho and the Landgrave was prepared for

publication about the beginning of 1593, and contains also the letters

of Rothman and Rantzau.

For several years the studies of Tycho had been treated with an

unwilling toleration by the Danish Court. Many of the nobles envied the

munificent establishment which he had received from Frederick, and the

liberal pension which he drew from his treasury. But among his most

active enemies were some physicians, who envied his reputation as a

successful and a gratuitous practitioner of the healing art. Numbers of

invalids flocked to Huen, and diseases, which resisted all other methods

of cure, are said to have yielded to the panaceal prescription of the

astrologer. Under the influence of such motives, these individuals

succeeded in exciting against Tycho the hostility of the court. They

drew the public attention to the exhausted state of the treasury. They

maintained that he had possessed too long the estate in Norway, which

might be given to men who laboured more usefully for the commonwealth;

and they accused him of allowing the chapel at Rothschild to fall into

decay. The President of the Council, Christopher Walchendorp, and the

King's Chancellor, were the most active of the enemies of Tycho; and,

having poisoned the mind of their sovereign against the most meritorious

of his subjects, Tycho was deprived of his canonry, his estate in

Norway, and his pension.

Being no longer able to bear the expenses of his establishment in Huen,

and dreading that the feelings which had been excited against him might

be still further roused, so as to deprive him of the Island of Huen

itself, he resolved to transfer his instruments to some other

situation. Notwithstanding this resolution, he remained with his family

in the island, and continued his observations till the spring of 1597,

when he took a house in Copenhagen, and removed to it all his smaller

and more portable instruments, leaving those which were large or fixed

in the crypts of Stiern-berg. His first plan was to remove every thing

from Huen as a measure of security; but the public feeling began to turn

in his favour, and there were many good men in Copenhagen who did not

scruple to reprobate the conduct of the government. The President of the

Council, Walchendorp--a name which, while the heavens revolve, will be

pronounced with horror by astronomers--saw the change of sentiment which

his injustice had produced, and adopted an artful method of sheltering

himself from public odium. In consequence of a quarrel with Tycho, the

recollection of which had rankled in his breast, he dreaded to be the

prime mover in his persecution. He therefore appointed a committee of

two persons, one of whom was Thomas Feuchius, to report to the

government on the nature and utility of the studies of Tycho. These two

individuals were entirely ignorant of astronomy and the use of

instruments; and even if they had not, they would have been equally

subservient to the views of the minister. They reported that the studies

of Tycho were of no value, and that they were not only useless, but

noxious. Armed with this report, Walchendorp prohibited Tycho, in the

King's name, from continuing his chemical experiments; and instigated,

no doubt, by this wicked minister, an attack was made upon himself, and

his shepherd or his steward was injured in the affray. Tycho was

provoked to revenge himself upon his enemies, and the judge was

commanded not to interfere in the matter.

Thus persecuted by his enemies, Tycho resolved to remain no longer in an

ungrateful country. He carried from Huen every thing that was moveable,

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 male and his female servants, and many of

his pupils and assistants, among whom were Tengnagel, his future

son-in-law, and the celebrated Longomontanus, embarked at Copenhagen,

to seek the hospitality of some better country than their own.

Freighted with the glory of Denmark, this interesting bark made the best

of its way across the Baltic, and arrived safely at Rostoch. Here the

exiled patriarch found many of his early friends, particularly Henry

Bruce, an able astronomer, to whom he had formerly presented one of his

brass quadrants. The approach of the plague, however, prevented Tycho

from making any arrangements for a permanent residence; and, having

received a warm invitation from Count Henry Rantzau, who lived in

Holstein at the Castle of Wandesberg, near Hamburg, he went with all his

family, about the end of 1597, to enjoy the hospitality of his friend.

Though Tycho derived the highest pleasure from the kindness and

conversation of Count Rantzau, yet a cloud overshadowed the future, and

he had yet to seek for a patron and a home. His hopes were fixed on the

Emperor Rudolph, who was not only fond of science, but who was

especially addicted to alchemy and astrology, and his friend Rantzau

promised to have him introduced to the Emperor by proper letters. When

Tycho learned that Rudolph was particularly fond of mechanical

instruments and of chemistry, he resolved to complete and to dedicate to

him his work on the mechanics of astronomy, and to add to it an account

of his chemical labours. This task he soon performed, and his work

appeared in 1598 under the title of _Tychonis Brahe, Astronomiae

instauratae Mechanica_. Along with this work he transmitted to the

Emperor a copy of his MS. catalogue of 1000 fixed stars.

