398 THE POPULAR SCIENCE MONTHLY. 



most cherished opinions, of belying bis own thoughts, and of seeing 

 himself treated as a criminal after he had, by his labors, done 

 honor to his country and to mankind, were added physical sufferings 

 of the most grievous kind. It is impossible to read without emotion 

 the appeal he addressed to his judges at the end of his written defense : 

 " It remains for me to urge one final consideration, viz., the pitiable 

 state of bodily indisposition to which I have been reduced by inces- 

 sant mental agony during ten whole months, together with the hard- 

 ships of a long and toilsome journey, in the most inclement weather, 

 at the age of threescore years and nine. ... I confide in the mercy 

 and goodness of the most eminent seigniors who are my judges, and I 

 hope that if, in the integrity of their justice, they think that so great 

 sufferings lack anything to make them equal to the punishment that 

 my offenses deserve, they will be pleased, at my entreaty, to remit 

 the difference in consideration of the failing strength of my old age, 

 which I humbly commend to them." 



Among the hitherto unpublished documents contained in Berti's 

 work there is one that is of the highest importance. This is a sum- 

 mary of the case, giving an enumeration not only of what was decreed 

 but also of what was done. After reading a text so clear and so unam- 

 biguous on all points save one, while on that one it agrees perfectly with 

 other authentic documents, we no longer find ground for supposing it 

 was only on paper that Galileo was threatened with the torture, and 

 forced to make abjuration. A decree of the pope, dated June 16th, 

 ordains that instead of a simple " examination as to intention," such 

 as the commissary of the Holy Office had expected, an interrogatory * 

 should be had with the threat of torture, if the accused could stand it; 

 he is ordered to make abjuration, and condemned to imprisonment 

 according to the good pleasure of the congregation. This decree was 

 not, as has been supposed, a simple declaration designed to sustain the 

 reputation of the tribunal for severity, while the culprit was treated 

 leniently ; on the contrary, it was executed literally, as is shown by 

 the agreement of the documents concerning this portion of the trial. 



On being interrogated for the last time on the 21st of June, Gal- 

 ileo was ordered to state whether he then held or ever had held the 

 opinion that the sun is the centre of the world and that the earth 

 moves. He humbly replied that ever since the decree of the Congrega- 

 tion of the Index, in 1616, he had always held and still did hold the 

 opinion of Ptolemy to be " most true and unquestionable." This reply 

 not appearing to be satisfactory, the father commissary insisted on 

 knowing the truth, and wound up by declaring that, if the whole truth 

 were not stated, recourse would be had to torture. "I am herein 



1 Author's Note. We interpret three obscure words in the pontifical decree, ac si 

 sustinueril, in the sense given to them by Berti. Th. Henri Martin gives a different 

 translation, not without good reasons. The matter is one that will bear discussion. It 

 is still undecided, even after the publication of the documents. 



