ERA OF COPERNICUS, TTCHO BRAHE, KEPPLER, AND GALILEO. 19 



ments, several of these solid spheres were required to be in attendance upon the same 

 body, and to be of various structure ; and they were multiplied and shaped, until a 

 system was imagined which it fairly baffled the inventors to comprehend. The remark 

 of the Castilian monarch respecting this intricate and cumbrous architecture was not 

 without some justification, though breathing an irreverent spirit : " Had the Deity," 

 said he, " consulted me at the creation of the universe, I could have given him some 

 good advice." 



The presumptive evidence against the truth of the Ptolemaic theory is admirably, 

 though not professedly, expressed by Milton, in the representation of Adam reasoning, 



How Nature, wise and frugal, could commit 

 Such disproportions, 



as the supposition of the revolution of the firmament round the earth involves. It must then 

 travel, as he argues, "spaces incomprehensible," the " swift return diurnal" implying a swift 

 ness not to be described or imagined ; and when the phenomena of the celestial appearances 

 are accounted for, and day and night produced, by the simple rotation of the earth upon its 

 axis, and its translation in space, the presumption is strong, that " Nature, wise and frugal," 

 would never " commit such disproportions," as the theory of terrestrial repose and firma- 

 mental movement supposes. But it is difficult for the mind to disengage itself from the 

 force of a universal opinion, especially when it is sanctioned by a venerable antiquity ; and 

 hence, it was not until some time after the era of Copernicus, and not until after many a 

 battle in behalf of the faith of past ages, that his system, beautiful for its simplicity, and 

 now demonstratively proved to be correct in its leading features, received the credence of 

 mankind. It was reserved for this great man, born on the banks of the Vistula, to 

 deviate from the path of his predecessors, to renounce allegiance to the speculative physics 

 of Aristotle, and to point the way, though with a cautious footstep, to the true system of 

 the universe ; a labour which occupied upwards of thirty years of his life, one of the 

 most glorious achievements that has marked the page of human history. He it was who 

 revolutionised for ever the face of astronomical science, and in the magnificent language 

 of one of his immediate followers, " commanded the sun to stand still, moved the earth 

 from its foundations, stopped the revolution of the firmament, and subverted the whole 

 ancient order of the universe." 



NICHOLAS COPERNICUS, or ZEPERNTC, was born at Thorn, near the place where the Vistula 

 crosses the Polish frontier, some time in the years 1472 or 1473. He was educated with 

 an eye to his father's profession, that of medicine, but was happily diverted from it by 

 accidentally hearing a course of lectures, which inspired him with a passion for astro 

 nomy. He was at Bologna in Italy in 1497, studying the science under Dominic Maria, 

 and settled for a time at Rome as a teacher of mathematics, where he established a 

 considerable reputation. His uncle, who was a dignified ecclesiastic, bishop of Ermeland, 

 upon a vacancy occurring in the canonry of his cathedral church of Frauenburg, appointed 

 Copernicus to the place in the chapter, who had previously taken orders probably in Italy. 

 Here he passed the remainder of his days, dividing his time between his ecclesiastical 

 duties, the gratuitous practice of medicine among the poor, and astronomical researches. 

 He went but little into company, seldom conversed except on serious and scientific topics, 

 was mild and gentle in his manners, and steadfast in his friendships. Frauenburg is a 

 email town on the coast, not far from the junction of the Vistula with the sea. There, 

 in a house situated on the brow of a mountain, overlooking the waters of the Gulf of 

 Dantzic, he pursued his enquiries into the economy of the universe in peaceful seclusion, 

 confident that he was doing a great work for posterity to appreciate. His mind was 

 profoundly impressed with the idea that simplicity characterises the arrangements of 