With these proofs of his services to science, and instigated by various

letters in his favour, the Emperor Rudolph desired his Vice-Chancellor

to send for Tycho, and to assure him that he would be received according

to his great merits, and that nothing should be wanting to promote his

scientific studies. Leaving his wife and daughters at Wandesberg, and

taking with him his sons and his pupils, Tycho went to Wittemberg; but

having learned that the plague had broken out at Prague, and that the

Emperor had gone to Pilsen, he deferred for a while his journey into

Bohemia.

Early in the spring of 1599, when the pestilence had ceased at Prague,

and the Emperor had returned to his capital, Tycho set out for Bohemia.

On his arrival at Prague, he found a splendid house ready for his

reception, and a kind message from the Emperor, prohibiting him from

paying his respects to him till he had recovered from the fatigues of

his journey. On his presentation to Rudolph, the generous Emperor

received him with the most distinguished kindness. He announced to him

that he was to receive an annual pension of 3000 crowns; that an estate

would as soon as possible be settled upon him and his family and their

successors; that a town house would be provided for him; and that he

might have his choice of various castles and houses in the country as

the site of his observatory and laboratory. The Emperor had also taken

care to provide every thing that was necessary for Tycho's immediate

wants; and so overwhelmed was he with such unexpected kindness, that he

remarked that, as he could not find words to express his gratitude, the

whole heavens would speak for him, and posterity should know what a

refuge his great and good Sovereign had been to the Queen of the Arts.

Among the numerous friends whom Tycho found at Prague, were his

correspondents Coroducius and Hagecius, and his benefactor Barrovitius,

the Emperor's secretary. He was congratulated by them all on his

distinguished reception at court, and was regarded as the AEneas of

science, who had been driven from his peaceful home, and who had carried

with him to the Latium of Germany his wife, his children, and his

household gods. If external circumstances could remove the sorrows of

the past, Tycho must now have been supremely happy. In his spacious

mansion, which had belonged to his friend Curtius, he found a position

for one of his best instruments, and having covered with poetical

inscriptions the four sides of the pedestal on which it stood, in honour

of his benefactors, as well as of former astronomers, he resumed with

diligence his examination of the stars.

When Rudolph saw the magnificent instruments which Tycho had brought

along with him, and had acquired some knowledge of their use, he pressed

him to send to Denmark for the still larger ones which he had left at

Stiern-berg. In the meantime, he gave him the choice of the castles of

Brandisium, Lyssa, and Benach as his country residence; and after

visiting them about the end of May, Tycho gave the preference to Benach,

which was situated upon a rising ground, and commanded an extensive

horizon. It contained splendid and commodious buildings, and was almost,

as he calls it, a small city, situated on the stream Lisor, near its

confluence with the Albis. It stood a little to the east and north of

Prague, and was distant from that city only five German miles, or about

six hours' journey.

On the 20th of August, the Prefect of Brandisium gave Tycho possession

of his new residence. His gratitude to his royal patron was copiously

displayed, not only in a Latin poem written on the occasion, but in

Latin inscriptions which he placed above the doors of his observatory

and his laboratory. In order that he might establish an astronomical

school at Prague, he wrote to Longomontanus, Kepler, Muller, David

Fabricius, and two students at Wittemberg, who were good calculators,

requesting them to reside with him at Benach, as his assistants and

pupils: He at the same time dispatched his destined son-in-law,

Tengnagel, accompanied by Pascal Muleus, to bring home his wife and

daughters from Wandesberg, and his instruments from Huen; and he begged

that Longomontanus would accompany them to Denmark, and return in the

same carriage with them to Bohemia.

Kepler arrived at Prague in January 1600, and, after spending three or

four months at Benach, in carrying on his inquiries and in making

astronomical observations, he returned to Gratz. Tycho had undertaken to

obtain for him the appointment of his assistant. It was arranged that

the Emperor should allow him a hundred florins, on the condition that

the states of Styria would permit him to retain his salary for two

years. This scheme, however, failed, and Kepler was about to study

medicine, and offer himself for a professorship of medicine at Tubingen,

when Tycho undertook to obtain him a permanent appointment from the

Emperor. Kepler, accordingly, returned in September 1601, and, on the

recommendation of his friend, he was named imperial mathematician, on

the condition of assisting Tycho in his observations.

Tycho had experienced much inconvenience in his residence at Benach,

from his ignorance of the language and customs of the country, as well

as from other causes. He was therefore anxious to transfer his

instruments to Prague; and no sooner were his wishes conveyed to the

Emperor than he gave him leave to send them to the royal gardens and the

adjacent buildings. His family and his larger instruments having now

arrived from Huen, the astronomer with his family and his property were

safely lodged in the royal edifice. Having found that there was no house

in Prague more suited for his purposes than that of his late friend

Curtius, the Emperor purchased it from his widow, and Tycho removed into

it on the 25th February 1601.

