GALILEO GALILEI. 17 



near Florence, and for seven years led a studious 

 and secluded life. 



His greatest comfort, during these quiet years, 

 was the devotion of his daughter, Polissena, who 

 had entered a convent as Sister Maria Celeste. 

 While in Padua, Galileo had three children by 

 Marina Gamba, a Venetian woman of inferior sta- 

 tion. She afterwards married a man of her own 

 class, and Galileo took his children to his own 

 home ; a condition of things possible with the low 

 moral standard of the time. The two daughters 

 were placed in a convent, while the son, Vincenzo, 

 was educated for the profession of medicine, but 

 he seems to have been a disappointment and a 

 source of discomfort. 



Maria Celeste, in the convent of St. Matthew, lov- 

 ing and tender, and helpful to all around her, wrote 

 constantly to the man whom she idolized. "I put 

 by carefully," she says, " the letters you write me 

 daily, and when not engaged with my duties, I read 

 them over and over again. This is the greatest 

 pleasure I have, and you may think how glad I am 

 to read the letters you receive from persons who, 

 besides being excellent in themselves, have you in 

 esteem." 



Again she writes, " I leave you to imagine how 

 pleased I am to read the letters you constantly send 

 me. Only to see how your love for me prompts 

 you to let me know fully what favors you receive 

 from these gentlemen is enough to fill me with joy. 

 Nevertheless I feel it a little hard to hear that you 



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