266 POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



Roman Church had been in theory literally universal, and Copernicus 

 limited its world to one small planet, not so large as Jupiter as Galileo 

 showed a few years later. The new doctrine disgraced the dignity of 

 the earth among the planets. The authorities of a universal church 

 could not but feel that their own dignities were attacked by the same 

 blow. Arguments against the scientific truth were forthcoming from 

 every chair of philosophy in Italy, and every theologian could success- 

 fully defend the literal sense of Holy Writ against such subtile and 

 wire-drawn interpretations as were subsequently advanced by Foscarini 

 and Galileo. I imagine the state of mind of their more intelligent 

 contemporaries to have been one of interested bewilderment. The less 

 intelligent were repelled and offended. The mass of pious christians 

 was outraged and indignant. The Pope (Urban VIII.) and most of 

 the cardinals sincerely believed that incalculable injury would result 

 to the church from the promulgation of an opinion flatly contradicting 

 the literal words of scripture. It was not until the discoveries of the 

 telescope came to confirm the hypothesis of Copernicus that all these 

 questions were pressed home for decision. 



(To be continued.) 