CHAPTER IV.

_Tycho resumes his Astronomical Observations--Is attacked with a

Painful Disease--His Sufferings and Death in 1601--His Funeral--His

Temper--His Turn for Satire and Raillery--His Piety--Account of his

Astronomical Discoveries--His Love of Astrology and

Alchymy--Observations on the Character of the Alchymists--Tycho's

Elixir--His Fondness for the Marvellous--His Automata and Invisible

Bells--Account of the Idiot, called Lep, whom he kept as a

Prophet--History of Tycho's Instruments--His great Brass Globe

preserved at Copenhagen--Present state of the Island of Huen._

Although Tycho continued in this new position to observe the planets

with his usual assiduity, yet the recollection of his sufferings, and

the inconveniences and disappointments which he had experienced, began

to prey upon his mind, and to affect his health. Notwithstanding the

continued liberality of the Emperor, and the kindness of his friends and

pupils, he was yet a stranger in a distant land. Misfortune was unable

to subdue that love of country which was one of the most powerful of his

affections; and, though its ingratitude might have broken the chain

which bound him to the land of his nativity, it seems only to have

rivetted it more firmly. His imagination, thus influenced, acquired an

undue predominance over his judgment. He viewed the most trifling

occurrences as supernatural indications; and in those azure moments when

the clouds broke from his mind, and when he displayed his usual wit and

pleasantry, he frequently turned the conversation to the subject of his

latter end.

This state of mind was the forerunner, though probably the effect, of a

painful disease, which had, doubtless, its origin in the severity and

continuity of his studies. On the 13th October, when he was supping at

the house of a nobleman called Rosenberg, he was seized with a retention

of urine, which forced him to leave the party.

This attack continued with little intermission for more than a week,

and, during this period, he suffered great pain, attended with want of

sleep and temporary delirium, during which, he frequently exclaimed, _Ne

frustra vixisse videor_. On the 24th he recovered from this painful

situation, and became perfectly tranquil. His strength, however, was

gone, and he saw that he had not many hours to live. He expressed an

anxious wish that his labours would redound to the glory of his Maker,

to whom he offered up the most ardent prayers. He enjoined his sons and

his son-in-law not to allow them to be lost. He encouraged his pupils

not to abandon their pursuits, he requested Kepler to complete the

Rudolphine Tables, and to his family he recommended piety and

resignation to the Divine will. Among those who never quitted Tycho in

his illness, was Erick Brahe, Count Wittehorn, a Swede, and a relation

of his own, and Counsellor to the King of Poland. This amiable

individual never left the bedside of his friend, and administered to him

all those attentions which his situation required. Tycho, turning to

him, thanked him for his affectionate kindness, and requested him to

maintain the relationship with his family. He then expired without pain,

amid the consolations, the prayers, and the tears of his friends. This

event took place on the 24th of October 1601, when he was only

fifty-four years and ten months old.

The Emperor Rudolph evinced the greatest sorrow when he was informed of

the death of his friend, and he gave orders that he should be buried in

the most honourable manner, in the principal church of the ancient

city.[41] The funeral took place on the 4th November, and he was

interred in the dress of a nobleman, and with the ceremonies of his

order. The funeral oration was pronounced by Jessenius, before a

distinguished assemblage, and many elegies were written on his death.

[41] The church of Tiers, where a monument has been erected to his

memory.

Tycho was a little above the middle size, and in the last years of his

life he was slightly corpulent. He had reddish yellow hair and a ruddy

complexion. He was of a sanguine temperament, and is said to have been

sometimes irritable, and even obstinate. This failing, however, if he

did possess it, was not exhibited towards his pupils or his scientific

friends, who ever entertained for him the warmest affection and esteem.

Some of his pupils had remained in his house more than twenty years;

and in the quarrel which arose between him and Kepler,[42] and which is

allowed to have originated entirely in the temper of the latter, he

conducted himself with the greatest patience and forbearance. There is

reason to think that the irritability with which he has been charged was

less an affection of his mind than the effect of that noble independence

of character which belonged to him, and that it has been inferred

chiefly from his conduct to some of those high personages with whom he

was brought in contact. When Walchendorp, the President of the Council,

kicked his favourite hound, it was no proof of irritability of character

that Tycho expressed in strong terms his disapprobation of the deed.

[42] See the Life of Kepler.