COPERNICUS. 119 



The doctrines of Copernicus were spread by means of almanacs based 

 upon Eeinhold's tables rather than by his theoretical works; and they 

 made their way quietly, surely and without any great opposition. 

 Tycho proposed a new (and erroneous) system of the world in 1587. 

 It also had its effect in weakening the authority of Ptolemy. The mo- 

 tions of comets began to be observed with care. It was clear that the 

 doctrine of material crystal spheres would not allow room for their 

 erratic courses. In one way and another the authority of the ancients 

 was broken down and the way prepared for the eventual triumph of 

 the theory of Copernicus. 



It is interesting to note the opinions of Englishmen of the sixteenth 

 and seventeenth centuries. Francis Bacon rejected the new doctrines; 

 Gilbert of Colchester, Robert Eecorde, Thomas Digges and other Eng- 

 lishmen of the time of Queen Elizabeth, accepted them. Milton seems 

 to hesitate in 'Paradise Lost' (book viii.), which was written after 

 1640, though he had visited Galileo in Florence in 1638, where, no 

 doubt, Galileo proved the Copernican theory to him by word of mouth. 

 At all events he thoroughly understood it as Ins description of the 



earth 



. . . that spinning sleeps 

 On her soft axle, while she paces even 

 And bears thee soft with the smooth air along, 



abundantly proves, since in the last line one of the chief objections to 

 the theory is answered. 



The heliocentric theory gained powerful auxiliaries in Moestlin, 

 professor of astronomy at Tubingen, and in his pupil Kepler. In 

 1588 Moestlin printed his 'Epitome,' in which the mobility of the 

 earth is denied; but he accepted the new views probably as early as 

 1590. Kepler writes: "While I was at Tubingen, attending to 

 Michael Moestlin, I was so delighted with Copernicus, of whom he made 

 great mention in his lectures, that I not only defended his opinions in 

 our disputations of the candidates, but wrote a thesis concerning the 

 first motion which is produced by the revolution of the earth." In 

 1596 Moestlin, in a published epistle, expressly adhered to the helio- 

 centric theory of the world. 



Luther emphatically declared his opinion of the Copernican theory 

 on several occasions. He calls Copernicus 'that fool' who is trying 

 to upset the whole art of astronomy; and refers to Joshua's command 

 that the sun should stand still as a proof that the earth could not pos- 

 sibly be the moving member of the system. Melanchthon, a far more 

 learned man, declared that the authority of scripture was entirely 

 against Copernicus. The attitude of the Eoman Church was more 

 indifferent at that time, not more tolerant. Tolerance comes with 

 enlightenment; and both protestant and catholic doctors were, in gen- 



