GALILEO. 139 



but that it moves, and also with a diurnal motion, is equally absurd and 

 false philosophically, and theologically considered, at least erroneous in faith. 



But whereas at the same time it was our pleasure to proceed against you 

 with benignity, it was decided in the Holy Congregation . . . February 25, 

 1616, that the Very Eminent Cardinal Bellarmine should enjoin you to quit 

 entirely the said false doctrine, not to teach it to others, not to defend it, 

 never to treat it, under penalty that, if you failed to agree to this precept you 

 would be thrown into a prison, and for the execution of this decree, on the fol- 

 lowing day, in the Palace, in presence of the said Cardinal Bellarmine, after 

 having been benignly admonished by him, you received from the Com- 

 missary of the Holy Office, in the presence of a notary and of witnesses the in- 

 junction to desist entirely from the said opinion and for the future it was 

 forbidden to you to defend it, or to teach it in any way, whether by word of 

 mouth or by writing; and having promised obedience, you were dismissed . . . 

 and, whereas, there appeared last year, at Florence, a book whose title named 

 you as the author . . . in which was found a manifest transgression of the 

 aforesaid ordinance intimated to you, and as in that book you defended the 

 opinion that had been condemned, although, in the book, by various devices, 

 you endeavored to persuade that you left that opinion undecided and expressly 

 probable, which is in itself a very grave error, since an opinion cannot be 

 probable when it has been declared and defined to be contrary to Holy Writ : 



It is for this reason that, by our order, you have been called to this Holy 

 Office, where, examined upon oath, you, admitted that the said book was 

 written and published by you; you confessed that it loas commenced about 

 twelve years ago, after having received the injunction above-named, and that 

 you asked permission to publish it without signifying to those who were em- 

 powered to grant permission, that you had been enjoined from holding, defend- 

 ing or teaching such doctrine in any manner whatsoever. 



You also confessed that the said book in several places is so written that 

 the arguments in favor of a false opinion may appear to be of a nature to 

 force agreement, rather than such as to be easily refutable; you excused your- 

 self for falling into an error foreign to your intention on account of the 

 dialogue form and because of one's natural inclination to show oneself more 

 acute and more subtle than the generality of men. . . . 



And whereas delay had been granted you to prepare your defense you 

 produced a letter from Cardinal Bellarmine, that you had obtained from him 

 in order to defend yourself from the calumnies of your enemies who had 

 spread abroad that you had abjured and that you had been punished by the 

 Holy Office. This letter declares that you did not abjure nor were you 

 punished; that you had only been notified of the declaration . . . that the 

 doctrine of the motion of the earth ... is contrary to the Holy Scriptures 

 and that it can not be held or defended; and that as no mention was made 

 in it of the prohibition of teaching in any manner whatever, it is to be 

 believed that in the course of fourteen or sixteen years, this especial thing 

 escaped your memory, and that this is the reason you said nothing of it when 

 asking permission to print, and that in so speaking, you do not wish to excuse 

 your error which should be imputed to a vainglorious ambition rather than 

 to ill intention. But even this certificate, produced in your defense, only 

 makes your cause worse, since it is there said that the said opinion is con- 

 trary to Holy Writ, and nevertheless you have dared to treat and defend it, etc., 

 and the permission (to print) that you obtained by ruse cannot help you. . . . 



And as it appeared to us that you did not speak the whole truth con- 

 cerning your intentions, we judged it necessary to proceed to a rigorous ex- 



