APPENDIX. 



No. I. GALILEO. 



SOME uncertainty exists respecting the decree or sentence 

 against Galileo, and the Copernican System. The advo 

 cates of the Romish Church, indeed, deny that it was 

 pronounced against the doctrine of the earth s motion and 

 the sun s rest, and affirm that the sentence was against 

 Galileo personally, on account of his breach of the pro 

 mise which he had made to Paul V. (Borghese), and the per 

 formance of which he evaded by giving the doctrine in the 

 form of a dialogue. It is also alleged that the sentence 

 is pronounced by the Inquisition, and not by the Holy See. 

 Of this there can be no doubt ; but it sets forth a previous 

 &quot; declaration of the theological qualifiers, made by de 

 sire of His Holiness, as well as of the Inquisition,&quot; 

 that the Copernican system is &quot;absurd and philoso 

 phically false and formally heretical, because expressly con 

 trary to the Holy Scriptures.&quot; This seems to go beyond 

 the mere assertion that it is only false as being unscrip- 

 tural. There is, however, no doubt that the alleged infal 

 libility of the Holy See is confined to matters of faith ; 

 and thus its advocates have some ground for their asser 

 tion, that the heretical nature of the doctrine was alone 

 set forth both in the sentence on Galileo and in the previous 

 proceedings. The supposition that he was subjected to 



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