1826.] Galileo, and the Copernican System. 615 



by liis profound learning and Btiipenduns discoveries, he had obtained, that by 

 this severe tribunal he was treated with unaccustomed lenity. The conimence- 

 nieiit was tlie harshest part of tlic proceedings against him, since a man, who was 

 already seventy years old, was obliged to re|)air to Rome in the February of 

 lGli3, (" dove giunto a' 10 di Febbrajo 1633, fui sottoniesso, &c.," says Galileo 

 himself, in a letter to Vincenzo Renieri;) the solicitations made in the name of 

 the Grand Duke of Tuscany, that the affair should be put off to a milder season, 

 not being of any avail. But in every thing else, the conrse pursued with regard 

 to him was sufficiently different from the usual one. (Targioni Tozzetti, V. i. 

 p. 113., &C. V. ii. p. 12"2., &c.) At the first he remained for more than two 

 months in the house of Nicolini, the ambassador of the Grand Duke, "fui arret- 

 tato ncl dclizioso Palazzo delta Triiiita de' Monti presso f Ambasciator di Tosi~ 

 cana," is the account he himself gives of his detention, without an express 

 prohibition to hold intercourse with any one; but merely with friendly advice 

 not to receive frequent visits, and to remain as much as possible in concealment 

 nnd alone. " II commissario gli ha fatto sapere quel chegli nianilo a dire il Sisr. 

 Card. Barberino (Francesco Barbcrino, founder of the Barbcrini library and 

 Nephew of Urban VIII.) cioe che si contenti di starsene ritirata scnza lasciarsi 

 veder fnora, ne quasi in casa se sia possibiie, dichiarandosi di non glielo coman- 

 dare, ne di arerne ordine alcuno tlella sacra congregazionc, nia d'avvisario come 

 aniico per il pregiudizio e danno, che gliene potrebbe risultarc. {Fabroni, Vol. ii. 

 p. 2i)2.) The time having arrived, when, according to the laws of that tribimal, 

 he was to be confined in prison and then put upon his trial, he was summoned 

 before the tribunal itself; but the apartments assigned to him were the rooms 

 belonging to the Fiscal, from which he could go into the court of the building 

 whenever he pleased: besides he kept his own servant, and could also admit the 

 attendants of the ambassador of the Grand Duke who brought him his dinner, 

 and could also write and receive letters from as many other persons as he chose. 

 And even before his examinations were concluded, he was sent back, after fifteen 

 days to the house of the ambassador, and was also permitted to ride in a car- 

 riage through the neighbouring gardens, {Fabroni, Vol. ii. p. 308.) Finally in 

 June of the same year, the expected sentence was pronounced : in it, the system 

 was condemned, the work of Galileo was prohibited, and he himself condemned 

 to a solemn recantation of it; and since from the year 161C, he had been 

 threatened with imprisonment if he should again, either in discourse or writing 

 maintain these opinions; he was ordered into confinement, but before this sen- 

 tence was carried into execution the Pope changed it into banishment to the 

 gardens of La Trinita de' Monti, a country seat of the Grand Duke, from which 

 he was occasionally permitted to visit Castel Gandolfo {Targioni, t. ii. p. 126) : 

 and in a few days, even this banishment was at an end, and he was allowed to 

 go to Siena, to his friend the archbishop of that place, from whence, at the end 

 of the year, he was enabled to return to his own villa of Arcetri. " Finalmeate 

 fui obbligato," says he himself, '' di ratrattare come vero cattolico questa mia 

 opinione, e in pena mi fu proibito il dialogo, e dopo cinque mesi licenziato di 

 Roma, (in tempo che la citta di Firenze era infetta di peste) mi fu destinata 

 per carcere con generosa pieta I'abitazione del mio piu caro amico, che avessi in 



Siena, Monsignor Arcivescovo Piccolomini e dopocinque mesi in cerca 



cessata la pestileiiza della mia patriaversoil principio di Dicembre di quest' anno 

 1633, da sua Santita mi e stata permutata la strettezza di quella casa nella liberta, 

 della campagna da me tanto gradita, onde me ne tornai alia Villa de Bellos- 

 guardo, e dopo in Arcetri, dove tuttora mi ritrovo a respirare quest' aria salubre 

 vicino alia mia cara patria Firenze." That his health had not been impaired 

 by the confinement he had undergone at Rome, may be fairly inferred from the 

 following note, dated from Rome July 10, 16G3. II Sig. Galileo parti per Siena 

 mercolidi mattina con assai buona salute, e da Viterbo ci scrive, che aveva cam- 

 minato quattro miglia a piedi con un tempo freschissimo. 



These facts are not drawn from the works of any pontifical writer, or apologist 

 for the Roman Inquisition ; but from an account of what took place at Rome, 

 which was sent by Galileo himself to Vincenzo Renieri, one of the most faithful 



