GALILEO. 347 



been the last scholastic. When he died, in 1631, there was no one to 

 take his place. The times had changed. We are accustomed to 

 attribute all the merit of the change to Galileo, whose career so bril- 

 liantly represents what was best in the new scientific spirit. It is 

 impossible to declare what the movement of the world would have been 

 had Galileo never lived. It would, perhaps, have been much the same. 

 A company of less brilliant men would, perhaps, have done Galileo's 

 work, taking a century for the task. Scholasticism was already mori- 

 bund; the telescope was invented; the time was ripe; Kepler had al- 

 ready discovered his great laws of planetary motion; who can doubt 

 that scholars would have arisen to fill the opening opportunity? 



Gradually the fame of Galileo rose to a great height. He became 

 the best known man in Europe. His lecture rooms were crowded. At 

 Easter, 1610, he showed the Medicean stars to Cosmo II in Florence, 

 and in May he writes a letter describing the work that he has pro- 

 jected — treatises on the constitution of the world, on mechanical mo- 

 tion, on sound, color, vision, tides, fortification, tactics, artillery, 

 sieges, surveying, etc.* This letter soon brought an offer from the 

 Grand Duke to appoint Galileo first philosopher and mathematician 

 at the University of Pisa at a salary of 1,000 scudi. He is not to be 

 obliged to reside at Pisa — and in fact his duties were usually per- 

 formed by substitutes. 



In July, 1610, Galileo left the service of Venice for that of Flor- 

 ence. It was a sad exchange for him. Venice was the only state m 

 Italy that dared to stand up against the power of Home. There were 

 weighty reasons of state why the Duke of Florence could not do so. 

 The Jesuits had been banished from the soil of Venice (1606) 'for 

 ever/ They were all powerful in Eome and in Florence. It is evident 

 from letters of this time that Galileo's desertion of Padua produced an 

 unfavorable impression of self-seeking even among his friends. 



Galileo's visit to Eome in March, 1611, was a veritable triumph for 

 him. His expenses were paid by the court, he was lodged with the 

 Tuscan ambassador, and received with the greatest honor by the Pope 

 (Paul V.) and the cardinals, including Cardinal Barberini, the future 

 Pope Urban VIII. To them he showed his discoveries. They were 

 convinced and interested. At the request of Cardinal Eobert Bel- 

 larmine, four learned men of the Eoman College (Clavius among them) 

 reported on what they had seen through the telescope and fully con- 

 firmed his observations. This report is of great importance, since it 

 was, in effect, a sanction by the Church itself. Galileo was received 

 a member of the Accademia dei Lincei, and its president, Prince Cesi, 

 became his lifelong friend. The Cardinal del Monte writes to the 



* Compare the letter of Leonardo da Vinci to the Duke of Milan reciting 

 the labors that he was ready to undertake in his service. 



