THE TRIAL OF GALILEO. 397 



arguments, and made an object of ridicule by their irony. Surely, it 

 was imprudent on the part of Galileo to deny the evidence, thus giv- 

 ing to his defense the appearance of double-dealing. 



Nor did the resort to this course deceive any one. The three 

 judges who had questioned him unanimously declared that in his book 

 he had contravened the injunctions of Cardinal Bellarmin, and the 

 decree of the Congregation of the Index. Two of them added that he 

 was gravely suspect of adhering to the doctrine of Copei'nicus. After 

 the close of his first interrogatory, he was removed to the palace of 

 the Holy Office, and there he occupied a chamber in the sleeping-apart- 

 ments of the wardens, with an express prohibition of going out with- 

 out leave. Here he had long and frequent interviews with Father Vin- 

 cenzo Macolano, commissary of the Holy Office, an educated man of 

 kindly disposition, and a friend of the grand-duke and of the Tuscan 

 embassador; Father Macolano took it upon himself to warn Galileo 

 of the dangers of the situation, and to aid him with his counsels. 

 First of all, he induced Galileo to submit without reserve, to admit 

 his offenses, and to repent. " I made his error patent to him," wrote 

 the father commissary, at the close of one of their interviews ; " he 

 clearly saw that he had made a mistake, that in his book he had gone 

 too far, and he expressed to me his regret in words full of feeling, as 

 though he drew comfort from the knowledge of his error, and was 

 thinking of confessing it judicially ; he only asked of me a little time 

 to consider how he might best word his confession." Father Maco- 

 lano then looked for a speedy ending of the trial, and a less severe 

 sentence. " When once we have Galileo's confession," said he, " the 

 reputation of the tribunal will be safe, and the accused can be treated 

 with indulgence." Evidently he expected that the case would not be 

 carried beyond the first stage of inquisition, and that it would termi- 

 nate by a special form of interrogatory, known as the " interrogatory 

 with regard to the intention." 



If things were pushed further than the commissary of the Holy 

 Office either wished or expected, the blame does not rest with the 

 accused, who, once warned, immediately resolved to submit. On 

 being interrogated again on the 30th of April, Galileo confessed that, 

 without meaning it, he had presented too forcibly the arguments in 

 favor of the system of Copernicus, his intention all the while being to 

 refute them, and that thus he might have led the public into error. 

 He declared that he was " ready to refute the opinion of Copernicus 

 by all the most efficacious methods that God might place within his 

 power." These words, no doubt dictated to him by the humanity of 

 the father commissary, had the effect of procuring for him some measure 

 of liberty. That very evening he was sent back to the palace of the 

 Tuscan embassador, so that there he might receive such care as the 

 state of his health required. 



We must not forget that to the humiliation of repudiating his 



