no 



TJie Father and 



90 much the more would it tend to re- 

 tard the motion in its coiirso towards 

 the west; and thus, the sun's motion 

 being diminislied or annulled, it would 

 proporlionably, in a slioiter space, reach 

 the Occident, an accident which is cer- 

 tainly seen to hajjpeu to t!ie moon, which 

 makes her diurnal conversions later than 

 those of the sun, in proportion as her 

 proper movement is swifter than that of 

 the sun. It being thereftae absolutely 

 impossible, agreeably to the constitu- 

 tion of Aristotle and Ptolemy, to stop 

 the motion of the sim, and prolong the 

 day, as the Scriptures affirm to have 

 happened, it is necessary that the move- 

 ments should not be ordered as Ptolemy 

 -will have them to be, or it is necessary to 

 change the sense of the words, and to 

 say that, when the Scriptures pronounce 

 tliat God stayed the snn, they mean to 

 say that He stayed the primnm mobile; 

 but that, accommodating themselves to 

 tlie capacity of those who arc but ill 

 adapted to understand the rising or set- 

 tiJig of the sun, they declare I lie con- 

 trary of t!iat which tliey would have said 

 in addressing themselves to intelligent 

 persons. 



Il is not credible, let mc here add, tliat 

 God would have stopped tlie stui alone, 

 leaving the other sphcics to run on, see- 

 ing tiiat this would, without asiy neces- 

 sity, iiave altered and disturbed the 

 whole order, the aspects, and the dispo- 

 sitions of the other constellations, res- 

 pectively to the snn, and would have 

 o-reatly deranged the entire course of 

 nature; hut it is crediidc that He would 

 have sto])ped the whole of the system of 

 the celestial spheres, which, after the in- 

 terposition of this time of repose, would 

 have returned contordantly to their 

 operations without any confusion or 



change . , , , 



But, because we have already agreed 

 not to alter the import of the words of 

 the text, it is necessary to recur to the 

 other constitution of the parts of the uni- 

 verse, and to see if, conformably to that, 

 tlie naked sense of the words will be 

 rightly, and without clashing, such as to 

 accord perfectly with what Ihcy mani- 

 fest to liave happened. 



I having, therefore, made apparent, 

 and necessarily demonstrated, that the 

 g;lobe of the sun revolves on itself, mak- 

 j)!<r an entire conversion hi a lunar 

 month, or thereabout, expressly in the 

 direction in which all the other celestial 

 conversions are made; and it being be- 

 side highly probable, and reasonable, 

 that the sun, as the largest instrumeut 



Son of Galilei. [Sept. I, ■ 



of nature, and, as it were, the heart of. 

 the universe, sliould not only give, as it 

 manifestly does, light, but likewise mo- 

 tion, to all the planets which revolve 

 around it; if, in conformity to the posi-. 

 tion of Copernicus, we grant the earth to 

 move, at the least with a diurnal mo-, 

 tion, who does not see that, to stop the 

 whole of the system, without inducing 

 any change whatever in the remainder 

 of the mutual revolutions of the planets, 

 to the end that the space and time of 

 the diurnal illuniinalion should alone be 

 prolonged, it suffices that the sun should 

 be made to stand still, as the words of 

 the sacred text e>;pressly ira; ly. 



This then is tlie mode agreeably to 

 which, without introducing any confu- 

 sion into the parts of the universe, and 

 without any alteration of the words of. 

 the Scriptures, the entire day may be 

 lengthened by making tlie sun to stand 

 still. 



I have written more than my infirmi- 

 ties would well allow; and conclude by 

 tendering to you my services, beseech- 

 ing the Lord to grant you his blessinj 

 and all felicity. 



Your most reverend Paternity's 

 Affectionate servant, 

 Galileo Galilei. 

 Florence; Dec. 21, 1613. 



VINCENZO GALILEI. 



A Florentine nobleman, and father of 

 the celebrated Galileo Galilei above, 

 cited, was profoundly versed uithc mathe- 

 matics, but applied himself more jiar- 

 tiiularly to the study of music, in the 

 theory of which science he not only ex- 

 celled, but Ixicame an excellent practi- 

 tioner, touching variousinstruments with 

 consummate skill. He was the anta- 

 gonist of the celebrated professor of 

 music, Giuseppe Zarlino,aud was author 

 of the following works: — "a Dialogue 

 on Ancient and Modern Music;" "iro- 

 nimo, a dialogue," elucidated by seve- 

 ral musical tables, on the art of traly 

 noting down, and rightly sounding the 

 music of chord and wind instruments, 

 more particularly of the lute; and a dis- 

 course on the works of Gioseffo Zailmo 

 of Chioggia, master of the chapel of St. 

 Mark, of Venice, lioilowed liy other 

 important particulars appertaining tq 

 music. 



VINCENZO GALILEI. 



The natural son and heir of the great 

 Galileo, is styled by Viviani a man of no 

 mean literary acquirements, of an acute 

 and penetrating genius, and the inventor 

 of a variety of mechanical and musical 

 instruments. Among the latter, in th« 

 contriving 



