12 GALILEO AND HIS JUDGES. 



and utility of these Congregations, or of any other 

 institutions connected with the discipline of the 

 Catholic Church. From the remarks I have just 

 previously made, it will be understood that I take 

 all this for granted, and that I feel justified in doing 

 so. Those who differ from me will, I trust, excuse 

 me when they find that this conviction on my part 

 does not interfere with the impartial fairness of 

 my narrative. 



Galileo, whom I believe to have been a devout 

 Catholic, would, if he were here to speak for himself, 

 agree with me in principle, however he might com- 

 plain of the action of the Eoman Congregations in 

 his own individual case. 



"We shall then, as we proceed, inquire whether 

 this celebrated philosopher was, as some imagine, 

 a hero and a martyr of science, or, as others think, 

 a rash innovator, who happened by chance to be 

 right, but who had little or nothing but vain and 

 foolish arguments to adduce in support of his doc- 

 trines. Perhaps we shall find that such critics, 

 on either side, are but imperfectly acquainted with 

 the facts of the case. 



